Artist Feature: Jennifer Costello

Our beautiful issue SEPAC: Architectural History was designed by the talented British artist, Jennifer Costello who used her extraordinary skills with watercolour and digital design to detail each historical structure chosen for the issue. The Jersey Philatelic team got in touch with Jennifer to find out more about her career journey as an artist, read on to learn more.  

 When asked about when she knew that being an artist was going to become a career, Jennifer said; “I was really lucky in that I knew early on I wanted to try and pursue a career in illustration.” 

Jennifer’s artistic career began after completing a degree in Illustration. She pursued work within various creative industries, knowing she’d have to increase her contacts and career portfolio as an artist, before becoming a fully dedicated freelance artist. 

As a freelancer, Jennifer has the benefit of choosing who she does and doesn’t want to work with, which make us all the more delighted when she took the job with us to illustrate the SEPAC: Architectural History commemorative stamps collection. 

Each property featured within the collection has its own unique characteristics, of which Jennifer has done a fantastic job illustrating. This could partly be due to her love of architecture and landscape design which Jennifer expressed, when telling us; “I love architecture, which is why my favourite jobs involve depicting beautiful buildings. I think I’d have liked to have gone into architectural or landscape design if I hadn’t been an illustrator.”

Jennifer’s wonderful artwork comes from a love of the combination of having loose style that flows in a simplistic design mixed with extra elements for a final touch of refined detail providing a perfect balance, which is always her aim. 

She commented; “There are so many artists that I adore, and I’m always in awe of artists that can capture light and freshness really well.”

Her favourite building to illustrate for the issue was Le Don Hilton, otherwise known as the White House in Jersey, which is a standout feature in the coastline of St Ouen on the west of the island. The building is featured on the issue's stamp presentation pack.

To ensure the atmosphere and architectural style of each property was accurately depicted, Jennifer used various reference materials, roughing out each location and then building up the each image using various layering techniques. She then applied the finishing touch by adding or removing various details. 

In terms of scaling the images to fit seamlessly in a stamp issue, Jennifer completed the final touches to her artwork digitally. This allowed her to ensure that the sizing was correct, and the elements of detail carefully placed weren’t lost. 

Asked about her artist motto, Jennifer replied; “Being self-employed, it’s important to find a good work life balance, but I think it’s always important to go with the flow and be open to new opportunities. 

Take a look at the fantastic artwork Jennifer produced for us in the issue SEPAC: Architectural History.