Another big welcome this month to new artist, Rebecca Turner! Rebecca came to Wraptious through our competition, and creates bold, symmetrical animal prints influenced by her work in graphic design. Here's what she has to say!
What does a typical day look like for you? How do you organise your time?
Typical day, first thing is a cup of tea before all else, I love tea. Then after breakfast and then I like to exercise and get it out of the way early, boot camp, a run, a bike ride or some yoga. After that I settle down to my own work or working on any freelance I have. Then lunch and more work after until about 4-5 when I start cooking for dinner, I like to cook so it’s usually from scratch. Its nice as some away from screen time as most my work is digital so can be a very screen heavy day. After dinner my husband and I are big gamers so we settle in and play something until bed.
What mediums do you work in?
I mostly work digitally, with ProCreate on the IPad Pro with an iPencil. Then sometimes photoshop for some finishing. I also sometimes work in Illustrator. I do have a large collection of fine-line pens that come out occasional when I get tired of the screen. I just like not having to clear up anything after working on creative pieces haha! Having worked in digital design for a long time prior, I think it just rubbed off into my own art also.
What inspires your designs? Where do you get inspiration from?
Inspiration can vary. Quite often something just gives me a little flash and I just have to start work on creating it. For the series I entered into the competition it was just nature, and the way with lockdown it became so much more important to people. I was lucky to be able to get out regularly and enjoyed every minute of it, I wanted to share that, keep reminding people how important it all is.
Which artists do you admire or have influenced you?
I am a big fan of the Art Nouveau and Art Deco movements, artists like Mucha, Aubrey Beardsley and Macintosh have given me a lot of inspiration. Jasper Goodall for his cleaner vector images and use of black and white block images and then big bright colours. Also being a sci-if/fantasy fan I really like people like H.R Giger and Roger Dean, people that take you to new and crazy worlds.
What’s the greatest challenge of being an artist?
Greatest challenge I think is monetising it, getting people to understand the time and effort you put into you work. Lovely as it is to create beautiful things, we all have to eat, but with so many cheap products around it’s hard to get people to see the value in something someone has spent time and effort on like a nice piece or art. I went into design because it was a way of being creative and being able to earn a living, but it’s restrictive, you are always working on someone else’s vision. I am lucky I could go freelance and work on my own things with the support of my family. So many possibly great creatives have been unable to though, makes me sad to think of the great works that could have been.
What’s your top tip for other artists?
Art is subjective and criticism will always be part of it, and it can be a great way to learn and improve. Never get discouraged or down-heartened by criticism, seek it out. You can disagree with it but also take it on board and use it to improve, it can be a great tool.
What is your favourite piece of your own work and why?
Gosh tough question. I guess I entered the competition with what I did for a reason. It has been the first quite big set I have done where I have been really pleased with how it all looks together and individually. It was a bit of a new style and technique so was really pleased my experimentation turned out so well and got 3rd place amongst the Wraptious community!
What would your dream job be?
I would love to work on character concept art for games or films.
What does the process of "art" mean to you?
I come from a very creative family, my parents are also designers and makers. Apparently I was doodling on the bottom of my mums space planning drawings from her lap as she worked from long before I can remember. Being creative has just always been part of life, always encouraged and supplied for, something I enjoy and reach for to relax. It is and always has been such a big part of life, in work and outside, that I don’t think it would be possible to untangle it, and I would not want to.
I think art and creativity in general is very important personally and culturally too, but unfortunately one that is always look at as a nice addition but not necessary. I think taking a little time to be creative just for yourself, can really help mentally, just focusing on something else that exercises a different part of your brain. I have found it great to destress and clear my head when if I need to problem solve something. Overall as we move into a more automated world with tech doing a lot of the work, creative thinkers I feel could be very important.
Where do you draw and why?
Digital means I can draw anywhere, as long as my battery lasts! This freedom means I usually follow the weather and how I feel. If it’s sunny I will go outside, rainy or cold I will stay indoors and maybe snuggle up with a tea. We just sold our flat in London so are currently between owning a space, once we do though I would love a little studio room to be able to tinker with more ideas and mediums.
Favourite quote!
“Nuke it from orbit, it’s the only way to be sure” I did say I loved Sci-if and Aliens is my fav film also sorry for the gif couldn’t resist!
You can find Rebecca's wonderful new giftware range on her Wraptious page
Give her a follow at @bextur_creative
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