A Flying Car and a Ghost (!) Keep Illustrator Oliver Jeffers Company in His Brooklyn Studio

Step inside his quirky-cool world.
Julie Vadnal Avatar
A workshop with a cream armchair on the left in front of wooden shelves and drawers adorned with multicolored books, desk supplies, and two globes. Oliver Jeffers sits on a stool in the center. Three purple polka dots and a white border frame the image. One of the purple dots has "nice work!" written on it in white print.

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Visiting a person’s workspace is like taking a peek inside their brain. Whether it’s at home or in an art studio, Nice Work explores where creative people do all of their, well, creating, so that you can steal their on-the-clock style.

Name: Oliver Jeffers

Occupation: I’ve always found it difficult to define what I do. For a while I said artist and storyteller, but that didn’t cover it all. Then last year at [climate change conference] COP26 in Glasgow (I had a sculpture in the world-leader zone), I had to get a full-access pass. But they didn’t have a box to check for artist or storyteller, so they put me down as “observer/translator,” and I thought that was pretty apt.

Office space with natural tones seating area to the right and tall wooden drawers on the left. Bookshelves and a desk area are placed towards the back wall.

What time I start: I have tended to use the mornings for meetings, emails, organization, etc. The afternoon is to set up for actual mark making. Then after the kids go to bed, I work into the night with an uninterrupted road ahead of me in a quiet studio. These days, though, I’m trying to force myself to have that uninterrupted road early in the morning, so I try to be at the studio by 6 a.m. and (as I am deep in a new project) clock off at 7 or 8 p.m.

Antique wooden desk cluttered with pencils, paintbrushes, and art materials, below several rows of book shelves.

How I get to work: Usually walk or take my Vespa.

Three words that describe my space: Mildly organized chaos.

A quirky office space with a seating area towards the front. An a rustic conference table towards the back, with wooden stools around it. Art is hung from the walls and ceiling.

When I moved in: I moved into the building in 2010, but a floor down. I upgraded about seven years ago and expanded three years ago to take over the studio next to mine.

Most important thing on my desk: Probably my sketchbooks. They are an extension of my forgetful brain.

An artist studio's sink space. The white porcelain sink is surrounded by natural wood shelves filled with art supplies.

What’s on the walls: Mostly books, art materials, and various pruck (an Irish word for secondhand treasure).

Current creative fuel: Moving the needle on public discourse. I can see a simplicity in the way humans want to be, and they often (when you get deep enough) all tend to want the same things. I have a fervent urgency to help share this feeling with as many as possible. Also, making beautiful images.

Artist's studio with white walls and wooden beams. An unfinished painting is propped up to the right. Two paintings are hung on the back wall above two desks and a white stool.

What I turn to when I’m stuck: I always have multiple projects on the go, so if I’m running into a wall with one, I move to another. Giving a project (or a painting) a break is a great thing. You come back at it with fresh eyes and see clearly what is working and what is not.

How I stay organized: Lists. Lots of lists. Sometimes I’ll add something that’s already done to my to-do list just to get the satisfaction of crossing it off. Also calendars. Frequently I’ll work backward from a deadline (sometimes self-imposed) so I can work out what needs to be done for when.

Several tall and staggered wooden drawers with a cluster of globes sitting atop.

Favorite pen: For signing books, a Pigma Graphic. For drawing, a dipping pen and a pot of India ink. Though a pencil is my first go-to and what I mostly use. I favor Blackwings.

Best notebook: Moleskine. I use the year planner that has a page for each day, and a blank softcover the same size for keeping thoughts and ideas and for working things out. When explaining something, more times than not, I’ll pull out a pencil and illustrate my point.

A tall bookshelf and black metal ladder amidst a bright art studio.

Work bag I carry every day: An Ally Capellino raw pink backpack.

Technology I can’t live without: An iPad. I can make final art for books on it and make a drawing for social media about some current issue or small, quick color sketches while I’m on the move. And I move a lot.

A used paint palette on a wooden surface, next to a wide paint brush, and an opened drawer of used paint tubes.

Desk chair that I could (and do) spend hours in: I have a ’30s-style wheelie office chair that I found on the street and had reupholstered in a natural leather. Though I only really sit down if I’m writing emails or doing Photoshop work. Which is probably less than 15 percent of my time in the studio.

Metal office desk below several rows of wooden shelves.

Conference table I convene around with collaborators: I have two old-school science desks that I bolted together, and I had a new top made for them. It’s on wheels so it can be moved against a wall if needed. This is probably the center of my universe. When I have studio visits or studio dinners, we gather around this. Most of my recent thinking has come from long conversations over wine with friends and visiting enlightened minds. There seems to be a strange magic about this table.

A star collage on a white back wall with a ghost figure, made from cloth, sits on a stool next to in the corner of a bright office space.

How I fight the 3 p.m. slump:  A disco nap. I’ll lie on the sofa, pull my hat over my eyes, put noise canceling headphones on, and set a timer for 15 minutes. I’m usually out cold after two or three minutes. I wish I could fall asleep this quickly when I go to bed at night!

A light brown leather sofa and two armchairs, one green and one white, at the center of an artist's office space.

Coffee machine I run on: I love the smell of a good old percolator, though I rarely make coffee in the studio. I’ll use the three minutes it takes to run out to one of the many good neighborhood spots as a sort of mental break.

Ideal office snack: Nuts. Or licorice.

An hallway with wooden book shelves on both sides and a narrow wooden door at the end.

Biggest splurge that was worth it: I have two enormous sets of wood flat files. One of them was (again) found discarded nearby. When I began to run out of drawers, I started looking for another and found an older, even more beautiful set that had recently been restored. I couldn’t resist. 

Close-up of two wooden flat files, with several globes resting atop them.

Preferred soundtrack: I tend to not notice music unless it’s bad. But I don’t like working in silence either. I have many eclectic playlists, though I will often bend toward classical. I like it when other people DJ.

Antique wooden desk cluttered with pencils, paintbrushes, and art materials, below several rows of book shelves.

Things I Can’t Work Without

Fin Waxed Cotton Backpack

Ally Capellino
$320
 Brown cotton and leather backpack against a white background.

Chino Chef Apron

Michaels
$11
 Chino apron flat against a white background.

Sakura Pigma Graphic Pen 1.0 mm (Pack of 12)

Staples
$40
 Uncapped Sakura Pigma Graphic 1.0mm pen against a white background.

Classic Daily Planner, Moleskine

Amazon
$20
 Mint moleskin daily planner against a white background.
Julie Vadnal Avatar

Julie Vadnal

Deputy Editor

Julie Vadnal is the deputy editor of Domino. She edits and writes stories about shopping for new and vintage furniture, covers new products (and the tastemakers who love them), and tours the homes of cool creatives. She lives in Brooklyn.