Jacob Courtney

A young woman sits in a dark room lit only by the light from the laptop screen she is looking at. On the laptop screen is a social media platform featuring a photo of some friends (including the woman in the room) with happy emojis over their faces. The woman looking at the laptop wears a happy emoji mask, which contrasts to her less happy looking posture and the atmosphere of the dark room.

The woman from the previous illustration lifts up her emoji mask to look at a text message she was received from a friend agreeing to meet up for a tea. The room is still very dark, only being lit by the light from the phone screen.

Two women sit outside a café on a sunny day. They both wear emoji masks, however the masks are pushed up to the top of their heads so that we can see their faces.

My illustrations for Breathe Magazine issue 80, illustrating the feature 'Missed connection' by Beth Easton, about how social media can give us an illusion of closeness, whilst also potentially leaving us feeling more disconnected from each other.

#illustration #illustrator #art #artist #editorial

An illustration of a grey wagtail, sitting on the lower rung of a folding garden chair. The background was drawn in pencil but mixes in faint overlays of nature photographs in a photomontage.

Some older work from 2021, this illustration of a Grey Wagtail was featured in AWW Magazine Volume 4.

#illustration #illustrator #artist #art #artwork #editorialillustration #magazine #animal #bird #grey #wagtail

A woman walks up a flight of outdoor stairs within a concrete housing estate, illuminated by an early evening glow. As she walks up the stairs she looks to see some green plants growing out of the concrete balcony wall.

Some older work from 2023, my illustration for issue 55 of Breathe magazine, accompanying a feature by Chloe Rhodes about how we can find inspiration from plants and weeds growing in unlikely places...

#illustration #illustrator #artist #art #editorial #editorialillustration #digital #digitalart

A digital painting created using a still from the 1980 film The Shining as a reference. It depicts the main character, Jack Torrance, sitting at a bar with his head in his hands.

A digital painting created using a still from the 1980 film The Shining as a reference. It depicts the main character, Jack Torrance, walking down a hallway. Behind him in the background the lighting is bright and stark, however in the foreground where he is approaching it is more dimly lit.

Some digital 'studies' of scenes from The Shining

#illustration #art #digitlart #drawingfromfilm #theshining #stanleykubrick #stephenking

A painting of a still from the TV series 'People Just Do Nothing', featuring a character sitting in a hallway within a block of flats. Behind them is a balcony with railings, and behind this we can see the landscape of the city beyond.

Digital painting of a still from People Just Do Nothing. I really like the shots of tower blocks in Brentford used in the show and wanted to paint from it. Credit to Director Jack Clough, Production Designer Martha Parker and Director of Photography Matt Wicks. Featuring DJ Steves of Kurupt FM

An artwork for an EP cover depicting a small dog on a pathway in a canal tunnel, looking down at a toy duck floating in the canal water. The walls and ceiling of the canal tunnel are covered in graffiti, and also include the artist name, 'matt-as-trophe', and the EP title, 'My Dog Punched a Duck'. In the background we can see a narrow boat moving along the canal as well as some buildings.

My artwork for 'My Dog Punched a Duck', an EP by matt-as-strophe, part 1 of which is available to stream now! Check it out for some awesome acoustic punk folk songs!

#illustration #illustrator #art #artist #artwork #epcover #music

A digital sketch of a still from Wong Kar-wai's 2000 film 'In the Mood for Love'. The sketch depicts a woman and a man with their back to the viewer walking down a street at night, illuminated by street lights.

Sketching from films to understand light and colours and things...

#illustration #art #digitalart #inthemoodforlove #wongkarwai

A young man lays awake in bed, illuminated only by the light from his phone, which he is holding above his head and looking at with a slightly vacant look. The young man on the bed only makes up a small part of the composition of the image - the rest of which is taken up by darkness and empty space - highlighting the young man's loneliness.

Part three of an intermittent personal project to create an illustration for each track of the 1994 album 'Dog Man Star' by
@suedehq.bsky.social

This is my response to the third track, 'Heroine'.

