Hey there! I’ve been working on this project for a while, and I’m quite excited to share it: a collaboration!
Some of you know it can be struggle to find people who are as interested in your hobby as you are! And that is not to say everyone should be so enthused with your art, etc., but it is always refreshing to find kindred spirits that share your same interests.
Mesa is one of those kind of people. We both have an affinity for drawing and painting, and it almost seemed natural to come together and create a piece of art. Whereas I lean towards fashion illustration, Mesa loves drawing portraits. Our styles are quite different, hers being detailed and sometimes moody; I would describe mine as slightly unfinished and simple.
This piece came together after months of thought (and pinning on Pinterest!). We found this lovely photo of Elle Fanning, shot by Alex Prager (my roots of fashion illustration coming through), and it seemed perfect. I think the voluptuous hair and large eyes are what drew (no pun intended…) Mesa to the picture; for me, it was her skin and soft expression.
Unconventional might be a good word to describe this painting, but I like it! It was so interesting to try to convert the black and white to color. (It’s all about layers!)
And since it is nice to get to know my friends better, I decided to ask Mesa some questions:
Q:What medium do you work in?
M: For many years (haha, that makes me sound so old and experienced doesn’t it? Well, I’m not…) I’ve been working almost exclusively in graphite and charcoal. A bit of ballpoint pen here and there I guess. But I’ve just recently delved into the realm of acrylic paints. It’s so interesting and fun most of the time. I have never done much color so that’s a bit difficult, as well as learning how to manipulate a medium that’s so different from what I usually work in, but I’m loving it!
Q: What is your favorite thing to draw?
M: People. I love people. They are so complex and complicated and hard to do. I mean, you can draw any old tree and no one will notice if the branches are a couple centimeters off, but if I’m drawing any old person I can guarantee that you will notice if one eye is 2.73 centimetres too far south. I once decided to draw a pretty lamp in my friend’s living room. I got halfway through the lampshade and quit because it way too boring.
Q: Where do you see yourself (artistically) in seven years?
M: Well I am currently at the University of Alaska, hoping to major in art (because, you know, I’m looking for financial stability in my future. ;D haha, JK) which is awesome because now I have a legit reason to do art for 6 hours a day! I hope that someday I will be able to use what I’m learning now, or let’s be honest, what I taught myself years ago, on the side. I hope that I will be able to have kids and mainly be a stay at home mom but it would be so cool to teach community art classes a coupla days a week or something!
Q: What is your favorite candy? Can you pick one?
M: I don’t think I can actually… Sometimes I love Butterfingers (well a lot of the time actually) and sometimes Swedish fish or Sour Patch Kids. Sometimes I even like weird salty-liquorice Norwegian stuff!
Thank you, Mesa, for letting me do a mini-interview on you! – C.
Now, here are a few questions I asked myself…just in case you’re curious 🙂
Q: How would you describe your style?
C: Feminine, quirky, with desaturated colors.
Q: What is your favorite quality about your art work? Worst quality?
C: My work has an uncontrolled, simple appearance which is appealing to me. I don’t paint every shadow and detail I see in a picture. I get impatient (and bored) when working on something for too long (that is why oil painters amaze me!). I also have embraced some of the unfinished aspects of my art; sometime I’ll come back to an illustration months later and finish it. Time and space can be a big help when something doesn’t feel quite right. My worst quality is the lack of skill I have when it comes to drawing anatomy, and sometimes feeling “stuck” in drawing a certain way. This is to be expected, though, when trying anything new.
Q: Where do you see yourself (artistically) in seven years?
C: What a question! Who knows, I might have five kids in seven years! But realistically, I hope to have a little cottage with a studio, and maybe a shop to sell calendars, greeting cards, and other paper goods with my illustrations on them. (One can dream!) And I’d like to get better with editing/computer skills.
Q: What’s your favorite candy? Can you pick one?
C: No, that is impossible! (19 y.o. Caroline remembers 7 y.o. Caroline taking 10 minutes in the candy aisle at the grocery store…not an exaggeration.) But right now, I’m liking Brookside Acai & Blueberry candies.
Hope that y’all enjoyed this post! It’s super long, I know. But if you’re like me, sometimes you might find yourself binge-reading a blog for two hours straight. (Now go do your laundry!)