Amy, Illustrated

 

All images courtesy of artist (via Instagram: @victoriathorne).

Last week we got an Insta-crush on illustrator Victoria Thorne. As she made her way through Amy Winehouse: A Family Portrait, she sketched and tagged—filling her moleskin with drawings and sharing with us on Instagram. Drawing everything from photos of young Amy to iconic dresses, we're blown away by her expressive, direct drawings. Victoria caught our eye—and we had to reach out! Make sure to follow her on IG as @victoriathorne for her sketching travels. 

Here's an interview—via drawings—with the talented artist. The interview came creatively (could you have guessed it?), in a lovely envelope with the q&a beautifully illustrated.

A GIF of opening the envelope.

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1. Describe yourself in six words.

I watch for Grace (4)

Mom sister nana daughter wife friend loving redhead (1?)

storyteller (1)

2. Do you go everywhere with your sketchbook?

upper right hand corner: vt30JUL15JM

Yes, now I do, or with paper I can

draw on. (I didn't always. The best

compliment I ever received—it makes me so happy—was

finding that my kid's friends sometimes took newspapers

I threw away...because I ALWAYS just drew in the margins.)

3. What was your experience in Amy Winehouse: A Family Portrait? How did you convey your experiences through your drawings?

3.a.

It's not my

belief that Amy Winehouse should be

mythologized or put on a pedestal. She was

a brilliantly gifted artist. SHE SHARED

HER GIFT. For that, we should all be

grateful. She contributed to the world.

Hugely. She was also flawed, like the rest

of us. Gifted and flawed = the whole human

race. WHAT HAPPENED TO HER DIDN'T HAVE

TO HAPPEN, in the end. (an incredibly complex issue)

   

3.b.

Walking into the exhibit is a stunner.

It was somewhat quiet, but alive/ Absolutely

alive. I had no idea she would've listened

to all the music I loved best at her age—we

lived in Germany for 5 years, my friends on

our Army post all listened to that music. I

saw the documentary (in Palo Alto) a short

while ago. This ^ absolutely colored my view

of the entire exhibition. The exhibit is full

of love, basically. It seems to me that young

people sometimes immerse themselves in [things

that wind up hurting them] because they're

not finding the love they're looking for: self-

love, love from another, love for who they are.

3.c. (wow)

So: drawing in the exhibit. I guess the

deal is: this is the love her family and

friends (and multitudinous admirers) wish she

had FELT—maybe it would have kept her

alive, kept her at a safe enough distance

from the things that killed her.

So I drew. And most of the time was on

the blue + white Betsey Johnson dress. It felt

extremely important to do her justice.

Fragile, brilliant, broken, bold, sorrowful,

ambitious, aware. KNOWING. Amy is there.

4. How long have you been documenting your city experiences via sketchbook and Instagram as an extension of your work?

LONGTEMPS. A lot of my work in

the '90s was pen and ink, v. calligraphic.

I was always drawing. Clients included

the GAP (M. Drexler's time, which was fun),

the SFMoMA, newspapers and magazines. After

2001 I started taking pictures. A Lot. Esp.

while traveling. In the past few years, it

seemed like a good idea to draw again. 

2008-2012 were bloggish. Then came IG.

5: How long does it usually take you to sketch?

1:35pm. (via @bicoastalista)
This one took about 15 minutes. Or so. (I got distracted.)
1:51pm.

Sometimes not so long,

sometimes forever.

I often lose track of time when drawing,

which is a very nice thing. Like heaven.

6. You use an interesting hashtag on Instagram—#theimaginarytravelblogger. Tell us about that.

Even though I posted (for years)

photos and somewhat random clues

about our travels, it always seemed

to me that being a real travel

blogger was out of the question.

As in: I'll happily draw you a map, but

it's going to be open to interpretation.

So. Last month I realized I was sort 

of an imaginary travel blogger. Why not?

7. What else are you going to explore—and draw—today?

Drawing caption: 1 AUG 2015
(Via @ozwolf)

(L): Lately (probably to assuage

my guilt for being on IG

so much—) I've been doing

quick sketches of stuff I

(R): find while wandering

around Instagram. I've

also been trying to copy

book covers. Is there any-

thing better than a well-

designed book cover?

8. 

8-ish

thanks for asking me

all these cool questions.

I hope to be back soon.

Love you, Jewseum.

Truly, 

                   Victoria Thorne

                       30 july 2015

              2 aug.

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About the Artist

Victoria Thorne makes books and art and has four children whom she loves dearly. She was born in Hawaii and, growing up, traveled all over the U.S. and Europe with her amazing family. Her best friend is named Kevin. She is Ollie's nana. She believes that the power of people telling their stories and being heard can change the world: the more we truly know each other, the more we can all be friends. She also believes that the more we see of the world, the more we see that we are all one.