As a member of Jennifer Nelson Artists I enjoy the work of the other illustrators but I don’t often get to see them or work with them. Here’s what happened when we had a rare chance to collaborate.
One night at dinner whilst doodling with some fellow artists, I noticed that some of us have a tendency to fill up every available space in a drawing, while others (like me) tend to use a lot of negative space. So I thought I’d try switching it around and experimenting with adding art to every inch of the page.
I met Anisa Makhoul my fellow artist at JNA for the very first time this summer. We met by the sea in Brighton when she was travelling around in Europe with her family. Anisa and I enjoyed a couple of days together and our sons Oslo and Reginald became friends, laughing, eating ice cream and getting up to mischief. I love Anisa's work, she is a fantastic girl and so funny. We had a blast and we said “We need to find a way to collaborate.”
What we came up with was to make stamps, because its a way to travel the world without getting on a plane. Being an illustrator gets rather lonely sometimes and projects like these are a brilliant way to communicate and spend time with like-minded people.
The first theme chosen was horses so I indulged in a bit of pony homage and drew some chubby horses. Then I got sidetracked into making motorcycles as my mind raced away with a made-up word association game. Horses - Horsepower - Motorbikes.
Anisa chose the second theme: love. I got off to a rocky start but then I started drawing little tiny Mexican tin hearts and soon... my love stamp was born. That’s the true story behind my new stamp art. Enjoy - Monika
