As a part of the International Women's Week celebrations on DeviantArt I have interviewed an amazing female vector artist. This article features the Q&A with amazing *turp




+1 ::: When did you first realize you were an artist?

Well for me I think I’ve always been an artist and always acted upon it, but as a little kid you don’t really give yourself labels like that. I’ve been scribbling since day one and tearing them up because they weren’t good enough since day two It’s more like when I embraced being an artist, stopped copying pokemon cards (it’s hard to admit even now) and random pictures off the internet, and drew what was inside my head that I really felt the part. I’d say that was probably more in middle school, 7th or 8th grade. 6th grade was pokemon cards (sold the drawings to my classmates ) and by 8th I was vectoring sooo, pick any day you’d like in between.


+2 ::: What famous artists have influenced you, and how?

Theodore Geisel (Dr. Seuss) first and foremost because he’s in tune with the fantasy of being a kid. My favourite quote by him was “You see things and you say ‘why’, I see things that never were and say, ‘why not?’” or something close to that. To me he just really connects to the idea of reality is only as we perceive it, so if you look for that fantasy and magic you’ll find it.

Andy Warhol for his patterns and fuck you attitude.

M.C. Escher and his ridiculously patient attention to details.

Van Gogh because he’s the poster child for the eccentric artist excuse. He proved early on you can be crazy and commercial at the same time.

And those people who do poster art around San Francisco, something about those perfectly tiled posters on a wall really gets to me.


+3 ::: What made you to choose vector art over any other form of art?

Pure coincidence and convenience I think haha, nothing special at first but I really fell into it and it clicked. I did a really bad picture in photoshop of this uni-bomber rabbit thing and ^lemontea said hey, this looks like a vector. I said hey, I don’t know what you’re talking about but thank you then he gave me a link to his tutorial and it was like god parted his heavenly clouds, saying ‘c’mon kat look at those pretty clean vectored lines, look how smoothe and non-pixellated they are...almost touchable’ and I’ve never painted in photoshop since. It appeals to my obsessively organized nature...all those pretty transparent shapes layered neatly over and over and over. Yum.


+4 ::: Do you have another favorite style of art, and does it influence you vector works at all?

I never started with vectoring, I’ve always been more of an illustration type person. I notice with a lot of people who vector..and vexel...they go for realism. Maybe it’s part just because I’m lazy, but I think because I did start off pretty young with colour pencils, #2’s and all that jazz it gave me my own vectoring style. Before starting vectoring, I’d never known what it was, never saw it around dA, and when I asked a friend about it he thought I was talking about math. I never had any preconceptions as to what vector art was, so I made what I thought it was, based on what I already knew. And everything I know revolves around the fact that I like pretty colours


+5 ::: Could you give us some insight into how you go about creating a piece?

Well when I vector I usually look for inspiration from the photos I choose. I try not to look so much at the picture picture, but more about the composition, what composition I COULD create, the patterns, the pose, the shapes of the people or once again...pretty colours. Emotions in photos with the eyes always catch me, but lace and light fluffy material has always been my vice...I know from trying and trying again that certain poses, certain face shapes, certain photos do just not come out right so I think as you go on your eye gets more trained to find stuff within your bubble. Finding something to get me going is half the battle um...after that, I’m not sure what to say about it. It’s all straight vectoring from there. I fill in base colours or do the lineart, depending what style I’m doing, just so I can get an idea of how everything’s going to look together. Then I just kind of fill it in with detail piece by piece. I start with the hair because I enjoy it a lot, then the face and clothing. If I get tired with one part, which happens A LOT, I try to go in between and just do little bits little bits little bits especially when I am just getting plain tired of looking at a picture. It helps me not get impatient, so I can put more details into it when I keep coming back. Details, even though most people won’t look at every little thing you did, the overall effect definitely makes it worth it.


+6 ::: Do you have a favorite subject matter, and why do you like it so much?

