"Artists around the world" bloghop

Now it's my turn now in this bloghop, linking artists around the world :-) We have been asked 4 questions about our work and work process and post our answers on our blogs, then linking up to the next artists.

Let me quickly introduce myself first, I am Eva Marion Seyffarth, a surface designer and illustrator from Germany working under the studio name "Eva twinkles".

I have been invited to this hop by my friend and collague Vivayne, a freelance artist from Las Vegas. Please check out her lovely work here and blog here!

Here's a set of plates she did, which I love for it's softness and dreamy atmosphere:

"A joyous time", copyright Vivayne.

And here are my answers to the 4 bloghop questions:

1. Why do I do what I do?
Well I felt drawn to be an illustrator and designer as long as I can think. The creative process is something that comes very naturally to me, creating is just what I do, as simple as that. But if you dig deaper I guess it's mostly the freedom that comes with it: you get to create your own world, and I LOVE that.

2. How does my work differ from others of its genre?
Ok, the good old style question … I think what sets me apart is textures and translucency. It's as well my foundation in traditional art, married together with all the digital possibilities we have nowadays. I am a very haptic person and love to make a mess with paint or handprinting techniques. I have a background in handprinting, and have been painting with watercolours since childhood. My father is a landscape watercolour painter and often took me out on painting trips into the forest or the fields, and  I guess that really has shaped me.
On subject matter, I am mostly inspired by nature – often by organic structures in plants and landscape but as well by flora and fauna and landscape in general. Next biggest inspiration is words, storytelling and folk tales.

"Seed", plate design, part of the "Essential Garden" collection,
done with monoprints + Illustrator

Papercut motifs, which then were monoprinted
and used for the "Essential Garden" collection

3. How does my creative process work?
Like said above, I always start by hand, with pen on paper or scissors or paint or printing ink. I nowadays work with gouache rather than with watercolour as the colours are more saturated and I love that you can go from translucent to pastose colours with it. When it comes to printing, I often work with papercuts and print them as monoprints. I am a classic case when it comes to sketchbooks too. I take mine everywhere with me, and scribble down ideas or inspirational stuff. Very often it's a sketch from my sketchbook that is the starting point for my work. I usually just start working on single motifs and bits that come to my mind for my theme till I get to saturation point. I then scan everything in and do my composition and additional elements in Photoshop and/or Illustrator.

"Moonseeds", seed pot drawings in my sketchbook

Painting with gouache for the "Folk Song" collection

Plate design for the "Folk Song" collection

4. What am I working on now?
I have just finished my piece for the first round of Lilla Roger's Global Talent Search. Unfortunately I can't show the piece yet … but you can see some work in progress pics in my previous blogpost.
I am as well working on editorial illustrations, to build up my portfolio. Doing Lilla Rogers' MATS courses has rekindled my love of this field and I would like to get more commissions in that market.
Last but not least I am working on a makeover of my website. So much has happened since I first published it about a year ago! My work has changed and evolved to be more "me" and I will be tearing down almost all the pieces I had on the site, replacing them with new work. It's totally scary, but feels good too. It's about time!

Why do we garden? Editorial Illustration

for an article about gardening in the city

And now let's travel on up to the north of Europe … please check in on the following monday, the first of September, to see what my collagues from Scandinavia have to say on their blogs!

Sanna Väätänen is a painter, photographer and illustrator from Finland. I love this inventive cuckoo clock design that she has done for a phone cover, it is a witty and very unique interpretation of the theme:

Cuckoo Clock Phone Cover, copyright Sanna Väätänen

See more of her illustrations here and please check in at Sanna's blog for her "Artists around the world" post on the first of September!

Simi Gauba is a pattern and product designer originally from India, but now based in Sweden. Here's a print that is available in her Society 6 store – I have to tell you it was a difficult choice, there's so much beautiful designs in that shop! But I especially love this print for it's boldness and inventive typography:

"Be Brave" art print, copyright Simi Gauba

Please make sure to take a look at the Simidesign blog for more beautiful things to see and for Simi's  "Artist's around the world" post on the first of September!

Thank you for visiting!

P.s.: You'd like to read more blogposts of this hop and to meet more creative souls form all over the world? Tasha Goddard is collecting them here on her blog, please take a look! Thanks Tasha for creating this linky, it's a fab idea, and I will sure be browsing the links as well!