From ideas formed in his trusted sketchbook, Joren Joshua creates illustrations inhabited by his uniquely crafted characters. They make appearances in quality prints and on the sides of buildings, but always with their distinctive sense of style.
‘Jackpot’ screen print— collaboration with Ilse Weisfelt.
The characters that Joren designs always come with a pinch of tongue-in-cheek fun. Humour in his ideas and the general shaping of his figurative illustrations give them an engaging lightheartedness that we really like.
And they look goon on any scale, translating well into the huge pieces of street art that he often creates.
I’m Joren Joshua (1990), a freelance illustrator from Rotterdam, the Netherlands.
Over two years ago, I started as a freelancer. Since then, I’ve worked to give my own signature to personal and commissioned projects to gain a place in the competitive world of illustration.
My work is strongly influenced by graffiti and traditional printing techniques. I try to incorporate the traditional ‘feeling’ of these techniques into my work, which is why all my illustrations are still drawn by hand.
The process of sketching is the most important part of my work and takes up a large portion of the process. A curious development, as during my studies I never took time to properly sketch; back then, only the end result mattered. ‘The one hit,’ is what I call it now.
It always takes some times to create an idea. The idea does not immediately have to be mind-blowing or overly complex.
It often starts with a small pun or an everyday experience. I often develop these first ideas when I am on the road, my sketchbook always at hand.
These sketchbooks are very chaotic; the drawings are far from beautiful. I even think that most people would not realize that I have any drawing skills at all if they would see these sketches ha ha!
I develop these basic sketches on A4 paper with fineliners and markers. Anatomically, my figures are quite complex, so I spend a lot of time perfecting the often ‘imperfect’ poses of my figures, using a light box.
Finally, I scan in the end result and develop the illustrations in Photoshop, removing the former outlines. Ideally, I turn these digital drawing back again into screen prints, or even better, wall paintings!
© Joren Joshua, 2014
