Meet the Illustrator
T-Rex and Tuck Explore the Zoo would not be the same without the amazing artistic ability of Jessie Johnson, the illustrator for the book. I have thoroughly enjoyed getting to work with her and I can’t wait for you to see what she is creating for T-Rex and Tuck’s next adventures. I am completely taken by her ability to read my words and create engaging illustrations that are even better than what I could envision. Her character concepts were spot on and after seeing her initial sketches of Tuck and T-Rex, I knew she had to be a part of this journey! With that being said, here is Jessie to tell you a little bit more about her background.
Hello there! My name is Jessie and I am the illustrator for T-Rex and Tuck Explore the Zoo. I would like to share a little bit about my background and how I became an illustrator for this wonderful book. By reading my story, I hope you too can be inspired to explore your artistic passions!
I first started my journey in creating art when I was about four or five years old. I would doodle people, animals, made-up characters, and most anything I imagined. To this day, my passion for being creative has its roots in that uninhibited childlike curiosity. However, as I grew older, I began to shift my artistic style to realism which involved replicating images as accurately as possible. Although this phase taught me a lot about the world around me, I found that it often suffocated the creativity out of my art. When I graduated from high school and began my studies in college, I revisited the mindset of my youth by creating whatever I felt like making, regardless of how “realistic” or “good” it was. I learned that art is most enjoyable when you make whatever you want without placing constraints on yourself or comparing your results to others’ work.
Illustrating a children’s book is, in my opinion, one of the greatest ways to let go of creative constraints and truly make art. There is so much freedom and fun to be had when creating characters and scenes from scratch. It was this belief which eventually led me to illustrating T-Rex and Tuck Explore the Zoo. With a touching and wholesome story, I saw this book had potential to be a lot of artistic fun. I hope that when you read the story and look through the illustrations, you too will be able to rekindle that childlike zeal for exploration and creativity.
Please feel free to leave Jessie a kind word or ask her any questions about the illustrations or her creative process in the comments below!
