Meet the Artist – Emma Thrussell

In late 2021, Orleans House Gallery worked with illustrator Emma Thrussell to design our new family gallery activity trail.  As we launch the trail, we are happy to be able to introduce you to Emma.  The designs may seem familiar as she also illustrated our schools self-guided visit packs and our Field Notes activity pack as part of the last main gallery exhibition Brow of a God/Jaw of a Devil. 

All of these trails were initially created by an artist before Emma came and added her beautiful illustrations.  The self-guided school’s trail was developed by Abigail Hunt (who also delivers Play:Make:Art every other Friday), the Field Notes activity was created by exhibition collaborator Alexis Rider and our new family gallery activity trail by Kayleigh Edun. 

All About Emma 

Emma studied Art, Design and Animation at Ravensbourne University and really loved illustration and design.  She works as a freelance illustrator and designer from her studio in South East London, working with clients including the Museum of the Home, National Trust and Your Cat and Your Dog Magazines. 

She works in traditional mediums such as watercolours, coloured pencils, paper craft and gouache. 

Processes 

Emma worked with us to firstly arrange the text and images on the page, with rough images to give a feel for the artwork.  She then drafted this in colour before creating her beautiful final illustrations. It was a lovely process to be part of and you can see some earlier designs below. 

Advice 

We asked Emma if she had any advice for aspiring illustrators or artists and this is what she said: 

‘Illustration is such a rewarding job to do and something that I learnt when starting my career is to make sure to produce the work that you want to be hired for and that you are passionate about. Personal projects that showcase your dream clients and the type of work you want to be doing is a great way to get seen and share your skills.’ 

You can collect the family trail at Orleans House Gallery from 2 April. Find out more here: Pick up your family trail