FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
How did you become an illustrator?
I've been drawing ever since I can remember, but it's been only recently that I started to accept the need to become an illustrator. When I was in 5th or 6th grade I had a few teachers who encouraged me to improve my art and to be creative. When I was about 12 or 13 I discovered the whole world of manga and anime and started to draw more often and really focus on improving.
After high school I took a Bachelor's in Art and Design. However, coming from a family where no one was an artist, the idea of becoming one myself was something I never took seriously. In fact, I was always advised not to work freelance and since there weren't many design companies where I lived at that time, art was just an hobby, so the plan would be to work for a marketing/advertising company or for an art museum. Once I finished the course, and since I was also interested in web design at the time, I decided to study Computer Engineering as it was something I found fascinating and I always love to learn new and challenging subjects.
Around 2019/2020 I finished my Computer Engineering Bachelor's and started working in a Cybersecurity company. Even though I loved the experience, I began to listen to podcasts by artists and illustrators and suddenly I noticed all the opportunities that I had no idea exsisted until then. With this, I slowly tried to change my art style to one that made me happier and also realized that I could design and create my own products. My online audience also started to grow as soon as I put more effort into it and got so many compliments on my products. Realizing I was making someone's day better with my art and getting this direct feedback from people boosted my creativity immensely. I started to get so many projects popping up in my head, that I had to leave the company I was working for in order to fully focus on experimenting and improving my art, and to finally have the time to bring all these creations to life. Even though I loved working with so many lovely people at the company, and all the risk it was, I wouldn't trade this experience for anything. By becoming a freelance illustrator I got to learn so many new skills, artwise and also accounting, taxes and all the legal stuff, not to mention all the amazing art fellows and clients that I get the chance to meet.
Favourite art supplies?
Although I love to expermiment with different materials, my tools of the trade are:
Watercolours: Winsor & Newton Cotman Compact Box
Gouache: Winsor & Newton Designers Gouache, Royal Talens Gouache Extra Fine
Coloured Pencils: Faber-Castell Polychromos, Caran d'Ache Pablo, Staedtler Watercolour Pencils
Markers: Copic Markers
Inking: Sakura Pigma Micron
Paper: Fabriano Sketching Paper, Deleter Comic Book Paper Plain B Type, Sakura Bristol Manga Paper, Canson Montval Watercolour Paper
Printer/Scanner: Canon Pixma TS8350
Do you work digitally?
I do! I've been exploring Procreate and I'm loving it so far! It's really useful to emulate that traditional feel of drawing with pencils on paper. I also use Photoshop for colour studies over pencil sketches and Paint Tool SAI for very clean linework. But I'm honestly loving Procreate so much, so I can't say for how much longer I'll be drawing on my laptop ahaha! Photoshop comes in handy for editing scanned traditional pieces though! I've also been playing with Illustrator for vector art and it's my go to software to create the layout and cutlines for my sticker sheets!
Where do you get inspiration from? Do you use references?
I have a lot of inspiration sources and I use a lot of references! I always get inspired by other artists, but I avoid looking at them for inspiration while I'm drawing because I'm afraid of making something identical without noticing. Instead, I prefer to look at antique decorations we have at home, search for vintage toys and children books. For poses and outfits I like to look on Pinterest for ideas. There are so many fairy tale-like photos of kids that are perfect to use as reference for fun characters!
What is your favourite place to be that inspires your art?
I mostly like to draw in my little work space at home, because I like to be in a quiet place where I can focus on the ideas. But there's a Botanical Garden in my city which can be really quiet sometimes and has nice tables where you can draw. I also like to visit historical villages, but I don't like plein air drawing, so I just take lots of photos or simply enjoy the place to get inspired.
What's your favourite thing to draw?
I like to draw sooo many things! I know some artists make a list of their 100 fave things to draw, so I might try that one day! Instead, things that I DON'T like to draw: perspective, lots of modern buildings, machines (but I like to draw cars), and super realistic portraits because I can't give them my personal touch.
