Johanna Gousset Interview

Did you attend art school or undertake any other formal artistic training?

I studied illustration at Middlesex University (London, UK). It was a wonderful experience for me and it conforted me into wanting to be a full-time illustrator.

Interesting fact: I was homeschooled for most of my younger years, which gave me plenty of free time to be creative, read and wander around in the wild Pyrenean mountains on top of my studies. I am so grateful for this upbringing which taught me to be independant, organised and to be curious of the world around me!

Where do you currently live and where did you grow up?

I grew up in the Pyrenean mountains, in the South of France. I traveled around a lot, especially to the United-States where I went multiple times. I lived in London (UK) for 6 years and after Covid moved to Belgium where I still live today.

Take us behind the scenes and describe your studio / workspace.

My studio space isn't big (I have too many books to fit in a 70m2 appartment!) but it's full of light and beautiful plants. I currently work on a big desk built by my lovely husband and everything I need fits perfectly on it. I like a tidy and organised workspace, though it can get messy at times! On the wall next to me I hang all of my favourite artwork from fellow illustrators and quotes that insipre me. There's a sofa in one corner where I often sit for a break and a cup of tea, and it's usually where I send my emails from (because feeling cosy while sending emails is important!).

What advice would you offer someone just starting out as a children’s illustrator?

Work hard and don't give up!

What’s one thing that most people don’t know about you?

My favourite dessert is apple pie. The type with apple compote, no cream (I hate cream). Not many people know this but I kinda hope they would!

How do you overcome a creative block?

I usually go for a walk, listen to music, read, listen to a podcast or take an art class. Inspiration comes in many forms!

Are there any children’s classics you’d love to illustrate and/or re-tell?

I would really love to illustrate Heidi by Johanna Spyri, or Belle et Sébastien by Cécile Aubry. I grew up with those two stories and they're very close to my heart. I also grew up in the mountains and feel like I would be a perfect fit to illustrate those stories.

The other book I would absolutely love to work on is the Heartland series by Lauren Brooke. I used to love them as a child and I'm actually really suprised that no illustrated version exist! It needs to happen!

Who or what made you want to become an illustrator?

I've always loved books and words. When I was younger I wanted to become a French teacher. My parents were both artists so I grew up surrounded by books, paints, inks and papers. They struggled financially so I made a point of not wanting to do the same job as them. But it didn't work out quite that way in the end! I went to university to study literature but I missed drawing too much and realised that this wasn't right for me. So I found a way to combine my love for books and my love of drawing. Illustration became a clear choice for me and I never regretted it.

Who or what have been some of your major artistic influences?

I've always loved travelling sketchbook artists like Stéphanie Ledoux and Titouan Lamazou. They constantly feed my imagination by their use of various techniques and atmospheres. I also love more traditonal children books illustrators like Thibault Prugne or Quentin Gréban. I love their poetic style and their technique is of course admirable. But I also feel inspired by music, animation, writting, film, etc. I could name hundreds of artists, musicians, writer I admire. I think art in general is an incredible source of ideas and I will never get tired of learning.

Which books from your own childhood really stand out?

The books that really come to mind are part of a collection that included a CD with an audiobook. The stories were written and read by Marlène Jobert and I used to absolutely love them. The ones I remember the most were tales introducing music from different famous classical music composers. I think my two favourite ones were Le Petit Garçon Qui Mordait Les Chiens with Tchaïkovski's music and Panique chez les Sorcières with Bach's music. I can still hear Marlène Jobert's voice in my head today when I think about them!

Do you have a favourite picture book or recall one of the first picture books you saw?

My favourite picture book is probably Maestro by Thibault Prugne. I love its size (it's really big!), the illustrations are absolutely stunning and I love that it includes a CD with the audio version of the book and beautiful music composed specially for the story.

Who or what has been your greatest mentor?

The children's book illustrator Martin Ursell, my second year tutor at university, has been an incredible mentor and he has had a huge influence on my work. He believed in me right from the start and always encouraged me. He made us work hard and taught us everything he knew about being a children's book illustrator. He made us carry a sketchbook everywhere we went and always sent us to various shops and museums around London to gather reference sketches from life. He was a great teacher. He's retired now but I still get a beautifully illustrated Christmas card from time to time.

What was your first commission as a professional illustrator?

I was lucky enough to get my first commission while still being a student. The author Mike Thexton commissioned me to illustrate a young adult novel. This meant creating about 80 illustrations and a cover. It was a big undertaking but it taught me a lot and it really launched the beginning of my career. This collaboration led to three more novels and a picture book with the same publisher.

Have you always loved to draw?

I've always loved to draw. My mum always looked after me full time so she used to take me with her everywhere, even to life modelling classes. She always had books and things for me to draw on and so I would happily wait for her, sitting quietly in one corner with my pencils and papers. It never bothered me and it's probably what led me to become an illustrator.

Describe your working technique and how you came to perfect it.

I started with watercolours and ink but I gradually moved more towards a mix of techniques. Though opposed to most things digital originally, the fact that I started working more in animation led me to explore digital techniques as well as more efficient ways of drawing a lot of images. I finally got a Wacom tablet and after a period of getting used to it I now would find it difficult to work without. I love the freedom that the tablet gives me by making it easy to erase, move things around, change tons, layers, add text, remove text, reframe, resize, etc. I feel less pressure when working on the tablet. However, I still love the feeling of real paper, the unexpectedness of watercolours and the rough texture of a pencil or pastel. Therefore, I now always mix the two. I go back and forth between roughs on paper, scans, layout on the tablet, colours on paper and final details on the tablet. This will probably continue to evolve over time.

