Who are you and what do you do?
My identify is Kristen Vardanega, I am a 28-calendar year-previous artist and illustrator primarily based in Salt Lake Town, Utah. I share my perform below the moniker Very little Tiny Egg, and my get the job done can be discovered at littletinyegg.com, or @littletinyegg on social media.
Why do you do what you do?
Simply just set, I love building issues and I like generating individuals smile. I inject a whole lot of my standpoint and humor into my work. When I started out accomplishing observational do the job like sketching factors from my daily daily life, the globe all-around me came alive. I started looking at hues and compositions that sparked my desire everywhere you go- that point of view and pleasure are priceless to me.
You use so several vibrant colours, do you have any that you favor?
I adore color! I am most influenced by combinations, especially individuals that I obtain in nature and the landscape all-around me. Periwinkle skies, peachy rocks, and lush green landscapes are some of my preferred factors to depict.
What inspires your artwork?
So numerous factors! I find myself most drawn to generate after investing time exterior mountaineering or biking, my activities in mother nature tell anything that I do. I have generally beloved illustrated guides, classic scientific illustrations, zines, tarot playing cards, graphic novels, block printing, bugs, birds, Swedish textiles, and ornate cowboy boots.
How and when did you get into artwork?
Right after my parents seen I could attract by yourself in my area for hours at a time, they purchased me a sketchbook at the age of six, and I have retained one ever given that. I analyzed graphic structure in faculty, acquiring my stride in digital artwork and illustration, but my physical sketchbook practice is what grounds me and informs everything I make.
How has your observe transformed about time?
I made use of to build considerably irregularly, and normally only with a completed venture in head. These days, I test to make artwork on a far more regular foundation, even if there is not a established objective or design and style intention, aiming for a daily sketchbook follow wherever I can pull from an array of ideas to make more finished or considerate pieces.
What’s your preferred piece of artwork that you’ve produced? Why?
Oh, this kind of a tricky concern! I truly feel like my most latest get the job done is normally my most beloved. I lately completed a fee for a friend’s son’s bed room that I seriously appreciate. It is a gouache painting that brings together some photos I’ve taken in my favourite destinations in Utah and Montana with a determine influenced by a image of my partner. It’s a special piece, I’m glad it will reside in somebody’s house who I know and appreciate!
What is the finest piece of artwork information you’ve been supplied?
Anyone after informed me that in buy to be taken critically as an artist, you have to be prolific. Producing a substantial entire body of function inevitably results in ties among pieces, pushes your techniques, and teaches you what you like. Every time I get caught up in attempting to make my most up-to-date operate a masterpiece, I bear in mind that my art is not just one singular painting, it is my entire physique of work, and my work is to retain editing and adding to it.
What is a single artwork tip/method you can share with us that you uncover definitely practical?
Retain a sketchbook! Attract every little thing and nearly anything, with no judgment or arranging. I like to draw with materials I can not erase, like coloured pencils or pens, which potential customers to a good deal of appealing choices and issue-fixing (and “ugly” drawings as well!).
Do you have any top secret guidelines or techniques you use to salvage a piece when you make a slip-up?
If a piece is missing anything or feels as well flat, I will acquire a photograph of the piece and change the picture to black and white, which will help me see the values improved. If something is really ruined, there is no disgrace in turning the sketchbook web page or starting off over, multiple iterations of the same subject matter are regular and very important to the art-producing method.
What is your favorite Strathmore paper? Why?
I like the 500 Series Blended Media Softcover Art Journal! They are my most loved sketchbooks for painting in gouache and watercolor. I have also been taking part in with the Toned Tan Blended Media paper, which is tremendous thick and has a pleasant heat-colored floor to paint on!
What art elements could you not are living without?
I would have to say gouache paint, I could commit all working day mixing hues, and its h2o-based character tends to make it easy to vacation with and clear up. For sketching, a awesome juicy brush pen in black or sepia is a must-have.
What kinds of shades are you drawn to for your artwork and why?
My favored shade appropriate now is green, I like how many variants there are, and see greens all close to me in character. I am also influenced by the quite a few various shades of the sky, from light-weight pink to deep blue-grays.
Who are your most significant influences?
I was actually impressed by illustrated guides developing up and liked the free figurative drawings of Quentin Blake, Eric Carle’s textured slice-outs, and the charming illustrations in Antoine de Saint-Exupery’s The Small Prince. We experienced a few Monet prints hanging in my childhood residence, and I would get rid of myself in the brush strokes and coloration possibilities.
Additional lately I’ve discovered myself drawn to the get the job done of John James Audobon, Hilma Af Klint, and Carson Ellis. All of the artists I observe on Instagram encourage me and advise my perform every working day!
What is the most widespread artwork-connected query you get from your followers?
The most typical inquiries are about the sketchbooks I use to paint in, which are the 500 Series Mixed Media Sketchbooks from Strathmore. I also get concerns about how I make so substantially work, which just will come down to my routine. I make guaranteed to sit down for at the very least 30 minutes each working day to draw, even if it implies environment a timer and throwing my cellular phone across the room!
Site/social media links:
My site is www.littletinyegg.com and I am @littletinyegg on Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube!