Artist Interview with Jimmy Patch

ERIN CORSTIAANS
IMAGES AND ILLUSTRATIONS COURTESY OF JIMMY PATCH

Meet Jimmy! 

Jimmy Patch is a multidisciplinary Brisbane artist who provides live graphic drawing, bespoke illustration, animation, professional development workshops and creative conceptualising for clients of all professional backgrounds. His work has been featured in exhibitions nationally and internationally, and he has collaborated with numerous companies including The Hamish and Andy Show, Universal Music, and the ABC. When he’s not working, you’ll often find Jimmy in his home by the Brisbane river with his wife Casey and son Theodore, sipping on a single malt whiskey and surrounded by sketches of bizarre creatures and quirky characters. 

Jimmy also happens to be a good friend of Cork & Chroma. Later this year, Jimmy and Cork & Chroma will be collaborating to bring you a brand new offering: an iPad Drawing Workshop! We recently spoke with Jimmy about the medium of digital drawing to find out what the fuss is all about.

So, Jimmy—why digital drawing? What does this medium offer that regular drawing can’t?

Digital illustration opens up a whole other world of artistic capability. Not just in the sense of making your artwork differently, but things like an unlimited colour palette and drawing brushstrokes on a screen provides a totally different way of working. The technology now allows us to use textured random brushes that nod to traditional art methods, while having some pretty powerful editing capability.

What’s your favourite thing to draw?

It’s a bit of a two-way tie to be honest. Characters and creatures. Looking at people, characteristics and gesture is a never ending exploration. Just drawing the human head is something that I don’t think any artist can ever truly master.

With creatures it’s a whole other exploration of what can I come up with. I love being inspired by animals and their various shapes, sizes and markings. Also, it’s complete creative freedom of what you can imagine!

The Procreate app offers a wide selection of brushes and effects, which can feel overwhelming for new users. Where’s the best place to start? 

The beauty of Procreate is that it can be as simple or as complicated as you want it to be. On the surface it’s a very easy program to use and very intuitive. But beyond this you can dive in deeper to do a lot of what Photoshop does right through to some animation options.

To get started, I would say just start drawing. All you need is your pen tool, eraser and brush size to start making some cool artworks. The brushes the program comes with are a good place to start testing the pressure and capabilities.

Are there any Procreate extras or add-ons you can’t live without?

My favourite brushes are the Max Packs brushes. Created by Max Ulichney (who is also an incredible illustrator), these brushes are now my go-to brushes.

What kind of applications can digital drawing have?

As this is what my career depends on I might be a little biased but, sooooo many. It’s such a versatile and useful medium and the capabilities we have now in digital illustration are so much more advanced than they were even five years ago.

From social media content to high definition poster design, you can do it all. The ability to change colours of an entire piece of work in minutes is pretty useful, especially when working to tight deadlines.

Do you have a go-to ‘style’ when it comes to digital drawing? If so, how did you go about developing it?

I think all illustrators have their own style; regardless of how much they try and shape it, their style always comes through. Being inspired by other artists’ styles of work helps you determine your own. The collage of artists like Marija Tiurina and Ken Taylor have helped me find my style. However, it’s always developing and changing so it could look very different in a year’s time!

What kind of techniques will you be teaching in the upcoming iPad Drawing Workshop at Cork & Chroma? 

Aside from doing a step by step walk through Procreate, I will be giving an intro into designing a character. This will be based on an existing character I’ve created. I will be walking through how to get clear expressions, work with colour palettes and even make notes to help you get consistency with your work.

Stay tuned for our iPad Drawing Workshop date announcement via Cork & Chroma Brisbane’s Instagram and Facebook.