Johis

Johis

@johannatarkela.com

Finnish illustrator in the UK 🌸 All human made art 🌸 HarperCollins / Macmillan / Scholastic / Purina / Hain Celestial, Coolabi & more 🌸 βœ‰οΈ contact@johannatarkela.com (@johisart)

6.3K followers340 following713 posts

Johis
@johannatarkela.com

I've just spent a week driving around and drawing in Zambia's South Luangwa national part with a bunch of other artists and ended up nearly filling a 76 page sketchbook in that period of time. *_*

Johis
@johannatarkela.com

First sketchbook in my life that I've got close to filling and likely will anyway, just going to add some final bits at the end now that I'm home. I really miss it already, post holiday blues hitting extra hard this time, I'd even call it the best trip I've done and it was exactly the reset I needed

Johis
@johannatarkela.com

-even if I woke up 5am every morning for a drive?? But will try keep the inspiration going even now that I'm home again! And I'm hoping to do a full sketchbook narration video at some point too :) here's a brief look of what I did!

Johis
@johannatarkela.com

So why does bsky keep booting me out constantly and won't even save my login details? Maybe the latter is just my phone, although it seems to save everything else fine :V

Johis
@johannatarkela.com

Been stocking up on some nice watercolours lately and also grabbed a calligraphy brush today and I'm so obsessed with it, such lovely soft brush strokes and textures

Johis
@johannatarkela.com

Having a lot of fun lately filling a physical sketchbook again! I'm trying to figure out which tools I enjoy the most and gouache is definitely on top of the list at the moment. Also inks! Did an assortment of bird drawings after visiting a bird park last weekend πŸͺΆ

Johis
@johannatarkela.com

Just noticed a project I worked on last year is out! I got to make the box illustration for a new Celestial Seasonings tea! :D made both the front art of the otter, and ingredient spot art for the back. Packaging art has always been one of my favourite types of jobs, loved making this too.

Johis
@johannatarkela.com

Big reveal time!! Something I've been working on since last year.... I am an official artist for Warrior Cats! ✨️ Here's the first one that's been shared today, Firestar! There will be a new illustration shared every day for about a week now on the Warrior Cats social media accounts πŸ‘€

Johis
@johannatarkela.com

Stay tuned for a lot of cat art! :D this has been such a dream project already, I've had so much fun illustrating so many of these iconic characters and with many I even got to design aspects of their looks. And the team has been so wonderful and passionate to work with. Can't wait to share more!

Johis
@johannatarkela.com

Been getting back into traditional art lately on my free time, painted a tiger yesterday! Painted on approx A3 size Arches hot press 300gsm paper with watercolour, the whiskers and eye highlight are gouache though.

Johis
@johannatarkela.com

WIP stages! Been a while since I finished something with watercolours, and while I really like them I think I need to experiment with gouache again as well, since I quite like being able to paint dark to light too. Enjoyed painting this anyway for variety and fun!

Johis
@johannatarkela.com

O hey, I realised I have a fire horse painting too! Done as a cover commission for a book series, but this particular painting didn't end up getting used as the direction changed a bit and I made an alternative cover in the end. I still like it though!

Johis
@johannatarkela.com

I have two ink originals left for sale! They're drawn on a 300gsm watercolour card, A5 size (5.8 x 8.3"). 70 GBP each, will post anywhere, tracked shipping included. Email me at johiscomms@gmail.com if you'd like to grab any :)

Johis
@johannatarkela.com

Thank you all who visited my den table! Had a great time and my bag is 10 x lighter to carry home so my back appreciates that πŸ˜ŽπŸ‘Œ I have 2 originals left, will post them up later! Should be able to ship anywhere.

Johis@johannatarkela.com

I'll be at Scotia in a few weeks, dealing Saturday-Sunday! This will likely be the last con I'll be dealing at for quite some time, so if you're there and want to grab anything last chance πŸ‘€will have the usuals; prints, my wooden keyrings and some original art.

Johis
@johannatarkela.com

Also I got quite a few comments over the weekend from people who remember my work from DA ages ago or have bought prints from me at cons like 7-10 years ago when I was still starting up. And people telling me they've had my art on their walls for years. Damn that made me feel so grateful and happy πŸ₯Ή

Johis
@johannatarkela.com

As I mentioned I'll now have longer break from dealing until further notice mainly as I'm just so busy with freelance work, and other life stuff. I find it hard to put into words but it just feels so amazing hearing things like that, especially in person! Made me reminisce a lot. Thank you 🩷

Johis
@johannatarkela.com

Been working on some A5 originals again, they will be available at Scotiacon this weekend! Here's a selection of some I've made.

Johis
@johannatarkela.com

Book cover reveal! I worked on the cover wrap, a lot of interior illustrations and a map for this book. One of my favourite projects recently, I really liked portraying all the characters and locations, can't wait to share more art later on :D Published by Macmillan us.macmillan.com/books/978125...

Johis
@johannatarkela.com

I'll be at Scotia in a few weeks, dealing Saturday-Sunday! This will likely be the last con I'll be dealing at for quite some time, so if you're there and want to grab anything last chance πŸ‘€will have the usuals; prints, my wooden keyrings and some original art.

Scotiacon 2027: Massive in the Metropolis@scotiacon.bsky.social

Hey everyone! Our Dealers' Den is back for another year and we're delighted to have another wide variety of dealers joining us to sell their goods and commissions. Want to plan your spending spree in advance? Our Den map is now online here: www.scotiacon.org.uk/attending/de...

Johis
@johannatarkela.com

So what's the way to go at the moment if I wanted to record a digital painting process video? Don't need to stream, just record (windows & photoshop). Haven't done it in quite a few years, is OBS still the best option?

Johis
@johannatarkela.com

Time for another seasonal fox painting! Started this in September on the iPad (Artstudio Pro), finished when we got the first snow of this winter a few weeks ago.

Johis
@johannatarkela.com

Random freelance artist tip, if you have a personal website make sure you have some sort of a sketchbook section available! I knew it's useful but I didn't expect it to be so important, and in a way even more important than the final work sometimes.

Johis
@johannatarkela.com

Nearly every client I've had lately has in some way shown me some of my sketches and roughs as examples of what they'd like, or my sketches are included in their moodboards, and in general it's a good starting point for the client, people like to see how you sketch!