The post Natalie Shilo’s Illustrations are Full of Positivity appeared first on PlayJunkie.
]]>Full of vibrant colors and unusual elements, these illustrations capture the moments of enjoyment in everyday life. The subjects seem careless, enthusiastic, or just unbothered by anything else besides wanting to embrace the moment. They dance, pick flowers, play musical instruments, and invite the viewer to be a part of their activities.
Shilo creates her artworks using digital tools but still manages to make them unique. This is in part thanks to her commitment to making every element fit together perfectly.
“I am constantly searching for the perfect combination of shapes, colors, and textures,” Shilo said in a recent chat with Colossal.
Shilo is a versatile artist whose creativity goes beyond illustrations. Aside from having experience in artistic photography, she is also involved in the fashion industry, creating graphics for one Polish clothing brand. She is also interested in animation and weaving while planning to get involved in mural design and ceramics.
Shilo shares her newest illustration works on Instagram while also offering prints through her Etsy shop. You can check out more of them below.
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]]>The post This Illustrator is Inspired By Thai and Chinese Cultures appeared first on PlayJunkie.
]]>“I began drawing when I was very young,” she shared with Lake. “During my childhood, I was surrounded by Chinese and Thai decorations. My grandpa used a Chinese ceramic bowl and teapot, and my grandma wore a Thai motif textile cloth. I thought I absorbed a lot from my childhood environment. My parents always encouraged me to continue my creative path.”
“I am into traditional Chinese painting,” she adds. Inspired by wall paintings in Chinese temples, as well as Thai textiles, Ploy says she enjoys the complexity of natural shapes and animals in folk tales. “I am so thrilled to see illustrations and patterns come to life,” she says.
Using mainly watercolor, but also gouache and ink, Ploy’s selected clients include Samsung, Design House Greetings x Trader Joe’s, and Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. “Social media is a huge part of my career as a freelance illustrator and designer,” she says. “Clients have found me through social media, especially Instagram. I use them to share my work and connect with other people. I can’t imagine living without it.”
Enjoy some of her work in the gallery below:
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]]>The post The Soft, Romantic Illustrations of Mateja Kovač appeared first on PlayJunkie.
]]>“I believe that the ambiance in my work is much more important than the content,” she remarked in an interview with Viva’s. “I could even say that my choice of motives and color is made considering the ambiance I’m trying to achieve in my illustration.”
Having graduated with a master’s degree from the School of Painting at the Academy of Fine Arts in Zagreb, Kovač’s style has developed over time and with much trial and error. In 2014, she began collaborating with international clients, and over the years her projects have ranged from social media marketing campaigns to packaging and stationery.
“The projects I work on are varied and they all demand a different emotion,” she reflected. “You could say that I tend to surround myself with sources of inspiration that awakens a necessary emotion in me, depending on the project I’m working on.” She explains that while working on a fashion editorial, her inspiration might come from the old masters of fashion illustration; if she’s working on an illustration of a city, on the other hand, then she might turn to old photos or vintage postcards for inspiration.
When illustrating women, she finds that the challenge is greater. “On the internet, I often find very caricatured and grotesque illustrations of the female figure whose sexuality is shown in a very explicit way or just the opposite a very infantile way,” she says. “It is always a challenge to represent a woman’s sensuality without highlighting her sexual attributes. I’m not sure if I have succeeded in it but that was the main guidance thought.”
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]]>The post These Illustrations are Flat Out Wonderful appeared first on PlayJunkie.
]]>According to her bio, as a teenager in Poland, Stasik avoided doing her homework in favor of making collages and doodling. She continued this hobby throughout university (surprisingly, not art school) experimenting with a Wacom tablet. But it was only when she landed an internship at a game tech startup that she really honed her craft.
“I never went to art school and I’m 100% self-taught,” she stressed in an interview with Sense of Creativity. “At some point I’ve landed an internship at a small Polish tech startup creating iOS games for kids. I was offered a full-time position there and that’s how my career started.” According to Stasik, being the only creative on board she had to learn a bit of everything including illustration, animation, and graphic design.
But after some time she found she needed a change of scenery, moving first to France and later on to Canada. Now based in Montreal, Stasik works as an illustrator full time, with clients that include giants like Apple, The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and Sony. “I don’t think it’s about learning the creativity itself but more about figuring out how to access what’s already inside,” she says. “And that is definitely something you can learn later on in life.”
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]]>The post Illustrator Depicts Modern Day Problems In a Contemporary Way appeared first on PlayJunkie.
]]>“Contemporary lifestyles tend to obscure various crises that spontaneously erupt, from privacy invasions to public health issues and from climate change to personal emotional disorders, etc.,” the artist told Colossal. “Often our preoccupations are so overwhelming that they lead us to conceal our anxiety in oblivion. I’m interested in surfacing that sense of tension and insecurity and raise these issues to our collect(ive) consciousness.”
Ling got her Masters of Fine Art from Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design in London back in 2013. Meanwhile, she publishes her work online, she is currently available for commissions and collaborations as well.
We really enjoyed browsing through her Instagram profile, and we believe you will love it, too. Keep up with her by work by pushing the ‘follow’ button.
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]]>The post This Illustrator Encourages You to Draw Every Day appeared first on PlayJunkie.
]]>His signature style is more of a doodle, with added witty remarks and comics-like speech bubbles. Some of his illustrated series include random facts and illustrated one-star reviews of well-known landmarks. According to Lowery, his very particular style has developed over time through daily practice.
“When I was little, I had a grandmother who was an artist and she encouraged my brother and me to keep sketchbooks,” he recalled in an interview with Travel Channel. “Later, I had a college professor who required we draw in one every single day. It really forced me to draw a lot. I used my sketchbooks as a place to experiment with how I draw, what I draw and what materials I use to draw.”