Have you taken part in any speaker events?

Yes, I've taken part in many speaker events: book launches, corporate meetings, fairs and exhibitions. Most of these were centered around my job as an illustrator but also around being a freelancer and business owner.

Have you visited any schools to speak or hold workshops?

Yes, I have done some school visits in person (and via Zoom) to follow up the publication of my books and talk about my job as an illustrator. I've also organised a few workshops for children around various themes like Picture Book Covers, Sketching In The Garden, Inspired by Music, Playing with Watercolours, etc. I've also mentored a few students between the age of 8 and 12 to help them with their book illustration projects and accepted some internships from art school graduates. In 2022 I also worked as a 2D Animation teacher. I created a first year traditonal animation course from scratch and taught it to a total of about 700 undergraduate students.

All these experiences were very rewarding and I will keep doing these in the future.

Do you have a favourite soundtrack you listen to when you’re working?

One of my favourite artist to listen to while I work is Stu Larsen. He's an Australian musician who has been travelling around the world for the past 10 to 15 years. He's an incredible human and he writes beautiful music. We met in London while I was sketching at one of his shows and we became friends over the years. We've done many projects together and he has been incredibly supportive of my work. I'm currently creating a graphic novel inspired by his life, so his music can often be heard playing in my studio.

Are you an author/illustrator?

Yes. I write and illustrate books.

What makes a good children’s book?

A good layout!

How important is it for you to be part of a creative community of people?

I love being on my own and working alone, but a good community of people is essential to evolve and stay sane!

I particularly love the community created around the Good Ship Illustration. I've always felt inspired by Katie Chappell's work and when she created The Good Ship with Tania Willis and Helen Stephens, I joined in. Being surrounded by other creative people means being able to receive feedback, feeling inspired, sharing technical tips, feeling energized, and getting support and kind words when times are tough.

If you weren’t an illustrator, what would you be doing?

Good question! I've asked myself this many times over in my career, usually when things are difficult and I'm wondering if I should change career. The answer is always "I wouldn't want to do anything else".

What are some of your favourite subjects to draw?

I love to draw anything related to nature: plants, trees, animals, landscapes, etc. I've also always particularly loved drawing horses. I know it's something that a lot of illustrators dread, but I love it.

How do you get your creative juices flowing?

Good music, a clean and organised desk and a cup of tea!

Animals feature heavily in children’s books – do you have a pet?

I don't anymore (for now) but I grew up surrounded by animals: dogs, cats, horses, sheep, chickens, goats, and we even had a cow once! Horses were a big part of my life for many years, but now my horse is old and enjoying retirement in a big field at my mum's house. He's called Nash and he's now a fat cheeky geezer who will steal apples and pears from your basket as soon as you're not looking. Actually... he will try even if you're looking.

Do you keep a sketch book?

I LOVE sketchbooks and keep multiple ones! I usually have one per project + various ones for personnal practice and a few different ones for when I travel or when I sketch during a concert. I like having different sizes but I always favour the A5 landscape ones. I'm also quite picky with paper. My favourite sketchbooks are made by a little independant shop in London called Aqua Handmade Books. She uses Bockingford Paper and has a great binding technique which means that the sketchbooks lie flat without any problem. Great to paint across a double spread! I also love the texture of Khadi paper sketchbooks to experiment on, but I also use cheap random sketchbooks to test materials or to draw thumbnails. I also love bookbinding so I occasionally make my own.

Tell us about the creation of your favourite character from one of your books.

I had a lot of fun creating the whale for my latest book La Petit Fille et la Baleine. The character actually led me to the story and not the other way around. I wanted to work on a character with simple shapes and the idea of the whale came up. I wanted it to be cute and round and the final design arrived pretty quickly. I like positive and hopeful messages in my stories so I wanted the whale to have a dream that the other whales (and most other people) would find unrealisable. I've listened to the Make Good Art speech by Neil Gaiman many many times and have always loved his idea of the mountain as an image of your goals in life. So my whale was going to climb a mountain.

I then tried to imagined how a whale would be able to travel if it was out of the water (you know, supposing it wouldn't need water to live. This is a children's book after all. Anything can happen!). So I drew all sorts of transportation systems. Then I knew the whale would want to be useful along the way, so I asked myself: "What is a whale useful for in everyday life?" Watering plants, helping to build a bridge, flattening a field, etc. And like this, the story took shape.

Do you offer more than one style, if so – talk us through the different approaches and the audience you are targeting for each.

I love illustrating stories for children because it helps spread positive messages through poetic and beautiful imagery. I love to create a world I feel good in (this usually involves a lot of plants and trees and birds) and sharing this world with kids to show them that it's possible, and that not everything is war and greed and sadness. I hope it helps them to feel hopeful as they grow up.

The aim is similar when I work in animation. I create animated music videos for musicians around the world. The targeted audience is not children anymore but I strongly believe that adults are no different. They too have emotions, they too are sensitive to beautiful things, and they too need hope and peace in this violent world. I certainly do. So I make animations in the same ways that I illustrate books. There's a story, thumbnails, roughs and then a lot and a lot and a lot of drawings.

What do you do in your spare time?

I currently spend a lot of time house hunting with husband (or should I say ruin hunting as we're looking for a place to fully renovate!). But as a general rule I love going out for walks, I love swimming, reading, gardening, playing the piano (though I don't play as often as I should). But don't be mistaken, I also love being cuddled up inside, in front of Netflix, with a cup of tea in one hand and cake in the other! I'm just an old lady really! (Disclaimer: I'm 29!)

Johanna Gousset

Children's Illustrator