Toevallig vond ik deze coole prints op de website van illustrator Aya Kakeda. Heden werkt ze in New York.
Veel van haar afbeeldingen zijn vrij smal en het zijn zeefdrukken. Op haar foto’s kan je uitmaken dat ze erg interesseert is in de Japanse cultuur. Ze mixt vaak dieren en (zelfverzonnen of historische) wezens die vaak in Japanse foto’s terug te zien zijn. Het leuke eraan is dat ze veel theorieën weet van de verhalen wat erachter zit.
Enthousiast? Kijk dan verder!
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De Libanese illustrator Viola (Nadine Feghaly) heeft erg mooie werkjes in bezit. Tegenwoordig verkoopt ze ook postkaartjes en tassen. De in 1984 geboren Nadine houdt ervan om zichzelf te uiten op verschillende manieren. Daarom heeft ze Viola ontworpen. Viola heeft verschillende soorten personages en de auteur Nadine besloot om een land voor hen te creëren. Simpel, maar indrukwekkend verhaal om deze personages op Alatoerka te posten. Because they are worth it.
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‘s Ochtends had ik een interessant artikel over Esra Roise, het meisje die zeer fantastisch kan tekenen, geplaatst. Ik interviewde haar kort daarna over haar tekeningen en ze was charmant genoeg om het binnen een uurtje te beantwoorden. Ook vond ze het erg grappig dat we dezelfde naam hebben. Het leek alsof ze tegen haarzelf praatte, aldus Esra. Zie hieronder het interview:
1. Can you give us a brief biografy of yourself?
I’m 29, living and working in Oslo, Norway. I’ve gone two years to the Einar Granum school of Art here in Norway, and I am currently finishing the last year of my bachelor degree in Visual Communication at the Academy of the Arts in Oslo.
I’ve been drawing for as long as i could remember, and it’s always been my way of expressing and entertaining myself.. but it wasnt untill recent years that i dared to think that this could actually be my job. i quit my dayjob 5 years ago, and i’ve been working freelance as an illustrator since then, and although it was one of the scariest things i’ve ever done, i’ve never regretted it. I love my job!!
2. What’s your ethnic background?
My mom is Norwegian and my dad is Turkish, so that explains the name 😉
3. What is your style in the illustrations?
My style is very traditional pencil drawings mixed with watercolor and collage. I love the idea of using a very slow and old-school medium like the pencil to create something new.. I have recently discovered how to use a wacom board though, so i like to play around with my drawings on the computer after scanning them. That certainly opened a door into a whole new world, but my starting point is always analog; pencil on paper.
4. How long do you spent for one illustration?
Hm..that depends on what i am drawing. and for whom. And if i know what i want to create before i start or if i’m just making it up as i go. hehe. It can take from a couple of hours to several weeks. If it is just a personal project, I like top take breaks and pick things up after a couple of days, but working for a client is a totally different ballgame; if i’m working for a client, i am always super particular about staying within the given deadline. Deadlines are sacred hehe.
5. Who/what is your inspiration to draw such fantastic pictures?
I draw inspiration from..everything in life I guess. Literature,fashion, my friends, other really talented designers and illustrators, like Laura Laine and Lise-Lotte Watkins, but also artists from totally different genres than me, like David Hockney, Ron Mueck, and the great Klimt. But most of all, I get inspired by life in general, and awkward, meaningless every-day situations. I think the imperfect things are often the most inspiring ones. Snapshots that are out of focus,weird cropping, bad posture, crooked teeth.. small things that are just a bit off and odd..
And music obviously!- As well as the internet, wich is just an everlasting source of inspiration..
6. Are you satisfied with your pictures or do you think that the average picture could be much better?
Both I guess. I mean, there is always room for improvement in everything one does, but i wouldn’t publish anything on my webpage that i didnt feel content with, so i guess all the pictures on my webpage are a representable image of my level of skills. haha. that sounded corny, but i hope you know what i mean.
7. How do you see yourself ten years later? Do you think that you would still create illustrations for work or..?
The dream is to move out of the country and continue doing what i do now, only in a much bigger scale. i would love to live in New York, and my dream clients are big magazines that manage to juggle being both professional and edgy and kooky and quirky and innovative all at once.. like Dazed and Confused, I-D, Purple, V, Pop, Vogue or the big fashion houses. I love working with designers, and I would definitely love to do more of that.
8. Did you ever went to the Netherlands? And what do you think of Dutch people?
Oh yes i’ve been to Amsterdam once, and i absolutely LOVEd it. such an amazing place. i rented a bike and rode around town for hours. I’m horrible with keeping directions, so obviously all the canals confused me and had me lost several times. haha.I didnt care though..i love getting lost in new cities.
I definitely want to come back to see more of the country.
oh yeah, and you have amazing pancakes 😉
9. Do you want to include something to the interview?
Thanks so much, i really appreciate it.
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Esra Roise is een freelance illustrator uit Noorwegen en studeert momenteel aan haar bachelor aan de Visual Communications at the National Academy of the Arts in Oslo. Klinkt interessant, vind je ook niet?
Mijn naamgenoot creëert vaak tekeningen voor men en gaat dan ervandoor met de populariteit. Ze combineert in haar ontwerpen vaak echte foto’s met getekende lijntjes. Haar mix? Traditionele naturalistische tekening en .. iets compleet anders.
Inspiratie vinden doet ze uit alles. Het kan zijn van muziek, films, literatuur, artiesten, de mensen die ze ontmoet of simpelweg een emotie.
Voor meer informatie over deze bloedmooie dame kan je haar MySpace en Phiary bezoeken.
Een aantal plaatjes uit haar portfolio:
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Aan het einde van dit maand, 31 oktober, is het weer Halloween.
Voor een kunstenaar is dit natoerlijk een kans om zijn collectie uit te breiden en ze in het spotlight te laten schijnen, want mensen vragen om artistieke kunstwerken die gebaseerd zijn op de officiële feestdag van de monsters.
De term Yōkai werd in oude volksverhalen gebruikt als verklaring voor schijnbaar, maar onverklaarbare gebeurtenissen. Het zijn bovennatuurlijke wezens uit Japanse mythologie en folklore. Het uiterlijk, gedrag en kenmerken van de wezens verschillen. De meeste van hen zin gedaanteveranderaars en ze beschikken over magische krachten. Voorbeelden hiervan zijn de wasbeerhonden, vossen, slangen, katten, dassen, wolven, enorme spinnen en honden.
Illustrator Matt Meyer creëert dagelijks portretten van traditionele Japanse monsters en voeg deze toe in zijn A-Yokai-A-Day collectie.
Enkele voorbeelden uit zijn verzameling :
”Apparently, in the 70’s, a woman who was chasing little children was hit by a car, and her face was ripped open from ear to ear. After that accident, a large panic of sightings happened. Other variations of the urban legend have to deal with a woman butchered by plastic surgery.”
”Some say that the curse is bestowed onto a woman who lets her stepchild die of starvation while giving her own child enough to eat. Others say it’s a curse on the man who marries her, for being too miserly and not wanting to pay for her food. Either way, I’m sure it’s a bitch for dieting.”
” Like kitsune, tanuki are extremely magical creatures. They’re powerful sorcerers, and one of their most famous powers is shapechanging. Probably the most notable power is actually located in — get ready for this — their scrotums.”
”Umibozu are said to be the spirits of drowned priests, and perhaps they look after the spirits of those who have nobody to care for their graves (as these spirits are said to take refuge out at sea).”
” The stories of encounters with jorogumo are plentiful, and differ from town to town, but they’re all pretty fascinating. In one story, a traveling samurai is invited by a beautiful woman into a shack to hear her play the biwa. As he listened to the music, she bound him up in her webs and then ate him.”
”Not all yokai are born that way — some are ordinary humans transformed into yokai through some magic or other. Today’s yokai is one such cursed human: Rokurokubi. Her name means “pulley neck” and it comes from the fact that her neck is infinitely stretchable, allowing her head to fly about from her body.”