Varoom 16 extract

Jimmy Turrell is a London-based illustrator. He combines collage, drawing, digital work, screenprinting and painting. His clients to date include Nike, Channel 4, MTV, The Guardian, The New York Times, and Colette.

What was your brief?

To create the artwork and video for the band Yellowire. The general concept was based around the themes of introspection and the power of unity and family.

This project involved different components, print and animation?

Yes. We wanted to make a music video where every single frame had been silkscreened or lasercut onto new and found materials including acetate, hardback book covers and vintage maps and then rostrum photographed, like a traditional cartoon.

How did you adapt your style to this new work?

Jimmy Turrell: This was a real departure for me and the first bit of stop frame I’ve worked on. As an illustrator I’m used to working alone so to work as part of a team for once was really great. I worked with video director Marcus Lyall on the project and he really helped me adapt. He basically directed the mechanics of the project and I art directed it.

How much material did you have to source for this extensive work? 

Quite a lot really – I bought a job lot of 1000 books from eBay (six palettes turned up outside my house – much to my girlfriends disdain) and then I started to cherry pick the best imagery from them and used most of the other pages of text to print the video on top of. Everything from 1930s gardening books, vintage cross stitch books, and personal scrapbooks of the Swedish Royal Family went into the mix for the cover and the video. Plus I finally got to print onto lot of material that I’d stored up in the studio for ages. The whole process was very cathartic.