According to Lowery, he still keeps practicing daily in his sketchbooks. “Even when I’ve been drawing for clients all day, it’s that important to me,” he notes. “It was in these daily sketchbooks that I really found my voice.”
“My biggest bit of advice is to make a point to draw for at least 30 minutes a day,” he says. “For some, that seems really tough (it seemed impossible for me at first), but I think it’s incredibly important. You’ll find your voice and figure out how you like to work and draw. It’s also a great way of recording your progress as an artist.”
Take note!
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]]>The post Laura Blythman’s Art is an Instant Mood Lifter appeared first on PlayJunkie.
]]>“I’m drawn to color because it just makes me so happy, it never fails to lift my mood,” explained Blythman in an interview with Kids Gifts and Toys. “When I’m creating new work I decide on a color palette first. Always. At present, I can’t get away from neon pink and peach.”
So good! ~ @finders_keepers Melbourne 
What an awesome weekend! Thanks to all of my amazing customers and my legend lady friend helpers @saintgertrude and @krystalarvanitis Her process, which more often than not includes paper collage techniques, involves covering big sheets of watercolor paper in a variety of delicious colors and copper or gold leaf. Blythman then cuts the sheets up only to put them back together again as new artworks. “I often add my signature hand-drawn and painted detail too,” she says.
“When I was young I always loved to cut, paste and layer paper and as a teen I would spend days drawing detailed illustrations of my teen idols,” she recalled. “So I guess in some form or another I’ve always been doing exactly what I still do now,” she adds. “Drawing, cutting + pasting, creating, making things.”
Her recognizable aesthetic has garnered her a legion of fans and a super happy portfolio of work with clients ranging from start-up businesses to high profile Australian and International brands. Here are some of her more eye-popping creations:
xx
New Limited Edition Print ~ Available in 7 sizes ~ all signed and numbered. Lovely. 
mwah xx
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]]>The post Tess Shearer’s Designs Will Lift Your Spirits appeared first on PlayJunkie.
]]>After working some time as a freelance fashion designer as well as a jewelry designer, and even opening her first jewelry business, Shearer decided she wanted to start from fresh, with a new focus. “I wanted a new business where I could apply everything I had learnt, that didn’t show my history of rookie mistakes,” she admits.
That fresh start turned out to be House Of Wonderland — a brand that designs colorful gifts that include greeting cards, enamel pins, phone cases, and – of course — jewelry. “I started the amazing House of Wonderland in 2012, and since then our lives have never been the same,” says Shearer. “My mission ties in with the business name,” she says, explaining that she wants to become the home of wonderful things. “I want people to have something in their lives that they can look at and remember that they are awesome and they have people that love them,” she further relayed.
“I had to start with selling some simple beaded earrings, although completely different to where I am now, it was enough to get through the first few years which were a bit of a struggle,” she admits. “I consider my entire business and a huge achievement! I still find it hard to believe I’ve been able to get where I am today, doing the things I love.”
We’re all for her positive vibes.
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]]>The post Celia Jacob Fell In Love with the Act of Painting appeared first on PlayJunkie.
]]>Growing up in Portland with a mom who painted and a dad who played jazz piano, Jacobs’ artistic path was paved early on. “I knew I wanted to be an illustrator when I was a kid,” she shared with Catapult. “I kind of forgot about it, but when I got older and started needing to make decisions about my life, I realized that drawing had always been all I ever wanted to do and that illustration would be a good way to keep doing it.”
Jacobs’ interests include nature, music, and social issues, all of which she illustrates with sensitivity and California technicolor. Working with acrylic paint on colored paper, her favorite tools include cheap synthetic brushes. “My favorite part is definitely the act of painting,” she notes. “I put on music or a podcast and then space out and get to work. It’s very physical, and it feels very familiar and right to me.”
“I think it’s important to not just focus on the aesthetic of your illustration work, but consider what kind of content really interests you and how you can bring in your other interests and hobbies,” reflected Jacobs. “It leads to more honest and personal work and I think that’s how you get people on your side.”
With selected clients that include The New York Times, The New Yorker, Google, The Wall Street Journal, Snapchat, and TED, she’s definitely got a lot of people on her side.
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]]>The post Victoria Johnson Has Creativity Running Through Her Veins appeared first on PlayJunkie.
]]>Nowadays, with little over 50k followers on Instagram and clients that include Anthropologie, Hallmark, and the Land of Nod, her work is featured on a huge variety of products: from women’s and children’s wear to paper products, home furnishings, and giftware.
When it comes to her creative process, Johnson admits she relies on a heavy dose of intuition and spontaneity. “I like to explore a lot, try new materials, play with layers and texture, then let the outcome determine the finished piece,” she relayed. “I also like spontaneity. I’m not much of a planner.”
She adds that she never draws an outline or sketch beforehand – a remarkable statement if you take into account the amount of work she’s produced. “If something is going pear-shaped I like to push through and make it work and I think that by doing that I get interesting and unexpected results,” she notes. “But I’m also very organized and logical. I enjoy creating groups of related pieces – collections. Cohesiveness, harmonious color, a common thread that links all my work – these are all important to me.”
With creativity clearly running through her veins, Johnson says she doesn’t deal with artist block. “There are always too many ideas and not enough time,” she says. You’d want to follow her on Instagram.
Very last chance to sign up for Create Collections – starting Mon, 30th Mar 2020. Sign up now to avoid missing out – link in bio
The post Victoria Johnson Has Creativity Running Through Her Veins appeared first on PlayJunkie.
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