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By his own admission, Ryan Thomas’ first brush with creativity was tainted with a bit of “villainy”… But the latest project of the illustrator – and the brains behind local meme page with a 10k following, ‘Not The Jersey Police’ – is all about good.
‘Colour Jersey’ is a colouring book featuring local sites such as La Rocco Tower, St. Catherine’s Breakwater or Le Moulin de Quétivel along with information and facts about them. Elodie Redoulés spoke to Ryan about his creative journey, which started at St Lawrence Primary School, where he first learned to draw…
What is your first creative memory?
In reception, the teacher tasked us with moulding boats which could float on water out of plasticine. After 20 minutes, no one had managed it, so she stepped in to demonstrate. She rolled, flattened, and shaped the plasticine into the perfect example boat, and of course it floated! Still, none of the children could wrap their heads around buoyancy, myself included.
Pictured: Many islanders will be familiar with the memes of Not The Jersey Police.
But I had a cunning plan: when the teacher’s back was turned, I pinched her perfect boat and, later, presented it to her as if it was my own. Impressed by the craftsmanship, the teacher displayed her own boat outside the classroom for an entire term but with my name, in gold letters no less, printed boldly beside it. That was my first brush with creativity… and villainy.
When did you start illustrating?
I have always enjoyed drawing since as far back as I can remember – I became particularly good at defacing school textbooks. Since those days, I have illustrated posters, tattoos, books, and worked as a freelance graphic designer, landing a job creating concept art for Pringles.
Where did the idea for ‘Colour Jersey’ come from?
A Jersey colouring book seemed like the obvious first step to get my name out there. Being a Jersey boy, I know the island like the back of my hand, the local colouring book market wasn’t oversaturated and, best of all, I can sell people unfinished artwork and they’ll colour it themselves… that’s half the job!
What was the process of creating a colouring book like?
I became obsessed. Each artwork had to be perfect and needed a write-up to give context to the art. The project ballooned in scale until I had over 60 pictures and accompanying write-ups. Some were cut, others revised numerous times until ‘Colour Jersey’ was finished… except it wasn’t because then I had to find a publisher, learn what an ISBN number is and all of the boring technical bits. Then, finally, I was finished.
Pictured: “When the teacher’s back was turned, I pinched her perfect boat and, later, presented it to her as if it was my own”
Except I wasn’t… I had to go around to all the retailers in Jersey asking, sheepishly, if they would be interested in stocking my colouring book. And it’s still not finished because now comes the advertising phase (buy my book, you’ll love it!).
What will be your next project?
I would like to use some of the images featured in Colour Jersey to create colouring postcards, notebooks and more. I’m already thinking about my next Jersey-themed project. Who knows? Maybe another Channel Island colouring book – I do like Sark!
Colour Jersey is available locally at The Creative Cottage in St Peter, The Trading Point at David Hick in St Lawrence, The Lilac Dragonfly in Rozel Bay, Jersey Heritage gift shops, and The Harbour Gallery in St Helier. You can also buy it online at www.madeinjersey.com. You can follow @NotTheJerseyPolice on Facebook or Instagram.
This is a snippet of a feature in the December 2023/January 2024 edition of Connect Magazine, which you can pick up around the island or read in full below...
GALLERY: A sneak peek at Colour Jersey...
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