Johanna Basford

OBE
Johanna Basford
Born1983 (age 41–42)
NationalityScottish
Alma materDuncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design
Websitejohannabasford.com

Johanna Basford OBE (born 1983) is a Scottish illustrator. Her illustrations are hand-drawn, predominantly in black and white, with pencils and pens.[1][2] Basford's works can be found in products such as colouring books, wallpaper, beer labels and even tattoos.[3] She is known to be a pioneer of the adult colouring book trend.[4]

Biography

Johanna Basford was born in 1983[5] in Scotland and grew up on her parents' fish farm[6] in Auchnagatt in Aberdeenshire.[7] She graduated from Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design (DJCAD) in Dundee in 2005 with a degree in textile Design and a specialization in screen printing.[1] Basford lives and works in Aberdeenshire, Scotland[3] where she owns a small studio in a converted farmhouse with large windows that overlook the surrounding fields.[1] She believes computer generated graphics can feel "cold and soulless", which is why she uses traditional media.[8] Since publishing her first adult colouring book Secret Garden in 2013, she has sold more than 21 million[9] books worldwide, making her a leader of the adult colouring book boom.[10][11][12] She was previously married to James Watt, the co-founder of Brewdog, the 'punk' craft beer company and together they had 2 daughters.[13][9] In February 2021, she announced on social media that she had separated from her husband the previous year.[14]

She was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2016 Birthday Honours for services to art and entrepreneurship.[15]

In 2019 she broke the Guinness World Record for the Largest Drawing by an Individual, creating a huge floral drawing over 501 sq m (5,395 sq ft) in 12 hours at her former school, Ellon Academy in Aberdeenshire.[16]

In February 2021 it was announced that she would be hosting the University of Dundee's Annual Public Lecture in Entrepreneurship and that she had been awarded the university's Entrepreneurial Recognition Award.[17]

Works

Basford's commercial clients include Sony, Nike, Tate Modern and Starbucks. Queensberry-Hunt, a ceramics manufacturer, commissioned her to create hand drawn designs for their tableware collection in 2008. In 2010, she created graphics for the iPhone app The New Goodbye.[18] Basford was commissioned by Edinburgh Festival Fringe to illustrate the cover of their 2010 program.[19] She worked with an Edinburgh-based design agency, Whitespace, to create a series of illustrations for the program and the final artwork for the #FringeCover #Twitterpicture crowdsourced illustration campaign.[18]

In addition to her illustrations, Basford has designed glowing wallpapers, printed using special ultraviolet-sensitive inks.[19]

In May 2013, Basford opened her first solo exhibition at Dundee Contemporary Arts called Wonderlands: it was one of DCA's most successful exhibitions, with a total audience of 8,488.[20]

In November 2017, she created a Scottish themed Google Doodle for the search engine's homepage on St Andrew's Day.[21]

She is currently represented by literary agent Cathryn Summerhayes at Curtis Brown.[22]

Books

  • Johanna's Christmas (1 January 2013) – Virgin Book – Johanna's debut colouring book.
  • Secret Garden: An Inky Treasure Hunt and Colouring Book (2013) – Laurence King Publishing — As of March 2015, more than 10 million copies of this book have been sold worldwide[23](three million in China alone[24]). The book has been published in over 40 territories[25] and has appeared on The New York Times Best Seller list.[26]
  • Secret Garden: 20 Postcards (21 January 2014) – Laurence King Publishing
  • Secret Garden: Three Mini Journals (19 August 2014) – Laurence King Publishing
  • Enchanted Forest: An Inky Quest and Colouring Book (2015) – Laurence King Publishing — Sold out all 226,000 copies within weeks of its release on 17 February 2015. The publishers printed a second edition of 250,000.[2][27][28][29] It has also appeared on The New York Times Best Seller list.[26]
  • Secret Garden Artist's Edition: A Pull-Out and Frame Colouring Book /anglais (4 July 2015) – Penguin Random House
  • Enchanted Forest Postcards: 20 Postcards (28 July 2015) – Penguin Random House
  • Lost Ocean: An Inky Adventure and Colouring Book (27 October 2015) – Penguin Random House — Has sold over 1.3 million copies in the US alone.[30] Debuted at Number 1 on the US Non Fiction Bestsellers list in its first week of publication[31] and peaked at number one on The New York Times Best Seller list.[26]
  • Johanna Basford's Secret Garden Journal (1 December 2015) – Laurence King Pubslihing
  • Magical Jungle: An Inky Expedition and Colouring Book (9 August 2016) – Penguin Random House
  • Magical Jungle (11 August 2016) – Virgin Books
  • Johanna's Christmas: A Festive Colouring Book (25 October 2016) – Penguin Random House
  • Johanna Basford's Enchanted Forest Journal (29 November 2016) – Laurence King Publishing
  • Lost Ocean: Artist's Edition (6 April 2017) – Virgin Books
  • Magical Jungle: 36 Postcards to Color and Send (30 May 2017) – Penguin Random House
  • Ivy and the Inky Butterfly: A Magical Tale to Color (10 October 2017) – Penguin Random House[32]
  • Ivy and the Inky Butterfly: A Magical Tale to Color (12 October 2017) – Virgin Books
  • World of Flowers: A Colouring Book and Floral Adventure (23 October 2018) – Penguin Random House
  • World of Flowers: A Colouring Book and Floral Adventure (25 October 2018) – Virgin Books
  • Johanna Basford 2020 Weekly Coloring Planner Calendar (13 August 2019) – Andrews McMeel Publishing
  • How to Draw Inky Wonderlands: Create and Colour Your Own Magical Adventure (15 October 2019) – Penguin Random House
  • Johanna Basford Land, Sea, and Sky: Three Colourable Notebooks (10 March 2020) – Clarkson Potter
  • Johanna Basford 2021 Weekly Coloring Planner Calendar (14 July 2020) – Andrews McMeel Publishing
  • Miniature Secret Garden: A Pocket-sized Adventure Coloring Book (22 September 2020) – Laurence King Publishing
  • Miniature Enchanted Forest (23 February 2021) – Laurence King Publishing
  • Worlds of Wonder: A Coloring Book for the Curious (30 March 2021) – Penguin Random House
  • Johanna Basford 2022 Weekly Coloring Planner Calendar (28 September 2021) – Penguin Random House
  • Johanna Basford 2022 Weekly Coloring Wall Calendar: Special Collection of Whimsical Illustrations From Her Best-Selling Books (28 September 2021) – Andrew McMeel Publishing
  • 30 Days of Creativity: Draw, Color and Discover Your Creative Self (26 October 2021) – Penguin Random House

Awards received

  • 2007 – Elle Decoration Design Award[19]
  • 2009 – Channel 4 Talent Award[19]
  • 2021 – University of Dundee Entrepreneurial Recognition Award[17]

