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Illustration Collaboration: Gemma Milly
Gemma Milly is a contemporary illustrator based in the South of England, with an extraordinarily versatile portfolio of work, ranging from bold, expressive fashion illustration to intricate and personal portraiture. The combination of delicate, detailed line work and strong use of colour made us fall in love with her work.
Gemma has created a series of incredibly sensitive illustrations built up with layers of colour, collage, texture and line that perfectly capture the nostalgia we hope our trinkets evoke.
Here’s some more information about the girl who makes the magic happen!
First of all, tell us a little bit about who you are, what you do, and if and where you studied.
I’m Gemma Milly, an artist and illustrator with a love of all things pretty. After studying International Management and French at Bath University, then working in Advertising and Design for six years, I decided to do a complete about-turn and went to study for an MA in Illustration at Kingston University. After I graduated, I specialized mainly in Fashion Illustration until this year, when I set up my design studio in Hampshire. I still do work freelance but am now also lucky enough to spend my days designing bespoke wedding stationery and taking portrait commissions, which I absolutely adore.
Who and what have been your main influences and inspirations that have helped you to develop such a beautiful, distinctive illustration style in such a competitive market?
I’ve always been heavily influenced by the great Fashion Illustrators such as David Downton and Rene Guau, and my work is definitely influenced by both these amazingly talented people. But one of my favourite Illustrators has got to be Kelly Smith (Birdy & Me), my heart does a little flutter when I look at her work, it’s so detailed and beautiful. Photographers and the way they style their shoots; the lighting, the models, their ability to so perfectly capture a moment in time also constantly inspire me. I’ll never get bored of looking at the work of Lillian Bassman – she captures an amazing silhouette – and I also spend a fair amount of time pouring over beautiful wedding photography. I’m definitely addicted to Pinterest and I think my boards pretty much sum up my style and myself! I’m a very visual person and am really affected by aesthetics, which can sometimes get a bit OCD – I like to be surrounded by pretty things at all times, have nice things to listen to and eat (my boyfriend will testify to this!). It’s like constantly living inside one of my mood boards!
Do you live more in the past, or more in the future?
I’d say a bit of both – recently I’ve found myself reminiscing about my past career and the nice paycheck that came with it, but to balance that, I’ve tried to focus on making my business a success and imagining how different it could all be this time next year. Things are just getting started at the moment and (although a little bit scary) it’s really, really exciting.
Where do you work from, and do you have any rituals before beginning a new piece of work?
At the moment I work from home, but I’m super excited as I’ll soon be moving into a gorgeous studio space with a Textile Designer. I’m really looking forward to sharing a space with another creative again, as I really miss having someone to bounce ideas off and share coffee breaks with. We both have pretty much the same vision and want to make the most of the studio, opening it up for regular craft workshops and as a gallery.
As far rituals go, I always spend a lot of time researching and trying to understand the client or project as deeply as possible before I begin drawing, then, coffee in hand and music on, I start to put any ideas that come into my head onto paper. I write lots of lists and make little sketches and just go from there. I was recently commissioned to do an Illustration based on decorating your Christmas tree whilst drinking mulled wine and listening to Christmas music, so I felt it necessary to listen to Wizzard and Chris Rea on repeat all weekend to ‘get into the zone’ and I haven’t listened to anything else since!
Describe a typical day in the studio.
I usually get up at around 7:30 and make myself some muesli or porridge and hot water & lemon (I also have a love affair with Bonne Maman marmalade, I have to ration myself!). Then I’m usually at my desk by 8:45 to check my emails, twitter, my blog, and do any little bits if admin that I need to get out of the way. By 9ish I’m ready to get down to work, so I’ll stick on 6 Music and get going. At the moment I’m working on a re-brand of a gorgeous Lingerie Boutique, and have been collaborating with The Aviary to produce illustrations inspired by their amazing jewellery and trinkets (which was one of the nicest projects I’ve worked on in ages). I’m also designing wedding stationery for three couples and am having my website re-designed so there’s always a lot of work to juggle. I stop for lunch for 45 minutes or so, and then spend the afternoon speaking to printers to get quotes, and working on the live projects I have. I stop work for a couple of hours at around six to have dinner and go to the gym (otherwise I would not leave the house or speak to another soul all day!), then spend the evening updating my blog, and reading other blogs for inspiration and research. When you run your own business it can be very hard to switch off!
