Johanna Basford Explained

Johanna Basford
Nationality:	Scottish
Alma Mater:	Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design

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

Biography

Johanna Basford was born in 1983^[4] in Scotland and grew up on her parents' fish farm^[5] in Auchnagatt in Aberdeenshire.^[6] 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. Basford lives and works in Aberdeenshire, Scotland where she owns a small studio in a converted farmhouse with large windows that overlook the surrounding fields. She believes computer generated graphics can feel "cold and soulless", which is why she uses traditional media.^[7] Since publishing her first adult colouring book Secret Garden in 2013, she has sold more than 21 million^[8] books worldwide, making her a leader of the adult colouring book boom.^{[9] [10] [11]} She was previously married to James Watt, the co-founder of Brewdog, the 'punk' craft beer company and together they had 2 daughters.^{[12] [8]} In February 2021, she announced on social media that she had separated from her husband the previous year.^[13] She was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2016 Birthday Honours for services to art and entrepreneurship.

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.^[14]

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.^[15]

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. Basford was commissioned by Edinburgh Festival Fringe to illustrate the cover of their 2010 program. 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.^[16]

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

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.^[17]

In November 2017, she created a Scottish themed Google Doodle for the search engine's homepage on St Andrew's Day.^[18]

She is currently represented by literary agent Cathryn Summerhayes at Curtis Brown.^[19]

Books

• Johanna's Christmas (1 January 2013) – Virgin Book – Johanna's debut colouring book.
• (2013) – Laurence King Publishing — As of March 2015, more than 10 million copies of this book have been sold worldwide^[20] (three million in China alone^[21]). The book has been published in over 40 territories^[22] and has appeared on The New York Times Best Seller list.^[23]
• 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.^{[24] [25] [26] [27]} It has also appeared on The New York Times Best Seller list.
• 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.^[28] Debuted at Number 1 on the US Non Fiction Bestsellers list in its first week of publication^[29] and peaked at number one on The New York Times Best Seller list.
• 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^[30]
• 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^[31]
• 2009 – Channel 4 Talent Award
• 2021 – University of Dundee Entrepreneurial Recognition Award

Further reading

• Colouring books for adults growing in popularity . 18 February 2016 . BBC Radio 5 Live Breakfast . BBC Radio 5 Live . BBC . 4 April 2015.
• Web site: Work inspiration with Johanna Basford . 30 January 2015 . workspiration.org . Workspiration . 18 February 2016 . A lot of my work is nature inspired and takes cues from the flora and fauna I grew up with in rural Scotland..
• News: Alter. Alexandra. 29 March 2015. Grown-Ups Get Out Their Crayons. The New York Times. 18 February 2016.
• News: Katz. Brigit. 5 November 2015. Meet the woman behind a surprising new way to unwind. The New York Times. 18 February 2016.
• Web site: Interview with Johanna Basford, Illustrator and Coloring Book Author . Andress . Alli . 20 November 2015 . Amy Poehler's Smart Girls . 18 February 2016.

External links

• • Johanna Basford's studio website
• Heartbreak Publishing (limited edition prints of Basford's work)

Notes and References

1. Web site: Featured Artist: The Inky World of Johanna Basford. UCreative.com. UCreative Network. 6 November 2014. Kerby. Rosanes. 8 May 2013.
2. Web site: Johanna Basford. 6 December 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20141213161538/http://designcollector.net/johanna-basford/#8ShUkP9ZlhRlarBa.99. 13 December 2014. dead.
3. Web site: The ink evangelist: Illustrator Johanna Basford on pioneering the adult colouring book trend. HeraldScotland. 2016-12-20.
4. Web site: Rough Cut Nation (Exhibition Notes). National Galleries Scotland. National Galleries Scotland. 27 February 2016.
5. Web site: Lidz . Franz . The Artist Who Made Coloring Books Cool for Adults Returns With a New Masterpiece . Smithsonian . Smithsonian . 20 September 2018.
6. Web site: Cate. Devine. 30 June 2006. Follow The Paper Trail. www.heraldscotland.com. Herald & Times Group. 16 February 2016.
7. Web site: 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. 16 February 2016.
8. Web site: Gallacher. Stevie. Best-selling artist Johanna Basford on inspiring millions of DIY doodlers and going head to head in charts with beer tycoon husband. 2021-06-07. The Sunday Post. en-US.
9. News: All about me… – Johanna Basford. 2016-10-24. Johanna Basford. en-GB. 2016-12-13.
10. Web site: London. Associated Newspapers. 2 more coloring books by Johanna Basford Coming This Year. AP. 12 February 2016.
11. News: 2 More Coloring Books by Johanna Basford Coming This Year. The New York Times. 2 February 2016. 12 February 2016. 0362-4331. Associated Press. https://web.archive.org/web/20160206235746/http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2016/02/02/arts/ap-us-books-johanna-basford.html. 6 February 2016.
12. News: Start-up power: Meet the entrepreneurial couple given the royal seal of approval. The Telegraph. 2016-12-20.
13. Web site: Facebook. 2021-06-07. www.facebook.com.
14. News: 2020-01-06. Artist breaks world record for largest solo drawing. en-GB. BBC News. 2021-06-07.
15. Web site: McLaren . Rob . Former Dundee student Johanna Basford to inspire after selling 20 million books . The Courier . 21 February 2021.
16. Web site: Illustrator Johanna Basford talks about being #TwitterPicture girl and more. ameliasmagazine.. 7 December 2014.
17. Web site: DCA Annual Report. 2014. www.dca.org.uk. DCA.
18. News: 2017-11-30. The Scottish artist behind St Andrew's Google Doodle. en-GB. BBC News. 2021-06-07.
19. Web site: Curtis Brown. 2021-06-07. www.curtisbrown.co.uk.
20. Web site: Illustrator Johanna Basford launches Lost Ocean as adult colouring book craze sweeps the world. Telegraph.co.uk. 12 February 2016.
21. Web site: China's bestseller of 2015 was a coloring book for adults. Mashable. 12 February 2016. Victoria. Ho. Singapore. 13 January 2016.
22. Web site: Ink evangelist Johanna Basford makes it big. BBC News. 17 February 2016. Douglas. Fraser.
23. Web site: Best Sellers – The New York Times. www.nytimes.com. 12 February 2016.
24. Web site: Colouring books designed for adults topping bestseller lists. 6 April 2015. Toronto Star. 1 October 2017. Paul. Hunter.
25. Web site: Artist Goes Outside The Lines With Coloring Books For Grown-Ups. 4 April 2015.
26. Book: Enchanted Forest: An Inky Quest & Coloring Book Paperback. 17 February 2015. Laurence King Pub. 1780674880.
27. Book: Basford. Johanna. Enchanted Forest: An Inky Quest & Coloring Book. 17 February 2015. Laurence King Publishing; Act Clr Cs edition. 9781780674889. enchanted.
28. News: Looking Back at 2015 in Book Publishing. The New York Times. 23 December 2015. 12 February 2016. 0362-4331. Alexandra. Alter.
29. Web site: Ed Victor Ltd. News . www.edvictor.com . 12 February 2016 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20160305171541/http://www.edvictor.com/news.html . 5 March 2016 .
30. Book: Ivy and the Inky Butterfly by Johanna Basford PenguinRandomHouse.com. en-US.
31. Book: Steed. Frances. Stevenson. Josephine. Sourcing ideas: investigating textures, colours, structures, surfaces and patterns. 2012. AVA Academia. Lausanne. 9782940411634.