Anyhow, I was featured and interviewed by the sweetest blogger and possibly my friendliest customer ever, emimonster. I think you should all check out her super girly blog. She has the best tips for keeping a pair of Christian Louboutin in prime condition for a long as possible and has really great taste too.
Below is the question and answer session we had....
When did you start drawing?
I have always loved drawing. I've always had a natural talent for it...and a love for it too. Pretty sure there are countless stickfigure drawings of my Mommy, Daddy and sister Ingrid, as well as kitties, doggies, rainbows and flowers from when I was little. Though my subject matter has changed and developed I have never stopped drawing. I like different styles too, both charcoal sketches and developed pencil renderings as well as the ink line drawings featured in my Emmakisstina prints.
Did you have any formal art training/education?
I have had tons of art training. I took as many art classes as I could in grade school, also done a few summer drawing and painting intensives both in the States and Sweden. After high school I of course chose to study art at University. I got a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of South Florida in 2006. Not particularly a prestigious art school but I feel I got a balanced art education and the "college experience' as well. I also fulfilled a dream by completing my last two art courses for my degree in Paris for a month during summer. That experience was amazing and may have inspired me for life.
What do you love most about being an artist?
I love that I can never be bored as an artist. I always have something to do, can always just take out my sketchbook and work on one of my many projects...or dream up new ones. Plus now since working full time as an illustrator, I love having such an open schedule and I can work just about anywhere with my laptop. I do have a studio seperate from my apartment which is great for keeping me structured and to make my work more like a 'real' job.
What inspired you to illustrate designer items like shoes, perfume, purses?
Oh gosh, I'm not really sure. After art school I had no direction. My work there was really very strange, and I seemed doomed to work in the restaurant business my entire life. I even had an etsy store with these works but it never became popular...so I closed shop. Emmakisstina came about a year later after much studying of other etsyiers and what I would really enjoy drawing and something I didn't find from other sellers. I thought of my love for fashion in glossy magazine pages, I had them pasted and framed all over my walls...and let my girly side flourish (in art school I tried always so hard to make my work something other than just beautiful so my peers wouldn't think I was as vain as my dresses, high heels, and red lipstick would make them believe). I decided to recreate these gorgeously designed and iconic items everyone ooos about in my own illustrative style and let go of my oil paintbrush and my charcoals and my need for being a deep, brooding, conceptual fine artist. My work can be described as pop art...like Andy Warhol for girly girls...Emmakisstina is a character and I love drawing for her.
How would you describe your style in art and fashion?
I would say my style in art and fashion are about the same. Simple, few prints, monochromatic, very little black, feminine, sophisticated, sexy, and lots of accents of red and pink. There is just one difference though...I must confess I don't actually own any major designer pieces. I live vicariously through my illustrations and fashion magazines.
Who is your favorite designer?
I know this is very lame to say...but I truly don't have a favorite. I love fashion as a whole. I will say that I do adore Karl Lagerfeld after seeing a series of documentary films about the House of Chanel (Signe Chanel...look it up on youtube). He was so funny and seemed to be so down to earth, not at all snobby, even though he is the designer of the possibly most influential and famous fashion line in the entire world. It was also incredible to see how much work goes into designing and creating all of the gorgeous clothes.
Out of all the prints you have at your etsy store, which is your favorite and why?
Every time I make a new batch of illustrations I find a new favorite. Right now I am in love with my KitchenAid illustration, which I have framed in my kitchen waiting and admiring it until I can afford to have a real one of my own.
What advice can you give to someone who wants to become an artist?
My advice would be do it if you have the talent, the drive, and the confidence. It is not as hard to make a living as many have you believe and there are many opportunities you just have to find them...it just involves a lot of constant work.
Hope that wasn't too boring. I took forever trying to figure out how I could best answer these questions in the best way without being contradictory or confusing like I usually am. Writing is most definitely not my strongest suit...I wish! Even if I read tons of books and look up big amazing words in the dictionary I forget them shortly after...guess I am getting old. hehe.
Puss o Kram
Kristina
