When did you become an artist

I've been drawing ever since I can remember, really. It all started with a blue ink pen, lots of copy paper and even scribbling on school books - that and doodling on MS Paint using my parent's old, slow and chunky computer.

In 2008, I discovered online communities where you could draw with friends and share feedback, started searching about digital art a lot more seriously and found out about programs such as Photoshop. Eventually I got a cheap drawing tablet which was crazy for me back then. I always wondered how people made digital art (using a mouse was awful) and then one day I saw a fashion designer on TV using a tablet...my eyes were glued to the screen!

Fast forward to 2014, I moved to another country (England) and decided to pursue a career as an artist. I focused a lot on learning, improving and sharing my process online. Eventually I became more comfortable and happy with my work - I'd say that at the end of 2017, things "clicked" and since then I've been creating the kind of art that I've always wanted to make.

​The journey never ends, so I'm excited to see what happens in the following years!

Inspirations

My inspirations come from several different places. I'm inspired by other artists, seeing them working hard and making beautiful work always makes me run off to paint. Games, movies/animation and books really inspire me too, here are some of my favourites:

• Kya: Dark Lineage (PS2 Game) - I love the characters, story and colours...oh colours!
• Tomb Raider - my favourite game of all time, I grew up playing the classics and it had a massive impact in my life and art.
• Epic (2013) - I love this movie, it's a bundle of all the things I love and I even had to get the book it was based on.
• How to Train your Dragon - The whole franchise has made me fall in love with animated movies over and over.
• Mune: Guardian of the Moon - this movie almost went under the radar for me, but glad I watched it 10000 times. It's amazing!
• The Mummy (1999) - I will never not watch Brendan Fraser in The Mummy, those movies make me feel like a happy kid again.
• Howl's Moving Castle - Studio Ghibli makes some of the most inspiring animated films, I always have to draw after watching them.
• & many more!

For me, what's important is to be in touch with sources of creativity, fun, fantasy and adventure. I just like a good story and amazing characters! I'm also a quiet person, enjoy being with my pets and surrounded by nature so in the end these are the things that make me want to keep creating.

Which tools do you use for digital art

My current tools are:

• iPad Pro 12.9" (2nd Gen)
• Apple Pencil
• Dell Laptop - I use it for emails, blog posts, editing website, etc
• Procreate - for creating artwork
• Google Drive - file management
• Affinity Photo - for editing files, ready for printing, etc
• iMovie - editing videos and timelapses

Procreate brushes

When I first started using Procreate, it was difficult getting used to the basic brushes available - it took me a couple of months until I was able to fully paint using them. Here are some of my favourites:

• Technical Pencil (Sketching)
• 6B Pencil (Sketching)
• Round Brush (Painting)
• Nikko Rull (Painting)
• Gouache (Artistic)
• Charcoal Block + 6B Compressed + Vine Charcoal (Charcoals)

Once I became more comfortable with the basics, then I decided to purchase more brushes from artists on Gumroad. Here are the ones I use the most:

• JingSketch Essentials + Complete Collection - I use these brushes 99% of the time, I absolutely love them and it has made my process a lot more fun. The artist made these brushes feel like the ones in Photoshop so they're a great addition to the list.
• Max Packs - At the moment I only own the Painter's set, they were my first purchase and I love them. There was such an improvement as soon as I started using them. Also, I use the MaxU Smudge Pastel brush for the smudge tool ALL the time.

Traditional tools of choice

If I'm doing some quick sketching, then I use a 0.5mm mechanical pencil (Staedtler Graphite 779) on a regular sketchbook. For more detailed pieces, I might use pencils by Derwent HB, 2B and 4B.
Sometimes I also use sketchbooks by Strathmore and Moleskine.
For Inktober/Ink pieces, I use the Faber Castell PITT Pens - they're my absolute favourite! I love them in black, sepia and many other colours. I've also used Gold Ink from Winsor & Newton and India Ink from Jackson's Art Supplies. As for the paper, I've used cheap paper with a bit of texture in the past, then Bristol Board and more recently Bamboo Paper from Hahnemühle.

Please note I'm not sponsored by any of the brands listed above.

How did you come up with your characters

My two most "popular" characters are Bun and Greenie. All of my original concepts come from personal life, experiences, passions and other sources of inspiration - for example movies and games.

Bun was created in 2009, I was just a teenager and I remember being a bit frustrated back then with my artwork and other things in general. I had this quick doodling style and I loved drawing characters out of nowhere, just imagining their personalities and such. One day I started messing around and that's how Bun appeared. I put some of my own personality into it, imagined a story for her and really enjoyed the end result. She was a bit more moody back then, but still Bun.

Greenie was also a character that appeared at a time when I needed to let go of some stress. She was never supposed to become a character though, it was only a painting I made in 2016 after a long period of time when I couldn't create much or feel excited. In September of that year, I finally went for a simple portrait of a green haired girl - one of my favourite things to paint - and somehow the motivation came rushing in. I was loving art again.

After a while, can't remember when exactly, my sister was showing me a new game (The Sims 4) and just for fun, I decided to create a character based on that painting I had made. What was supposed to be just half an hour, turned into long hours of me dressing up the character, giving her pets and building them a huge house inspired by nature. It was so much fun to create a video game character out of my own concept. That's when I realised, Greenie was meant to be much more than just a painting.