I like girls, I’m straight, but honestly females are much nicer to look at. They’re versatile, they’re soft, round and curved and organic versus the male which in my head is hard and angles and geometric. Females flow, plus you never have that too much eye lash and lip issue that I always have problems with when vectoring. AND they definitely have nicer clothing, lots of lace and frill and such :b


+7 ::: What motivates your particular style of vector art?

I guess I motivate my style of vector art…I’ve never tried to have any style or make it look like anything in particular, other than what I see and feel in my head at the time. As I may have mentioned…I like colours. Whats not to like, honestly? They’re pretty! And happy, and they can evoke so much with so little in so many ways that so many people can understand I like creating things that can do that with all those beautiful colours photoshop has given me in a conveniently scaled box, it makes me feel good. I like people telling me they were inspired by my stuff or that it made them smile, it makes me feel even better. With new influences in my life I change, and my art changes along with me...most of the time. Sometimes there’s that awkward shifting period where we really don’t agree but, it all works out.


+8 ::: Do you think the internet has a positive or negative influence on your art?

I think without the internet, I would be in a completely different world with my art. I’ve seen so much more on DeviantArt especially, but even just random pictures I get in my e-mail, than I ever would have been able to on my own. I’m not a very active person, and I’m poor, I’m not going to go to an art museum every weekend and that’s just a fact. There is so much more available to me through the internet and by god I absorb it like a sponge. My reference folder is 600 pictures thick, and that’s after cleaning out a bunch of old stuff if that gives you any idea. And this is a brand new computer I’m a compulsive clicker. My room is filled with pictures I’ve printed off the internet or ordered that I just look at every day trying to find out what in particular it is about the picture that struck me, and then how do I do that with my art. Plus, I’ve gotten ten times more business online than I ever have in person more people equals more business equals more art supplies and I love that new art supply smell. I owe a lot to the internet for helping me get myself, and my art, out there.


+9 ::: Where do you see your art in 10 years?

Still scribbled on the same crappy binder paper I use now lol, no, hopefully it will be expensive French binder paper. Really, I don’t know, that’s like asking where I’ll be in 10 years. I don’t think about it too much, I just kinda putter along doing my thing not worrying too much about how it’s all gonna work out and end up. My theory is it will work out, I’ll be doing my art and as long as I have that I’m happy, no matter where we are. ‘We’ being me and art... Whatever I do between now and then will only work towards getting me to where I’m eventually supposed to end up. I’d like to see me and my art on a nice private island in the tropics in 10 years though if I could manage it, with fresh coconut drink things out of coconut cups. I could supply the umbrellas.


+10 ::: What advice would you give to a vector artist just starting out?

Honestly, vectoring is like tracing, at least the kind that I do (there’s some of you talents who can do it entirely freehand-maybe once I get a tablet, but I’m definitely not there yet). I know that’s going to hurt some people’s feelings but there’s no super special technique to doing it. Pretty much everyone vectors the same, different ways for different programs of course but, still. It’s not too complicated, it’s just about being patient enough to get the technique down and after that it’s only you learning how to express yourself more. My biggest tip is stay away from those ‘how to’ things. I learned from one tutorial...and it didn’t really even teach me how to curve things, no offense lemon, but it was a pretty basic tutorial. A very GOOD basic tutorial but, it wasn’t about all those specific ‘this is how I (grand master vector artist) do it MY way’. Once you learn how to use the pen tool, I think from there on it’s all about developing your own method that works for you. It’s about developing your own style, not looking at everyone else’s and learning how to do it just like them. Influences are very very important, yes, I’ve grown a lot as an artist from all the other beautiful artwork I’ve seen, but there’s a fine line between influencing and..lets face it, mimicking. Let your creativity flow and don’t be so fixed on what it has to look like. Just enjoy the creating and think less about the product, and be patient! The only reason my stuff is detailed is because I zoom in super fine and do tons of ridiculously obsessive little strands and dots. No secret people, honestly, I just enjoy the details.




Thanks for reading ^^ Please refer to for the full list of all articles and journals written to celebrate this special week.