#illustration #illustrator #art #artist #painting #digitalpainting #digitalart

A double page spread depicting a woman in a bookshop is browsing the shelves. Along the bookshelf are small spherical lights, one of which is just above the woman's head - reminiscent of a lightbulb above a character's head to suggest they have come up with an idea or realised something - in this case, the woman has found the perfect book for a gift. At the top of the page on the left we see the books are not actually on the shelf but rather floating in front of it in an unordered, slightly chaotic manner. As we look from left to right the books become more orderly, until by the time we look to where the woman is standing we can see that the books are neatly ordered on the shelf. Below the unordered books at the top of the page on the left is some of the text from the feature 'The gift of words' by Katie Caprino, featured in Breathe magazine issue 77.

Two women are sitting in a field with the early evening sky behind them. As the sun sets the woman on the left gifts the woman on the right with a book, wrapped in brown paper with a red string tied around it.

The image depicts illustrations surrounding some text. The illustrations depict people at a book fair/market/sale, browsing and reading the books on offer. In the centre of the page is some of the text from the feature 'The gift of words' by Katie Caprino, featured in Breathe issue 77.

More work from this feature

A woman in a bookshop is browsing the shelves. Along the bookshelf are small spherical lights, one of which is just above the woman's head - reminiscent of a lightbulb above a character's head to suggest they have come up with an idea or realised something - in this case, the woman has found the perfect book for a gift.

Some of my work for issue 77 of Breathe magazine, accompanying an article by Katie Caprino about how to choose the perfect book for someone as a gift!

#illustration #illustrator #artist #art #editorial #editorialillustration #digital #digitalart

A woman walks down a foggy street with trees on both sides of the road. She walks away with her back to the viewer, approaching a pedestrian crossing with some traffic lights. The sky is overcast and the leaves on the trees are turning yellow.

It'll pass

#illustration #art #digitalart #digitalpainting #autumn #fall

'Come to the point then and be done with it. Some of us have work to be getting on with.'

An illustration inspired by Kazuo Ishiguro's 1989 novel 'The Remains of the Day'.

#illustration #art #digitalart #digitalpainting #drawing #painting #kazuoishiguro #theremainsoftheday

Beacons

open.spotify.com/album/4CdbcH...

I'm very excited to share my cover artwork for 'Beacons' by Jack Restall, the new album which is out now!
jackrestall.com

#illustration #art #digitalart #digitalpainting #album #albumart #albumcover #music

Prints of my work are now available! They can be found at jacobcourtney.bigcartel.com/products

They are A5 (148 x 210mm) prints on Fotospeed Matt Ultra 240gsm paper, featuring illustrations created during my time at the @royalcollegeofart.bsky.social

#illustration #art #artwork #prints

Other versions

The man next door
#illustration #art #digitalart

A digital painting of an alleyway in Cardiff, South Wales. It is a sunny day, and the alley is covered by the shadows formed from the buildings on the left side of it.

Alleyway

#illustration #illustrator #art #artist #digitalart #digital #digitalpainting #digitaldrawing #drawing #painting #landscape #landscapepainting #street #streetpainting #alley #alleyway #cardiff #wales #southwales #city #houses #garage #wall #brick #bluesky #plants

A double page spread from Breathe magazine issue 75, featuring spot illustrations. The first illustration on the first page shows letters that have just been delivered through someone's front door. The second illustration on the second page shows the letter being opened, as well as a cup of tea and a plate.

More work!

In a darkly lit room with a dark greenish hue, a woman sits at a cluttered desk writing a letter. The desk is positioned in front of a window, through which we can see a reflection, but rather than being an accurate reflection, the figure in the window is representative of the recipient of the letter the woman is writing. Through the window we also see rain falling.

My illustrations for Breathe magazine issue 75, accompanying a feature from Fiona McNeill about pen pals, and how the more old-fashioned and slower method of communicating via writing and sending letters can help connect people from all over the world.
#illustration #art #breathe #editorial

A woman with a bicycle with her back to the viewer walks across a shaded area in a marketplace in an alleyway on a sunny day. We see other figures sitting and standing in the marketplace, as well as some of the items being sold, such as food and rugs.

