Alright, here’s a quick overview of me I suppose. As you know, my name is Jennifer Williams (although some of you coming here may know me better as Senny) I’m an art graduate, recently having finished my BA (hons) degree in Illustration at the Kent Institute of Art and Design, a rather funky college in the middle of nowhere. Or Maidstone, as it’s otherwise known. I was born and live in London, a place I’m very fond of, where I also work part time as a bookseller. I was educated, haha, at a very large scary comprehensive school, where I got some groovy GSCE results, and amazingly survived the drink-fuelled mayhem that was A-levels to grab some decent grades. It’s amazing because all I remember about 6th form is vodka jelly, the time warp and a distinct lack of revision.
From there, after dallying with the idea of a history degree (mainly to avoid the wrath of my history teacher) I went off to do a Foundation Course in Art and Design at Ravensbourne college. Which was frantic and scary, as Foundation courses tend to be, and consequently I took a gap year after that, working for a year at the Science Museum bookshop. Luckily, the shock of an entire year of getting up early and commuting on the tube convinced me I wasn’t ready to give up on education just yet, and that’s when I went off to KIAD for a largely enjoyable three years. I finished with a 2:1, which I was very pleased about, and a big end of year exhibition in Brick Lane that was extremely enjoyable. And that’s a quick summary of my educational life.
I learnt an awful lot during my degree, mostly about illustration, but also quite a bit about art college. If you go into a vocational course, where one might argue that opinion is everything, prepare to be annoyed a great deal of the time. Having said that, I have some strong opinions that were at least partly formed at college, and here’s a brief overview of those:
I suppose those are Jen’s Five Principles of Illustration. There are more I think, so check out the NewsyBloggyRant for more information on that.
And here we come to the Big Fan Of section, a ramble through the various things I am, well, you get the idea.
Neil Gaiman may be the greatest storyteller we have currently working, in any medium he is extraordinary. If you’re reading this and have never come across his work, I strongly suggest (with implements of torture) you go find something of his right away. Or at least after you’ve finished browsing around here. There’s too much stuff to recommend to be honest, the obvious being The Sandman comics series, or my current favourite, his short stories book Smoke and Mirrors. On the Links page you’ll find a link to Neil Gaiman’s online journal, which is as fabulous as everything else he’s involved in.
Dave McKean was of course the cover artist for The Sandman, and has had an extraordinary influence on illustration in general. He’s tremendously talented in so many areas you’d hate him if he wasn’t such a nice bloke. I’ve been a fan for years, and I’m proud to say that I own several things signed by him.
Alan Moore is a comics genius, and the person I tend to recommend to people foolish enough to say, "Comics are for kids, innit?" in earshot of me. I’ve come to the Moore party somewhat late and I’m still catching up, but it does mean that I get the rather marvellous sensation of being amazed by each book of his I read; The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, V for Vendetta, Watchmen, From Hell. Each are landmarks, for good reason.
Terry Pratchett should need no introduction (if you’ve not read the Discworld books, where have you been?) JUST CHECKING WHETHER THIS DOES ANYTHING AT ALLand is another of our greatest British writers. He is also special to me for co-writing possibly my favourite book of all time with Neil Gaiman (Good Omens) and I think it’s worth noting he’s one of Jenni’s (la Technical Wizard Extraordinaire. Or should that be witch?) favourite authors. We went to a signing together once, and were both far too excited to be sensible.
Stephen King doesn’t need me to wax lyrical about him, being one of the best-known authors on the planet, but, for the record, I’m a Really Big Fan. The slightly more obscure Dark Tower series are my favourite books, and if you want the best Stephen King/Dark Tower resource on the interweb, then go to my links page and check out TheDarkTower.net. I’m there all the time, username sen, do say hello, and if you’re feeling brave check out the Calendar, where, somewhat improbably, I’m Miss February.
Edward Gorey, Brian Froud and Alexis Deacon are people I’m mentioning to give you an idea of the major influences in my own work (besides McKean). Froud is well known for his work on the Dark Crystal and the Labyrinth, and his fantasy illustration was an inspiration to me as a very small and impressionable child. Deacon is a relatively new children’s book artist, who is doing some fabulous things with the genre, and gave the best talk about the ins and outs of illustration I’ve ever heard. Gorey is well known in America, and less well known over here, which is very wrong. He’s unique, and my discovery of him during college was one of the best things to happen to me there.
copyright © Jennifer Williams 2004