How long have you been illustrating and what made you start?
I'm a full-time tattoo artist, so it's my job to have been drawing and creating art on paper and skin every day for over 15 years. My compensation from tattooing, in which one largely implements the wishes of the customer, is drawing. Preferably mermaids, fairies and mythical creatures of old mythologies, as well as fairy tales and Disney motifs. For my 2nd exhibition “Daughters of the Seas" I drew my first colouring book. I was so happy that I stayed with it.
Where do you get your inspiration?
I like to be inspired by old mythologies, traditions and fairy tales. But many other artists also inspire. I love the work of Adrey Kawasaki, Benjamin Lacombe, Antonio Lorente, the Popovy sisters dolls, just to name a few. I love everything magical and mystical.
Where is your favourite place to illustrate?
At the moment I prefer to draw my colouring pages with the iPad, simply because the lines are so nice and clean for later printing. Until a year ago, I drew and scanned all the pages for my colouring books with fine liner and paper, but now I prefer digital drawing for these pages. When I colour my pictures and sketches myself, I love working with oil paint on natural canvases and watercolours.
What are your illustrating/colouring material essentials?
For my watercolour drawings I prefer to use the colours of Schmincke and Winsor & Newton and the Lanaquarelle paper.
What’s the piece of work that you’re most proud of or enjoyed doing the most?
I can not say that. I have several favourite pictures from every picture series or colouring book. Some of my favourite pictures hang in my studio, including my large 100 x 140 cm canvas "Alice im Hasenbau" and the beautiful lady (watercolour on 40/60 cm) by Beautiful Creatures. Rainbow Love from my Daughters of the Seas series and also all of my mermaids from Ocean Dreams.
I love working with colours in 1-3 colour families so that my pictures don't become too bundled. Drawings in the fairy tale and Disney area are excluded, these live on a lot of colour. I find less different colours, but colours that harmonise well with each other, can give drawings a certain calm and harmony. In the case of delicate lines or greyscale colouring pages, it is sometimes necessary to draw some lines darker or to colour them in a bright colour. Glitter or other 3D elements can also perfect an image.
