Art, Emotion and Simplicity

Jean Jullien

Jean Jullien is a French illustrator and graphic designer who lives in London. He makes work for clients like The New Yorker, Nike, The Guardian and BMW, and recently exhibited a series of illustrations commenting on social media.

Here are a few of his recent illustrations…

Friday, November 13, 2015

"Last night I was about to go for dinner. I turned on the French radio. I heard that it was an attack, and my first reaction was to draw. "It's this sort of moment where you don't necessarily try to understand everything coherently. It's more of a state of shock and sadness and anger and all these very sort of raw feelings. So for me, it's just sort of trying to summarize these feelings in one image with my way of reacting.”

This is what he drew…

You’ve asked what makes art important when it looks like anyone could have drawn it. (I bet you could draw this image just as well as Jean Jullien.)

Sometimes, simplicity and raw expression are all that are needed to speak the emotions that are hard to put into words.

Jean Jullien expressed himself in the moment, in the way that felt most natural to him, drawing.

He used his creativity to combine two separate ideas into a new idea that meant more than the combination of the two.

His creativity and raw emotions resonated with those who saw his artwork.

Overnight, his drawing began to spread.

People used it as a symbol of hope…

…as a symbol of solidarity…

…and as a way to share emotions and support.

Here is what he has to say about his drawing.

How can you use your art to express your emotions, thoughts and opinions in ways that remain true to yourself?