Some of my work for issue 74 of Breathe magazine, accompanying an article by @kateorson.bsky.social about making the most out of holidays, as well as how to travel responsibly.

#illustration #illustrator #artist #art #editorial #editorialillustration #digital #digitalart

A scene on a nightclub dancefloor illuminated by reddish, pinkish lights. The figures dancing all have a hula hoop around them, symbolising their personal space.

A woman in a nightclub surrounded by a crowd of people, illuminated by reddish, pinkish lights. The woman clutches her bag close to her chest to help alleviate the anxiety caused by the lack of personal space.

More work from this feature

A crowded scene at the bar in a nightclub illuminated by reddish, pinkish lights. A woman in the centre of the image in uncomfortable by the large crowd surrounding her and her lack of personal space. She is illuminated by an overhead light - this light taking the shape of a perfect circle, connotating to the idea of a 'personal bubble'.

Some work from last year for Breathe Magazine issue 67, accompanying a feature by Greta Solomon about personal space - looking at our own and each other's personal boundaries and how you can give yourself and others room to breathe!

#illustration #illustrator #art #artist #editorial #digital

In a dark room, a figure mostly covered in shadow outstretches their arm across a desk as they pass a folder towards the viewer. The figure's arm, the only part of them we can clearly see, is illuminated by the only light source in the room - a lamp on the desk.

'There's something we need you to do'.

Some older work from 2022.

#illustration #illustrator #art #artist #digital #digitalart #digitalpainting #painting #noir

A woman sits on her bed looking fatigued and unhappy. She is engulfed by an exaggerated shadow cast on her by the evening light shining upon a desk in the foreground of the image, on which are several important letters and bills.

A double page spread from issue 73 of Breathe magazine, with illustrations surrounding the text. On the first page we see a to-do list written in a small notepad. On the second page we see a character working on these tasks. The images are broken into panels, with white gutters separating the illustration into different frames. The frames are separated to section off each of the tasks written on the to-do list on the previous page. The panels depicting each task or item to be addressed have a different level of contrast/saturation relative to their position on the to-do list - task number 1 has the most contrast and saturation whereas task 4 has the least.

A closer look at the second page of the previous two page spread

My illustrations for issue 73 of Breathe Magazine, accompanying a feature by @carolinebutterwick.bsky.social about life-admin tasks and how overwhelming they can be, as well as discussing ways they can be managed!

#illustration #art #editorial #digitalart #magazine #breathe

A digital painting of a still from the film 'In the Mood for Love', (2000). The image depicts a man and a woman in the backseat of a taxi at night.

More drawings from films! Here's a study from 'In the Mood for Love' (2000), directed by Wong Kar-wai and starring Maggie Cheung and Tony Leung.

#illustration #art #drawing #painting #sketch #digitalart #film #cinema #inthemoodforlove

In an interior with dim pink lighting, we see a close-up of a young woman hugging a young man. A digital sketch of a still from the 2018 film 'Shoplifters', directed by Hirokazu Kore-eda.

Drawing from films! Here is a digital study of a still from 'Shoplifters' (2018), directed by Hirokazu Kore-eda

#illustration #art #illustrator #artist #digitalart #digitalpainting #study #sketch #film #cinema #japanesecinema #shoplifters

A woman with her back to us pushes away the curtains of a window to look outside. The bright light outside creeps into the darker room in which the woman stands. In this room is a sofa with a travel guide one of the seats.

What was it you were hoping to find?

#illustration #illustrator #art #artist #drawing #traditional #traditionalart #digital #digitalart #painting #digitalpainting

The Stranger

#illustration #illustrator #art #artist #painting #digitalpainting #digitalart

In a muddy, grey, coastal area littered with industrial waste, a dishevelled young man with long, messy hair kneels down to pick up a piggy bank found amongst the debris.

Part two of an intermittent personal project to create an illustration for each track of the 1994 album 'Dog Man Star' by @suedehq.bsky.social

This is my response to the second track, 'We Are the Pigs'.

#illustration #illustrator #art #artist #painting #digitalpainting #digitalart