What keeps you pushing forward and making new work?
I love, love, love what I do. Simple as that. I couldn’t not draw, and I get to work with such lovely people (seriously I don’t have any horrible clients…yet), especially working in the wedding industry, brides are generally happy to be getting married and having pretty stationery designed just for them! Sometimes it can get frustrating when I have a seemingly never-ending project, or when I’m not feeling creative, but know I have a million deadlines, so I generally find listening to Christmas music or Adam and Joe to lift my spirits helps keep me going. As does good coffee and a little treat to nibble on.
How have you found collaborating with us on this project?
I have had the best time working with The Aviary! Getting to know Victoria has been wonderful, I feel like I’ve met a kindred spirit. It’s fab to find a like-minded soul who is as equally obsessed with the pretty things in life as I am! I love the whole ethos behind The Aviary and find their sweet little trinkets absolutely lovely, so I don’t think I could have been happier working with them. When my parcel full of treats to draw arrived it was like Christmas!
It’s also been fantastic to work alongside Scarlett and Harriet too and see how they approached the same brief. They both have beautifully delicate styles, and I really respect them both as Illustrators so it’s been a bit of a privilege to work together.
Would you work across creative disciplines again?
Definitely, it’s been a fantastic experience. It’s made me take a different approach to my illustration work by having new subject matter to work with, and it’s really exciting to see my illustrations in a different context. It can be quite isolating working freelance, and it is sometimes hard to come up with new ideas, but working to someone else’s brief, and re-interpreting their creative idea has been really refreshing.
And finally the most important questions…
Favourite hot drink? Good coffee
Favourite ‘real’ drink? G & T
Rural or urban? Urban (I like to be able to get a skinny latte at any hour of the day or night)
Cats or dogs? Dogs, although I’m allergic to both!
Find Gemma Milly online:
Gemma will also be stocking a range of our jewellery to accompany these illustrations in her online shop!
‘Collaboration: the action of working with someone to produce or create’
There are so many differences in modes of creation and production across the vast array of creative disciplines that now exist, but one aspect of being a contemporary designer, maker or artist tends to remain the same; we all spend vast amounts of time working in isolation.
Just over a month ago, once again surrounded by a sea of half-made collections, half drunk cups of tea, scrawled lists, collages and quick sketches, and in desperate need of some fresh perspectives we put a call out for young illustrators who would consider working with us.
We were completely taken aback by the number of creatives at similar points in their careers who also wanted to join forces. All that we asked was that they chose selected pieces from our range as their starting point for creating a series of illustrations in their own, indomitable styles.
Once you have become used to working alone, inviting other people to see the way you create, and reflect upon your final outcomes can feel slightly uncomfortable. However, ultimately it is a mutually beneficial process that opens up new and exciting dialogues about the work and in turn pushes fledgling ideas forward.
This exchanging of ideas shouldn’t be anything unusual, but in reality it is often a reflective, critical process that is a much missed (and all the more precious) activity from art school studio days that has become increasingly hard to make time for amidst the everyday juggle between freelance work and part time jobs.
The three incredible illustrators that have so generously and enthusiastically given their time and talents to this project were chosen not only because of their technical skills, but because we felt that they, and their work shared a similarity in spirit.
They have taken our trinkets and treasures and translated them into something more than the objects themselves. It has been wonderful.
We will be sharing their beautiful illustrations made in response to our jewellery and accessories over a number of posts in the coming days. We hope you enjoy exploring their work as much as we have!
Image credits:
1. Harriet Gray 2. Gemma Milly 3. Scarlett Rebecca
