me and the way I saw my future. All of a sud- den school was a TOOL for me, to get where I wanted to go. Back then I was still aiming at a career as a cartoonist, but my teachers asked me; ‘Hey, ever thought about working with illustrations?’ And so it began.
One of the things that is immediately obvi- ous in your work is the extremely soft and feminine quality to your pieces. Would you say you’re quite a girly girl?
In some ways yes. Or in many ways. Maybe not in the “spoiled-girly-way”, but rather in that POWERFUL SOFT POWER way! I usually draw evil cute girls, sort of to let the world know cute isn’t the same as stupid, it’s just an- other tool for a girl she can play up or down, but sometimes it’s an obstacle too. I also love the classic fairy tale where the princess is saved by a prince. For me, that’s love. The film Pretty Woman put a modern twist on it in the 90s:
-”What happens when he’s rescued the princess?”
-”She will rescue him right back”.
The video blogs that you produce of your working process are absolutely fascinating. How is this interaction between yourself as the artist, and your many fans important to you?
I didn’t really think much about the impact my Vlogs would have. I just hoped they could help anyone out there trying to get a grip on a very surreal profession. Many artists and designers emerge from different corners of the world, like newly hatched puffy-eyed chickens and need to know where to start. I really wished I had someone Vlogging or answering my questions when I first started out. I found a few, but this is sort of my gift back to everyone that has helped me. If I could inspire and help ONE person, that would be enough to make me happy. The
Do you draw inspiration for your artwork from any particular source, for example films, music, life experience or concepts? Wow I have so many sources! I love so many things. I listen to soundtracks, dance mu- sic, jazz - whatever floats my boat at that time or goes with the given concept. I love browsing the art sharing site DeviantART and visiting visual blogs, even flicking through vintage books! I think trying to grasp the concept and then make something unique from it by using many sources of inspiration is most important, you don’t want to copy anyone else.
If you could work for any client or organi- zation in the world, who would it be, and why? (Regardless of money).
Due to the nature of my work I can’t tell you 110
support I have had has been amazing, so giv- ing back feels very natural to me. Lately I’ve been a lot busier though, so these days I do as much as I can with the time I get.
What was your first ever illustration or design job and how did you get it? It was actually with a little place in Sweden who made creative stamps, they wanted some of my designs. A funnier question might be; who was my second client? It was a big fish from the USA, who paid me $1000 per illustration. Talk about setting the bar for the newly hatched (and scared to death) artist- chick!
What are the best things about being a fully-fledged illustrator?
When you feel secure in yourself and your work you can really be creative. Often the clients know what your work is like before they contact you, so you are sort of more certain that they will like the look of the work.
anything that isn’t public yet, (we sign con- tracts and promise not to tell) but let’s just say one dream has already been accomplished but I’m afraid I can’t tell you what client that was yet! Not for at least a year! Gah! My other dream would be to get to work more with cartoons - as a cartoonist for my own comic book, but also both to write and do concept work for films (ie; Disney or Dreamworks).
Not forgetting that I’m also employed today as an Illustrator/Designer at the world’s larg- est internet community for girls, Stardoll. We celebrated 80 million members last week. I can really grow as a designer and illustrator when working with others, but at the same time it’s nice to freelance too.
You work a lot in ink but often work digi- tally as well. Is keeping traditional artistic mediums such as this alive important to you? What is your favorite medium to work in?
I love all mediums, I just use different ones depending on my mood. I think everyone draws the same no matter which medium they use. It’s like your handwriting... you can write in small letters or in capitals, use a different type of pen or colour- it’s still your handwriting, it’s still coming from you. So I decided at an early stage not to care - I often heard other people say I worked in too many different mediums and styles, but I knew that in order to keep things fun I couldn’t limit myself- this is MY dream! Eventually the voices changed, suddenly I was amazing because I was able to work with so many different mediums. Funny, isn’t’ it? I have no idea why. Maybe one’s credibility goes up in stock over the years when you’ve done more work, but I’m still the same silly girl who was frowned upon!
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