JANELLE BARONE: Comic book art, dramatic colours and Kendrick Lamar.

This week we talk to Australian illustrator and animator Janelle Barone

Easle is a home of the worlds best independent artists, every week we select an artist to spotlight, and give you a walkthrough of their universe. Despite not having the chance to meet with Janelle Barone, we were keen to get an insight into her work. An illustrator and graphic designer from Australia, whose unique style is marked by dark colours and defined images.

Easle Team: Can you tell us more about you?

Janelle Barone: I’m from Melbourne, Australia. I’m a digital illustrator and I studied Communication Design. My work is all Photoshop based, but more than that it’s a mixture of cultures and aesthetics. Western comic book art, Japanese woodblock printing and documentary photography are probably the three things I bring up most whenever people ask about my style. I use a lot of dramatic colour and I try to create work that’s atmospheric and contemplative.

E.T: Do you remember your first project as an artist?

J.B: My first project ever? I have a fairly tattered, taped up, fairy-colouring page you might be interested in viewing. I think I ‘completed it’ when I was three. My mother tells me that I refused to touch the picture at first. When she finally persuaded me to start colouring it I refused to stop. I coloured that page to the point that it tore on multiple occasions and had to be fixed. I guess I just wasn’t happy with it, so I coloured it to death. (My artworks incur less perfection-driven injuries these days).

I think you’re probably asking about my first commercial job, though. My first commercial job (I think) was a commission for some spot illustrations for a printer’s mail out. I was still a student at the time. I remember I was wary of being taken advantage of (they turned out to be incredibly nice), I was nervous because I’d never had a ‘meeting’ with ‘clients’ involving ‘actual pay’ before (none of which turned out to be remotely problematic). The job was commissioned through a Melbourne based design studio with a beautiful office space and studio dog. It was exciting, I suppose. It was exciting because it was official. I was being taken seriously, and I was being paid. Reputable designers were telling me they liked my work. That meant a lot at the time. When you go through the university system as a graphic design student, you’re made very aware that illustration isn’t for everyone, and that making a start as an illustrator isn’t easy. Having tangible proof that there was a place for me in the working world was obviously beneficial.

E.T: Have you ever been tempted to release your own comic book?

J.B: Honestly, no! I do really like comics, and some of my favourite artists have released comics (Daniel Clowes, Adrian Tomine, Tomer Hanuka). But for some reason it’s never been something I’ve seriously considered doing myself. I am a little intimidated by the amount of work that goes into making one. Since they’re so story driven I feel that I would have to come up with something I really, really wanted to say in order to sustain an interest in finishing one. But maybe one day….

E.T: What’s your ideal work setup?

J.B: I currently work from home, I hope one day to have a studio space though. I try to keep it simple. I’ll work anywhere with decent natural light, where I can drink coffee and listen to music whilst I’m staring at my screen.

E.T: What music do you like working to?

I’ll play anything, honestly. My Spotify library probably makes it seem as though I have multiple personality disorder. Right now I’m listening to Angel Olsen, Kendrick Lamar, Justin Hurwitz, and the Go-Betweens.

E.T: If you had to choose two colours for the rest of your life, what would they be?

J.B: If I really had to choose… then probably black and white. (Yes, I know black is technically not a colour). Maybe a bit of yellow then, too. As much as I love using colour, and testing colours out, if the image doesn’t work in black and white, I know it won’t work in colour either. An image isn’t successful if it relies on colour to create a cohesive composition, or to take proper form, in my opinion. Plus black and white is basically just simple and elegant.

E.T: Animation or illustration?

J.B: Probably illustration. Simply because I’d be too lazy to continuously animate. (Lame reason, Janelle). Still, motion is something that I really want to play around with more. Whether that’s through UX interfaces, simple frame gifs or longer features. There’s a lot of opportunity out there. Especially for someone like myself whose workflow is already so digital. I hope to one day collaborate with some professional animators too. I’ll add that when I do animate, I animate around an illustration. Meaning that my animations always start off as still image concepts, not moving ones. That’s just the way my mind works these days. For me it’s all about being reductive. If I need to make an illustration move to make it work, how successful is it as a concept?

E.T: If you had to choose one artist in the world for a collaboration, who would it be?

J.B: There are a lot of artists that I want to meet. I could fill a page with their names. There are less that I’d actually collaborate with. I think collaborations work best when the people involved have different skillsets.

I’m really interested in working with people who do experimental generative design, programming and user experience. There’s a generative ‘data and sound artist’ named Ryoji Ikeda whose work is very captivating. I’d be really curious to see what could come out of working with someone like that. There’s so many more people though. I found this question really hard to answer.

E.T: What are your aspirations for the next few years?

J.B: I just want to keep drawing. I want to keep making work and pushing my style further. I’ve only been at this for a short while, so naturally I want to expand my client base and work on bigger, more creatively rewarding projects, too. Getting an agent is on the list. Collaborating with other artists is on the list. World domination is somewhere near the bottom, right before cutting down on caffeine.

Hire Janelle now at https://easle.co/janelle

Check out her Instagram