A Southern Lady's Ramblings: Let's Talk Art With Tarsila Krüse

Wednesday, February 17, 2016

Let's Talk Art With Tarsila Krüse

Today is the start of a new series. I will be interviewing a lot of different artist and introducing them to you my readers. I hope that you enjoy this series and will find a new art friends along the way. Today I am interviewing Tarsila Krüse, I hope you enjoy it.

1.Tell us about yourself. What makes you tick?

My name is Tarsila Krüse and I’m a Children’s Book Illustrator. I live in Dublin, Ireland and I absolutely love it. Besides creating happy fun images I spend time collecting Picture Books, drinking tea, eating cake and enjoying the company of my husband, our beautiful son and our two very happy dogs.

2.How did you get started as an illustrator?

My background is in Languages but drawing and creating has always been a passion. When I moved to Ireland almost 10 years ago I got a job as a souvenir designer & illustrator. For nearly a year I worked in house and gained so much experience in marketable and sellable work. From then on I decided to take the plunge and go freelance.

3.How did you find your style? Has it changed since you started?

Once someone said to me that a drawing style is more like a voice, how one shares their vision, expresses their inner feelings, ideas and experiences. So my voice has changed a lot, especially with experience, and now that I am confident with who I am I feel confident about my own voice.

4.Can you briefly explain your creative process, mediums, etc?

Usually I take in a brief or book text and read it many times to understand it better and see jot down any ideas. No judgment. Then I sit down either with my sketchbook or my Cintiq and start sketching different ideas that I think can work and eventually I select a couple to present to a client alongside a color palette. f the client is happy with the sketch I’ll go onto refining it digitally in Photoshop. From that sometimes I create a more refined sketch, sometimes I create the finished piece.

5.How do you come up with new ideas? Do you have a process?

Anything can spark a new idea. Sometimes I have ideas when I’m in the shower, sometimes when I’m walking my dogs. Giving myself time to reflect upon my experiences and let my brain work on its own (without the amazing yet addictive influence of Pinterest or Instagram) it’s when the best ideas pop up!

6. Do you ever have creative slumps? What do you do then?

Oh yeah! Creative slumps are hard, but usually a bit of fresh air or meeting a friend for tea and cake does the trick.

7.Best / most fun part of your job:

Seeing how people are touched by my artwork, how they react to what I do is a beautiful thing. When someone buys something I created and is proud of it, or happy because they have it, it’s the best feeling ever!

8.Worst / most difficult part of your job:

The most challenging part about my work is probably doing the administrative work since I’m a freelancer who does it all. It’s not difficult but I would prefer to be creating images.

9.Do you have side projects you work on?

Of course! It’s a way to keep a creative buzz going. Side projects are important because they represent what you want to put our into the world without the direction of an exterior client or brief. They tend to be the most loved projects because they come from a special inner place.

10.What’s on your horizon? Any current/future projects and plans/dreams you can share with us?

I’m currently working on a couple of picture books and I intend to have many more published in the near future. Also, perhaps, an stationery line? Keep your eyes peeled!

5 things inspiring you/your work right now:

Nature

Autumn

Films

Stories

Color

3 constants in your day:

Time management, Family and Illustration.