An Introduction

Hi! Welcome to the blog of I Oh Knee - a place where you can read about my experiences in creating the art I make and other things along the way. I thought I’d start with a brief introductory post that basically reiterates my ‘About section’ in greater detail so you can get a better idea of who I am. So, with that, let us begin…

My name is Ione, I’m a Scottish illustrator based in Paisley but originally grew up in Dumfries and Galloway by the Scottish border with England. My artistic journey started at a young age and consisted of scrawling on pieces of paper with the nostalgic Berol felt-tip pens that were aplenty in every UK primary school. I would spend copious amounts of time looking through all the video and DVD cases that we had in my family home and tried to replicate those as best as I could (and not without sheer frustration - I have always been a perfectionist and this was very obvious even as a small child). If it wasn’t DVD cases, it was cartoon characters from magazines. One of my fonder memories was drawing and colouring in Phil and Lil from the Rugrats out of a nickelodeon magazine, which was a personal favourite as a child. As I grew into a teenager this expanded into having an interest in music and becoming obsessed with bands, musicians, and also fashion. Mod phase? done it. Pin-up and Rockabilly? that too. “Goth”? That is still well and truly ongoing. When I think about it, it seems quite obvious where my love for combining my drawing skills with pop culture personalities comes from but this has only been a very recent realisation.

Although I drew continuously through primary school and occasionally through high school, I didn’t actually take art as a subject until my final year. After this I went on to do an HND in theatre costume at Edinburgh College where I ultimately dropped out (sewing and using fabric is another hobby of mine, in fact my part time job is based around it, but the course I decided on was not for me). After returning home I spent 2 years at Dumfries and Galloway College where I gained an HNC and HND in art and design, and then I moved on to specialise in Illustration (with a dash of graphic design) at the University of Cumbria’s Institute of the Arts in Carlisle, Cumbria. Now you know a little more about what makes I Oh Knee, I Oh Knee.

I decided to call this blog “Did I Say That Right?” for two reasons:

1) My name has been notoriously tricky to pronounce (and spell) my whole life and as a result I feel it’s a really integral part of who I am and how I present myself. If you haven’t sussed it yet, it’s pronounced “I-oh-knee”. I felt it was perfectly fitting for what I guess you would call the ‘brand’ I’m trying to bring to my work; I want to make things that look and feel as unique as my name. As a fun bonus section here are some various spellings and pronunciations I’ve heard over the years:

Iona, Ioni, Ionie, Iony, Aione, Iain, Leonie, Leona, and - the best one by a mile - Enobi.

“Did I say that right?” is inevitably what follows when someone attempts to say my name after reading it for the first time.

2) I have always found it difficult to convey what I mean in conversations. I am a serial yapper but a lot of that consist of pauses and “umm” or “I forgot what I was saying”, and therefore I feel I have to explain myself a lot by using phrases along the lines of “did I say that right?” or “do you get what I mean?” at the end of virtually every sentence. I’ve always felt it easiest to make sense of my thoughts when typing things out, and I’m hoping this blog will be an easier way to show you all how I work as an illustrator without verbally spluttering all over the place.

I aim to make these posts a fortnightly thing, for I also work a part time job and am cursed with a neurodivergent brain which sometimes means I either forget or simply just cannot do the task at hand. This week I’ll leave you with a wholesome picture of my cats as an introductory gift.

See you for some more ramblings (AND more pictures) in a couple of weeks!

Ione (I Oh Knee) ❤️