Joanna Quinn
Joanna Quinn (1962-) is a British animator and director best known for her pencil-drawn takes on British life.
Quinn presents a warts-and-all look at humanity, often through the character of a working class middle-aged heroine, Beryl. Beryl's first appearance was in Girls Night Out (1987) about a bunch of ladies seeing a male stripper, establishing the slice-of-life style Quinn would further develop in other films.
Girls Night Out (1987)
Quinn presents an unflattering yet loving portrait of Beryl and other characters, celebrating the inelegant and overlooked moments that make up most of life as we really experience it. The aesthetic choice of pencil has a roughness and smudginess that perfectly complements the writing.
Quinn is brilliant at conveying weight and bounce in the body, which comes from continual study of the human form, in all its wondrous shapes and sizes.
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Affairs of the Art (2021)
I have been following Joanna Quinn on her Instagram feed for a while, and it's inspiring to see her continued enthusiasm for drawing people from real life. These sketches were from one day on a beach, observing the ordinary folk all around her.
Despite all of her experience, she still loves to study and learn from life drawing. It's an important lesson to me of how much dedication it requires to draw a convincing figure in motion. These sketches transcend the standard fine art studies of the figure though, with an extra spark of character and humour in the details of everyday actions.