Artist, author and product designer Jane Davenport shares her story and imparts some creative wisdom along the way

Your career has been quite the journey! Tell us a little more about how you came to be where you are today.

My family tease me and say, ‘It only took you 15 years to become an overnight success!’ My career has always followed my own interests and I am a living example of never being afraid to make big changes. I have had three phases to my creative career. The first was in fashion, the next in photography and now as an artist, author, workshop leader and product designer. I also am a creative community creator, blogger, Youtuber and store owner. Instagram and Youtube are important parts of my story because they are so visual and are both really great places to showcase my journey!

How did you develop your own personal style?

I have been drawing feminine figures forever. I studied fashion illustration after leaving school and am always drawn to that style. Personal flair is something that is only born of practice, and I draw, draw, draw, draw and draw! I love it!

Do you have three top tips for people who want to get started with art journalling?

1. Just get in there and do something, anything! Grab a favourite colour in any medium and just make some marks. You will be surprised how that awakens the creative muse and leads to even more art!
2. Discover a creative community. I have the Jane Davenport Mixed Media facebook group full of people sharing their work and techniques using my art supplies. It’s a supportive, inspiring and uplifting place. Becoming part of a community like this makes you realise there are people all around the world, just like you, that love creating.
3. Start in the middle of a journal – this can be a good way to get over ‘perfectionitis.’ The perfect white flow of pages is disrupted, so you can’t ruin anything! It’s only paper anyway, so let loose!

Are there any must-have products you would recommend?

I don’t like to play favourites, but I can tell you that the watercolour palettes from my collection are specially balanced to give maximum creative options. Pens are my other must-haves. The Ultimate Pen in my new ‘Making Faces’ collection is a dense waterproof brush tip with an ink that is seriously life-altering!

Your website is a hub of inspiration! Why is it so important to you to inspire creative freedom in others?

Thank you – I love it! I work on it myself, so there’s a lot of my heart and soul on there! I know the happiness creativity brings to my own life and to the relaxation of mind and untangling of emotion towards which making things leads. The world desperately needs more happiness and we artistic people can always create a ripple effect.

What do you most enjoy about running workshops?

I mainly run workshops online now as my schedule is pretty hectic and doesn’t allow for the in-person kind at present. These are absolutely fantastic because you can be anywhere and switch on a mobile device and draw and paint along with me. It’s truly a blessing of this modern age! I have well over 30,000 people in my workshops and creating the videos for them is my biggest job. Really it’s the most important thing that I do because it’s the most helpful to others.

We love your new books, I Heart Drawing: Fabulous Figures and Happy Hour: Whimsical Girls. What makes them different from anything else out there?

Fabulous Figures explores a way of drawing bodies that I invented myself using hearts. The book comes with push-out templates to help you get started drawing all sorts of body shapes and movement. I have so much experience with drawing figures and have learned many different ways but they all seem to be rather complex and rely on you being able to already draw with confidence. So many people don’t have that as a starting point and, although willing, are intimidated. My heart method makes something as complex as the female figure approachable and fun!

Whimsical Girls looks like a super-fancy colouring book but it’s really an art journal that people can collaborate with me in. There are four different types of paper inside, plus stickers and two collage sheets! The pages are perforated so they can be removed and worked on separately so how it’s used is really up to you! What I love is that many people get multiple copies to keep one ‘as is’ and another to really let loose and create in.

Congratulations on your ever-expanding product range! Can you tell us a little more about the design process?

To get a product design together can take anywhere between two years and a few months. It all starts with an idea that I flesh out with illustrations and present to my partners, then my production team have to figure out how it can be made. We get samples that I test and then if I’m in love with them, we move into colour selection, colour naming and packaging options.

Each collection usually has around 40 pieces, so there are moving parts all over the place! My collections aim to be cohesive and reflect my aesthetic as well as capturing what I feel ‘Davenpeeps’ need in their art supply bag and what will make them want to create.

The people I work with in the production side of things are fantastic and we love creating innovative, fun and quirky supplies that will be useful and inspirational. The only thing I don’t like is having to keep things secret until launch-time! That is very hard when I am so excited and passionate about what I do!

Do you have anything exciting planned for 2019 that you can tell us about?

The only downside to what I am doing now is I have to keep many exciting things under wraps until they are ready. It just makes telling everyone about them even more fab though! I can tell you that I am working on another art supply collection and a new book!

Finally, how would you describe yourself in three words?

Creative, colourful and alive!

Find even more inspiration at www.janedavenport.com