We are so lucky to have illustrator Emma Dibben with us as our professional freelancer this week! We were able to chat to Emma after she got back from Portugal, where she made the most of getting stuck during lockdown. Emma is the queen of UK food illustration, and her dynamic and lively work has influenced many a younger illustrator. You’ll have seen her work on Waitrose’s own-brand packaging, Bags For Life and in Waitrose FOOD magazine, as well as numerous recipe books. But she’s not just about food! Since graduating from Falmouth College of Arts in 2004, Emma has illustrated tonnes of books and editorials across a wide range of topics, as well as products like crockery and cookware. Emma is based in the amazing Jamaica Street Studios in Bristol.
1. How has your work changed since you started out? I’m still working in the same field of food illustration but my work has changed a lot since I started out. I would say my work is lighter and less laboured now, yet all the years of very detailed still life observation is what informs the freedom of the line and colour now.
2. How did you get your first proper commission? After graduating, I spent a week hiking around London with my portfolio in a shoulder bag and got lots of blisters! My feet were so sore, but it really did pay off. That trip generated a lot of work for several years to come.
3. How do you go about finding clients, and what channels do you use to promote your work? I used to make real life appointments to see prospective clients, which I love. It is so nice to actually meet the people you are working with, and it massively helps the working relationship. Now so much is done online, through email and social media channels, which I think is a shame. Although with clients in different countries, for longer projects, we usually do a Skype call to meet and this is also helpful. People keep telling me Instagram is the best promotion platform now but I am so bad at it! Apart from wanting to keep social media to a minimum, when I need to keep a project under wraps until it is published I find it hard to remember to Instagram it – it can be several months after the completion date before I can share it! More often these days I send new work to clients by email but I am trying to remember to do Instagram posts and embrace this also!
4. Where do you work , and how has this changed with lockdown? I have a studio space in Bristol and I value this so much. I find working from home hard, I get cabin fever really quickly. It is a source of inspiration to have other creative people around to chat things through with and have impromptu crits. I also spend periods of time travelling with my work which I find hugely inspiring. This is the beauty of being freelance and doing something that can be done from anywhere (albeit with my mobile studio in tow, which involves carrying a scanner in my suitcase!). During lockdown I was in rural Portugal living on a Quinta in a small community. This gave me a beautiful balance of working in the studio and the garden. Coming back to restricted studio use was hard but I manage it with a combination of studio hours and working from home. When I am working from home I need to make sure I go outside first thing for a run or a walk before I can start the working day.
5. How do you keep yourself motivated? Deadlines and a necessity to earn a living are very helpful in keeping me motivated!
As well as the inner drive and compulsion to keep creating through personal projects, having commissioned work and being busy keeps me motivated too. There are many highs and lows of being self-employed and periods when I don’t have commissioned work can be the hardest times to stay motivated and productive as the worry about where the next job is coming from sets in. It is important to learn what is needed to stay well through the roller coaster of creative self employment. Rather than having a punishing day stuck at my desk when nothing is flowing, gardening and time in nature keeps me inspired and uplifted. It helps the energy flow. If I don’t feel productive at my desk, I can always feel productive in the garden, and spending time in nature is a re-set. I have an allotment a ten minute cycle ride from my studio which helps my work process enormously, and is a beautiful place to sit and draw. Having proper time off is also important, to switch completely off work.
6. Do you listen to anything while you work? If so, give us a recommendation! My favourite thing to listen to while working is Russell Brand’s podcast ‘Under the Skin’. He has the most fascinating guests and conversations. I also find his voice and manner incredibly engaging and easy to listen to whilst I’m concentrating on illustrating. And it is always nice to laugh out loud too!
7. Can you describe a job you’re most proud of? I’m happiest with the work I do when working with clients that are aligned with my ethics. Recently I illustrated some recipe cards by chef Linton Magume as part of Journeys Festival’s Global Kitchen for Refugee Week which was a real privilege to be part of.
I loved working with Lia Leendertz on her Almanac in 2018 as it was drawing and learning about everything I love in nature. And I’m really happy with how the collaboration with Great Jones and Pentagram turned out. I also love working on recipe books and have enjoyed very much collaborating with amazing chefs and designers on all the books I’ve worked on.
The time when I have felt the deepest value in having an art practice was when I went with two fellow artists to the Dunkirk refugee camp in France and spent some days doing art workshops with the children there. It was incredible to experience the therapeutic benefit of art and to witness these children being able to be children, painting and playing.
8. What are you working on at the moment? I do a regular editorial commission for a food magazine in the States, and I just finished some work for the launch of a virtual cocktail event here in the UK. There’s a possible recipe book on the cards, and a couple of self initiated projects bubbling away in the background.
9. What’s the weirdest request you’ve ever had? To illustrate mayonnaise in a white bowl – so boring!!
Another weird job was being asked to draw a bowl of fish soup with a fishing scene in it, so mussels became the sea cliffs, there was a sunset over the bowl and a fishing boat with nets being thrown out into the soup – just odd!
10. Is there anything you wish you’d known when you started out? It would have been great to have had more understanding of pricing and licensing. The Association of Illustrators have been an invaluable source of help and advice on this. It’s essential that this is taught as part of degrees so illustrators don’t end up working for super low fees with bad contracts which ends up undermining the industry. Valuing our trade and creativity is fundamental. Another important conversation is how we can take care of our mental health, with all the pressures of deadlines and then periods of anxiety without work it can be a real roller-coaster. Learning to prioritise and take care of our well being is key to a healthy practice.
Wow, thanks Emma! Travelling with a scanner is a real commitment to your work! We wholeheartedly agree with your last comment – it’s so important to take care of your mental well-being, and having a good understanding of the industry and your own self-worth can be a huge part of that.
You can see more of Emma’s gorgeous work on her website, emmadibben.com and follow her on Instagram @emmadibbenillustrates to get her to share more!
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