Joël is a St.Gallen-based graphic artist and illustrator splitting his time between personal projects and commercial work. He was born in St.Gallen and in my opinion, he is a great artist with many attractive designs and illustrations in his portfolio. In his personal time, he is constantly seeking new techniques to expand his capabilities; applying his illustrations on textiles or recently on blankets.
Techniques for making illustration changed over time – Artists relied on paper, paints, pencils, but with the digital era evolution, even artists accustomed to traditional mediums and materials started working digitally. Joël often uses digital mediums for drawing his art creations but from time to time he uses traditional drawing style like wax pastel or watercolors. His work is graphic art led and largely based on incredible sketchbook doodles.
Today I’ve visited Joël in his studio in St.Gallen. He shares it with four other artists (Louis, Basil, Ladina and Melchior). Joël is a Member of the Illustrators Switzerland, which is a platform for all working illustrators in Switzerland. Some time ago he drew a children’s book called «Binja» which you can buy here or in almost every bookshop in Switzerland. For Frontify he drew some funny and cool figures which you can discover on their website. His work is simple and elegant, utilising shapes and bright colours to create charming characters.
It’s rare to find someone who lives from his illustrations/drawings and accepts the challenge. There are always the ups and downs, you never now if you have enough work or how long is it going to last? It’s a question of trends and requests… sometimes there is a lot to draw but sometimes not. His dream is to paint a large wall – I hope someone can fulfill this wish, that would be great!
If you like to see some of his work, visit his website! If you have something to do for him – write him! And if you want to meet him, come to the Vernissage on 19th March @Domus where he sell his new blanket edition! To be up to date, follow him on instagram!
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