Project Plans

At the moment, I'm only focusing on one personal project and that is about Bun - my tiny character living in a big world. I would love to keep working on the visuals and concepts until I decide on how I want to share this story. I've thought of a graphic novel format, an illustrated book, even animation although I don't know how to animate, hehe.
For now it's a lot of fun to build the world and its characters!

Do you take commissions

Only if my schedule allows it. I always announce on social media when these open, but feel free to contact me if you have an inquiry. 

Pet Assistants

Every artist needs an assistant and I've got 3 lovely ones who help me pack orders, clean the studio and even reply to emails!
​(Okay, maybe they just offer company, but that's more than enough for me)

Meet Karma
​

She's my soul and heart, the most beautiful cat and the neediest too.
I adopted Karma in 2014 when she was 9 months old - her previous owners couldn't look after her due to medical issues and I was happy to welcome this confident, curious and sweet kitty into my life.

Little fun facts: Karma is very confident, but at first she will be shy with new people, new places, etc. She likes to go outside in the garden when I take the dogs as well, the only issue is that she would rather jump into bushes, climb trees, be rebellious and sadly I can't trust the busy roads around the house.

​This naughty cat also loves to jump inside plant pots, follows me everywhere asking for pets and treats, absolutely adores to step on my keyboard, throws papers when I'm packing orders if I don't give her attention, but most of all she just loves to be next to me while I'm working and I treasure her company.

Meet Sparkle

I will never be able to describe how much I love Sparkle and how sweet, amazing and incredible she is.
I adopted Sparkle in 2016, when she was barely 1 year old - her previous family took good care of her and loved her, but Sparkle was hit by a car when she was 6 months old and her front leg had to be amputated. With small children and another baby on the way, the family couldn't walk Sparkle often or give her the attention she deserved.

At first, it was a big adjustment for Sparkle. Our house had stairs and the bedroom was in the upper floor, the bed was also slightly high above the floor - The dog park was thankfully only 5 minutes away, but it took a while until Sparkle had all the strength to do everything without slipping or tumbling quite a few times.

Thanks to her incredible will, happy personality and confidence, Sparkle was able to overcome all obstacles. Her favourite thing was to spend hours in the park chasing and playing with all the dogs, running after the ball and even swimming at the riverside.

She's almost 5 years old now, things move a little slower and she no longer wants to spend hours in the park or chase other dogs. I think Sparkle now prefers shorter but fun walks, still running after the ball (it's her favourite) and long naps.

Little fun fact: I could write a book on these, but let me just share that when I forget dinner time or take just a tiny bit longer, Sparkle will deeply stare at me until I realise what I forgot - time to feed the beast! When she's hungry she becomes a different dog *laughs nervously*.

Meet Blue

This goofy boy has so much love to give, I never, never, ever had a dog in my life as special as Blue.
All of my pets are adopted, it was a choice and the best choice. There are so many animals out there looking for a new chance and Blue definitely deserved another.

My mother saw an ad for two dogs online, one was slightly aggressive and needed space, the other was very shy and anxious. They were brothers, but very different from each other -  if I could I would've taken both home, but I ended up picking the 1 year old, shy dog.

I went to meet Blue and his previous owner in late 2016, a few months after I had adopted Sparkle. I noticed how anxious he was that day, I took him for a short walk with Sparkle along and I saw how he wanted to go back to his owner. I was already so in love that I didn't notice the red flags.

He came home with us. I just knew he was perfect, but his owner was definitely sad to see him go and Blue was very, very anxious when he saw his owner stay behind. The car journey was a bit of a struggle, but in the end we reached home safely.

It took me a full week to decide whether I could keep Blue or not, sadly I hadn't noticed how far his anxiety could go. He would pace around the house all day, wouldn't rest for a minute, he didn't appreciate Sparkle begging for his attention (she loved him instantly) and he was scared...of everything.
He was scared of anything in the house, noises, people, other dogs, etc. I couldn't have a nice walk to the park if there was a lot of people around and some dogs acted very confidently around him, which would push the progress way back.

After one week, I decided that if Blue was going to get a chance at a good, happy life and if he was to recover - then I had to give him that chance.
I had no experience with dogs with such low confidence or mental issues, so this was a big challenge for me. It took time off my personal life, work, rest and even my other dog. In the end it was so worth it.

​
Blue is now 4 years old, still very anxious because that is part of his life now (he suffered some sort of abuse while growing up) and has his ups and downs, but he has improved so much that I can't even describe it.
We go on such happy walks now, noises don't bother him like before and he doesn't have to hide or run away. Me leaving the house/him alone is the biggest challenge, but we're working on that too.

He loves Sparkle so much, they're inseparable and although they're not related, you could almost guess they were. Blue and Karma also love each other, but that's more on her terms.

Little fun facts: Blue "growls" at you in the morning, but that's him saying good morning - then he wags his tail so much I worry it might break. He loves kisses, he will lick your face, legs, arms so much and so often, just so you don't forget he loves you. Blue cries when Karma doesn't want to play with him, so I have to tell him it's okay and give him pets or belly rubs. There's so many more, he's extremely goofy, but so loving!

assistants, busy at work

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