‘I want to give readers an insight into my brain. I think my sketchbook drawings really encapsulate what's going on in my head, without any sort of filter’
We asked illustrator Gemma Correll for access to her sketchbooks.
Introducing Overthinker.
Journeys into anxiety, animals uncensored, candid tales of seasonal disorder, Gemma is the brilliant cartoonist behind numerous books, art director for a TV show, and a regular for the New York Times and many more
A new selection of her work is now brought together for a one-off double special, with two titles that give a unique look at how the mind and pen of an illustrator work.
Words on Overthinker:
"My brain never switches off. It means that I'm creative, which is great, obviously - but also very anxious.
"I don't think overthinking necessarily translates directly into an anxiety or depressive disorder (or both, if you're lucky like me!). But there's definitely a correlation.
"Drawing and writing are great. They help to get the thoughts that are bouncing around inside my head with nowhere to go out and onto the page. They're easier for me to understand when I can see them in front of me in visual form instead of as a tangled, abstract mass in my brain.
"When I started drawing, I was very young and trying to figure out the world and my place in it. Drawing was a way of processing my anxiety - or the weird nebulous feeling that I later came to understand to be anxiety.
"Understanding and treatment of mental health issues has come a long way. But there's still a lot of stigma and a wide range of ways that a mental health problem can show up.
"I think it's still important to share as many different personal experiences as possible. Mine is just one voice of many."
