Ema, Illustration artist

M Freeman
Jun 18, 2019
4 min read

I have the privilege to work with Ema, to create the cover for Poison: Retaliation. I asked her a few questions to get to know her a little better.

Tell us more about yourself.

My name is Ema and I live in North Wales where the sea meets the mountains. I’m married with 3 beauts that keep me on my toes. My best friend Sen is as socially awkward as me, but as a rescue dog from Romania he has a good excuse. I like to stay fit and active and love to be outdoors. I’m ridiculously spoiled for choice of beautiful places to explore in North Wales. In my “spare” time (that doesn’t exist) I play roller derby and Spider-Slam is my derby alter ego, because he is clearly the best superhero.

What got you into illustration?

I have always been arty and creative and I love to draw. I’ve very much enjoyed where my career has taken me over the years, but more recently I’ve found myself lacking direction and I asked myself if I stopped focusing on what my strengths are, what I’m good at, what I think is achievable, what would I love to do the most. The answer was illustration. I very very almost discredited it before I let it settle as I would never be good enough, but luckily my husband wouldn’t let me off that lightly! After some big thinking I took the plunge and enrolled to start my degree in Illustration and somewhat astounded myself in how good I was and how quickly I was advancing.

Self-taught or studied? If studied: what and where?

Both! As I was still working full time and have a busy family life I could only do the degree part-time so I’m still working on it in the background with the University of Creative Arts in Canterbury. I’m now illustrating full time. I also spend a lot of time learning from other artists of all levels online and through books. I read a lot of graphic novels so I may see a technique and then fall down a rabbit hole of Youtube videos looking up it’s execution!

What types of projects do you prefer doing?

I really love that graphic novel comic book style. I think it has huge appeal right now. My background is marketing and so much of marketing is down to psychology and appeal I love that I can bring this knowledge into my book cover illustrations. So basically Poison: Retaliation is my perfect job right now! I’m also dipping my toes into children’s book illustrations which is a whole new area for me so I’ll get back to you on how that goes ;) Fun fact, my first commission was for a series of vaginas. I have also done a series of anus’. Yep, my talent knows no ends.

What’s your process when you take on a project.

It depends on the project, but for a book cover:

I would start with getting a synopsis and sometimes a couple of chapters of a book. From there I create a little mind map and then start sketching out some crude thumbnail compositions. I would choose 4-5 of these to send over to the Author and start a discussion of what they like, or don’t like. From there I would develop the first draft of the cover. Once I’ve got that to a point we’re both happy with I would create the final piece. I stay in good contact with the Author and share regular updates to make sure the project is always taking a direction they want.

What inspires you.

Lots! Everything! I think my two big drivers are a highly competitive nature and an abundance of energy and creativity (also known as ADHD). I want to be successful. I want to be an amazing illustrator and improve on my work each time. These are massive sources of inspiration. If I create something, even if I like it I will always look at how I could improve it next time. I don’t want to get comfy and slump, I don’t want to be a mediocre talent. I like to start my working day early and take lots of walks, this really help keep ideas fresh and flowing. I get inspired by my kids, cartoons (I love cartoons), being outside and the artwork and books I read.

More info about 1 Zero 7 Illustration

1 Zero 7 is my roller derby number. I chose it based on a silly sentimental story. My Dad loved gadgets, crazy for them. He brought a fancy watch that did everything except change a flat tyre. He could never use it and the alarm use to go off at 7 minutes past 1 and he would taunt my younger siblings with it. The day he passed away we finally turned the alarm off for him. It just stuck with me through all his crazy stories and jokes and I took it for my derby number. We’re in an era where people are reduced to numbers in so many areas, I like the idea that I choose mine in more than just roller derby. I like life on my terms ;)