10 vragen aan…Tatiana Kamshilina

Deze keer wil ik graag het werk van Tatiana Kamshilina belichten, een illustrator/animator uit Rusland. Zoals vaker bij mijn blogposts voorkomt, een vondst via Instagram. Haar kleurgebruik, prachtige schetsen en wonderlijke wereldjes met daarin schattige characters op avontuur, zijn naar mijn mening een lust voor het oog.

1. Who is Tatiana Kamshilina, what do you do?
Hello! I guess I can be described by the word artist. I really like to draw and I like to augment reality with my creativity. As a freelancer, I worked on various projects. I made an editorial and publishing illustrations, a concept art, an animation. Now I want to focus on the book and editorial illustrations, but I’m still open for interesting project that suit my style.

2. What/who inspires you?
Everything at all. Folklore, cartoons, movie, books, music, video games, other artists, funny man on the bench, strange house at the end of the street, inspiration really can come from anywhere. But there are 2 best sources that always work for me: nature and animated movies of Hayao Miyazaki.

3. What materials/programs do you use for making art (and animation)?
I draw mostly in digital, but I make first sketches and thumbnails in a sketchbook with a pencil. I draw illustrations and animations on a graphics tablet in Adobe Photoshop. That’s all, no magic.

4. Can you describe a workday? What’s your routine?
I wake up early enough, around 4-5 a.m. and I spend the first couple of hours on sketches, studies or personal work. Then I work out, eat breakfast and get to work. First, I check my inbox and reply to emails. After that I plan my work for the day and start painting. I have a break in the afternoon to take a short walk and have a lunch. And I try to leave an hour or two of free time before going to bed. This is my work routine.

5. Do you have a favorite character or subject you like to draw and if so, why is it special to you?
Nature. It’s the main theme of most of my works. Because I’m really nature obsessed person. And I like to draw tiny birds or insects. I would like everyone to have a nest on their heads with their little whimsical bird, by which you can immediately understand everything about a person.

6. Are there any struggles you experience as an artist? If yes, would you like to share?
My main struggle is the impostor syndrome. I am a self-taught illustrator. And every day it seems to me that my work is not good enough and someone will guess that I am an impostor. If you ask me how to deal with this, I have no idea. But it helps to keep going and constantly improve your skills.

7. What do you regard as your first big break?
My first big break was my decision to change my profession and leave an architecture company. It was a real breakthrough for me.

8. What’s your approach on doing acquisition?
I do nothing special for this. I uploaded my work to Behance and Instagram, and clients began to find me themselves. But now I’m looking for a representation to go to the next level.

9. What would be your dream project/assignment?
Illustration for the picture book or for the short indie game with an incredibly inspiring story or just good one 🙂

10. What would be your favorite way to spend a day off?
Drawing, walking in the forest or mountains and a warm, cozy evening with loved ones.

Thank you very much for your time!
Thank you so much for the interview! I was very pleased to answer your questions 🙂