How did you become an illustrator?
I've been drawing ever since I can remember, but it's been only recently that I started to accept the need to become an illustrator. When I was in 5th or 6th grade I had a few teachers who encouraged me to improve my art and to be creative. When I was about 12 or 13 I discovered the whole world of manga and anime and started to draw more often and really focus on improving.
After high school I took a Bachelor's in Art and Design. However, coming from a family where no one was an artist, the idea of becoming one myself was something I never took seriously. In fact, I was always advised not to work freelance and since there weren't many design companies where I lived at that time, art was just an hobby, so the plan would be to work for a marketing/advertising company or for an art museum. Once I finished the course, and since I was also interested in web design at the time, I decided to study Computer Engineering as it was something I found fascinating and I always love to learn new and challenging subjects.
Around 2019/2020 I finished my Computer Engineering Bachelor's and started working in a Cybersecurity company. Even though I loved the experience, I began to listen to podcasts by artists and illustrators and suddenly I noticed all the opportunities that I had no idea exsisted until then. With this, I slowly tried to change my art style to one that made me happier and also realized that I could design and create my own products. My online audience also started to grow as soon as I put more effort into it and got so many compliments on my products. Realizing I was making someone's day better with my art and getting this direct feedback from people boosted my creativity immensely. I started to get so many projects popping up in my head, that I had to leave the company I was working for in order to fully focus on experimenting and improving my art, and to finally have the time to bring all these creations to life. Even though I loved working with so many lovely people at the company, and all the risk it was, I wouldn't trade this experience for anything. By becoming a freelance illustrator I got to learn so many new skills, artwise and also accounting, taxes and all the legal stuff, not to mention all the amazing art fellows and clients that I get the chance to meet.
Favourite art supplies?
Although I love to expermiment with different materials, my tools of the trade are:
Watercolours: Winsor & Newton Cotman Compact Box
Gouache: Winsor & Newton Designers Gouache, Royal Talens Gouache Extra Fine
Coloured Pencils: Faber-Castell Polychromos, Caran d'Ache Pablo, Staedtler Watercolour Pencils
Markers: Copic Markers
Inking: Sakura Pigma Micron
Paper: Fabriano Sketching Paper, Deleter Comic Book Paper Plain B Type, Sakura Bristol Manga Paper, Canson Montval Watercolour Paper
Printer/Scanner: Canon Pixma TS8350
Do you work digitally?
I do! I've been exploring Procreate and I'm loving it so far! It's really useful to emulate that traditional feel of drawing with pencils on paper. I also use Photoshop for colour studies over pencil sketches and Paint Tool SAI for very clean linework. But I'm honestly loving Procreate so much, so I can't say for how much longer I'll be drawing on my laptop ahaha! Photoshop comes in handy for editing scanned traditional pieces though! I've also been playing with Illustrator for vector art and it's my go to software to create the layout and cutlines for my sticker sheets!
Where do you get inspiration from? Do you use references?
I have a lot of inspiration sources and I use a lot of references! I always get inspired by other artists, but I avoid looking at them for inspiration while I'm drawing because I'm afraid of making something identical without noticing. Instead, I prefer to look at antique decorations we have at home, search for vintage toys and children books. For poses and outfits I like to look on Pinterest for ideas. There are so many fairy tale-like photos of kids that are perfect to use as reference for fun characters!
What is your favourite place to be that inspires your art?
I mostly like to draw in my little work space at home, because I like to be in a quiet place where I can focus on the ideas. But there's a Botanical Garden in my city which can be really quiet sometimes and has nice tables where you can draw. I also like to visit historical villages, but I don't like plein air drawing, so I just take lots of photos or simply enjoy the place to get inspired.
What's your favourite thing to draw?
I like to draw sooo many things! I know some artists make a list of their 100 fave things to draw, so I might try that one day! Instead, things that I DON'T like to draw: perspective, lots of modern buildings, machines (but I like to draw cars), and super realistic portraits because I can't give them my personal touch.