White Stag (Terra Bidlespacher) is known for dark and sometimes humorous lowbrow and gothic fantasy art. Stag spends most of her days painting and drawing new ideas, finding inspiration from nature, her daughter, and in the mourning of childhood. Art by White Stag is adored by both young and old for its whimsical, creepy and cute depictions of sometimes dark and sometimes sweet girls and creatures.
How long have you been illustrating and what made you start?
Drawing and painting has always been a passion of mine. I’ve been cultivating it since childhood and I never really grew out of. I have been working as an artist now for the last decade and I couldn't imagine another career.
Where do you get your inspiration?
My art often teeters between two worlds of light and dark. I have always found a lot of inspiration from my daughter and she helped fuel some of the more quirky more light-hearted paintings, for sure. But as she has aged a lot more of me has been pouring back into my art, from poor health, depression, and watching my daughter grow into the wonderful person she is with the obstacles she faces as she gets older. The inspiration is constantly evolving, but, for the last 15 years it has kept the same narrative of mourning of life, growing old and loss of innocence, but with creepy and cute feel and a sometimes sarcastic undertone.
Where is your favourite place to illustrate?
Near running water. Creek, river, bathtub... I grew up up with a creek (I call it crick from where I'm from I find it really hard not to type it) in my backyard and I spent any day I could down in the middle of it on a large concrete slab drawing surrounded by trees. I still deeply enjoy the sound of running water when brainstorming.
What are your illustrating/colouring material essentials?
Pencils, and acrylic paints. More currently I use a Cintiq to convert my paintings and drawings into the colouring pages.
What’s the piece of work that you’re most proud of or enjoyed doing the most?
It's really hard for me to pick a favourite. And my love for the paintings are so short lived because in a month I know I can paint it better. But for me the most satisfying paintings are the ones I struggled with the most or dove in with little to no experience with an element I’m painting... as long as it works out in the end. If I must pick I still really enjoy "A Pirates Life for Me. " Featuring a pirate girl and shark in the bathtub... or a new series I finished earlier this year Called "Fertile soils" that consisted of four coffin shaped paintings representing the seasons.
Practice, even if it's testing blending on a separate sheet before applying it to the finished piece. But the more you do something the better you will get and it becomes second nature