References

  1. ^ a b c Rosanes, Kerby (8 May 2013). "Featured Artist: The Inky World of Johanna Basford". UCreative.com. UCreative Network. Retrieved 6 November 2014.
  2. ^ a b Hunter, Paul (6 April 2015). "Colouring books designed for adults topping bestseller lists". Toronto Star. Retrieved 1 October 2017.
  3. ^ a b "Johanna Basford". Archived from the original on 13 December 2014. Retrieved 6 December 2014.
  4. ^ "The ink evangelist: Illustrator Johanna Basford on pioneering the adult colouring book trend". HeraldScotland. Retrieved 20 December 2016.
  5. ^ "Rough Cut Nation (Exhibition Notes)". National Galleries Scotland. National Galleries Scotland. Retrieved 27 February 2016.
  6. ^ Lidz, Franz. "The Artist Who Made Coloring Books Cool for Adults Returns With a New Masterpiece". Smithsonian. Smithsonian. Retrieved 20 September 2018.
  7. ^ Devine, Cate (30 June 2006). "Follow The Paper Trail". www.heraldscotland.com. Herald & Times Group. Retrieved 16 February 2016.
  8. ^ Lyons, Kim. "Johanna Basford's Coloring Books For Adults Are Gorgeous, And How Did We Forget How Much Fun Coloring Is?". www.bustle.com. Bustle.com. Retrieved 16 February 2016.
  9. ^ a b Gallacher, Stevie. "Best-selling artist Johanna Basford on inspiring millions of DIY doodlers and going head to head in charts with beer tycoon husband". The Sunday Post. Retrieved 7 June 2021.
  10. ^ "All about me… – Johanna Basford". Johanna Basford. 24 October 2016. Retrieved 13 December 2016.
  11. ^ "2 more coloring books by Johanna Basford Coming This Year". London: Associated Newspapers. AP. Retrieved 12 February 2016.
  12. ^ "2 More Coloring Books by Johanna Basford Coming This Year". The New York Times. Associated Press. 2 February 2016. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on 6 February 2016. Retrieved 12 February 2016.
  13. ^ "Start-up power: Meet the entrepreneurial couple given the royal seal of approval". The Telegraph. Retrieved 20 December 2016.
  14. ^ "Facebook". www.facebook.com. Retrieved 7 June 2021.
  15. ^ "No. 61608". The London Gazette (Supplement). 11 June 2016. p. B10.
  16. ^ "Artist breaks world record for largest solo drawing". BBC News. 6 January 2020. Retrieved 7 June 2021.
  17. ^ a b McLaren, Rob. "Former Dundee student Johanna Basford to inspire after selling 20 million books". The Courier. Retrieved 21 February 2021.
  18. ^ a b "Illustrator Johanna Basford talks about being #TwitterPicture girl and more". ameliasmagazine. Retrieved 7 December 2014.
  19. ^ a b c d Steed, Frances; Stevenson, Josephine (2012). Sourcing ideas: investigating textures, colours, structures, surfaces and patterns. Lausanne: AVA Academia. ISBN 9782940411634.
  20. ^ "DCA Annual Report" (PDF). www.dca.org.uk. DCA. 2014. Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 September 2015. Retrieved 12 February 2016.
  21. ^ "The Scottish artist behind St Andrew's Google Doodle". BBC News. 30 November 2017. Retrieved 7 June 2021.
  22. ^ "Curtis Brown". www.curtisbrown.co.uk. Retrieved 7 June 2021.
  23. ^ "Illustrator Johanna Basford launches Lost Ocean as adult colouring book craze sweeps the world". Telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 12 February 2016.
  24. ^ Ho, Victoria (13 January 2016). "China's bestseller of 2015 was a coloring book for adults". Mashable. Singapore. Retrieved 12 February 2016.
  25. ^ Fraser, Douglas. "Ink evangelist Johanna Basford makes it big". BBC News. Retrieved 17 February 2016.
  26. ^ a b c "Best Sellers – The New York Times". www.nytimes.com. Retrieved 12 February 2016.
  27. ^ "Artist Goes Outside The Lines With Coloring Books For Grown-Ups". Retrieved 4 April 2015.
  28. ^ Enchanted Forest: An Inky Quest & Coloring Book Paperback. Laurence King Pub. 17 February 2015. ISBN 1780674880.
  29. ^ Basford, Johanna (17 February 2015). Enchanted Forest: An Inky Quest & Coloring Book. Laurence King Publishing; Act Clr Cs edition. ISBN 9781780674889.
  30. ^ Alter, Alexandra (23 December 2015). "Looking Back at 2015 in Book Publishing". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 12 February 2016.
  31. ^ "Ed Victor Ltd. | News". www.edvictor.com. Archived from the original on 5 March 2016. Retrieved 12 February 2016.
  32. ^ Ivy and the Inky Butterfly by Johanna Basford | PenguinRandomHouse.com.

Further reading