Guest Interview with Artist Alessandra Liane

C. Anne: Hi Alessandra, I’m so excited to interview you today. Alessandra is an amazing artist who just so happens to be the illustrator of my middle grades and childrens’ books and has volunteered to be my very first guest for a blog interview. So let’s get started. At what age did you become interested in art?

Alessandra: I've been drawing for as long as I can remember. It's something I have always loved doing. From the start of crayons and coloring books, I've always had a passion for art. I started taking art seriously around middle school. At that point I knew art was something I wanted to pursue as a career. So once I started taking more involved art classes in middle and high school I took them very seriously. By the end of high school I had taken multiple drawing courses, sculpture classes, computer art classes, and even craft classes. Once it came time for college it took a lot of thought on what kind of major I wanted to declare. As much as I loved illustration, I decided to pursue a degree in graphic design because I knew there was a high job market for that field. That ended up being an incredibly smart decision. I already knew how to draw, but I knew nothing about graphic design. Throughout college I was able to learn so many useful skills, as well as improving my drawing abilities. And today I'm working as a Graphic Designer for a company while doing graphic design and illustration work on the side.

C. Anne: Wow, so you have been pretty much an artist all your life! That’s awesome. Who are your biggest artistic influences?

Alessandra: My biggest art influences definitely stem from animation and picture books - but really anything fantasy related. I grew up loving the disney/pixar movies and I'm sure that had an impact on my childhood attachment to art. However, as I've matured into pursuing art, I've found newer influences that I believe have an even bigger impact on my art today. I joined instagram in my early college days, and it was a gateway into a world of illustration like I couldn't believe. I found so many great artists on that platform, but my all time favorite artist is a woman who goes by the name "Heikala". She creates these ink/watercolor illustrations that are so wondrous. She has a simple drawing style but her ability to paint light as well as her imaginative compositions mark her as my favorite artist. Another big art influence that I'd say has impacted me is Hayao Miyazaki, creator of the Japanese animation company, Studio Ghibli. The Studio Ghibli movies were something I discovered in later college, and they are absolutely breathtaking. I love the animation style as well as the stories portrayed from these movies. Japanese culture as a whole is something I've always been fascinated in, but these films took that appreciation to another level. The whimsical characters and settings of these films have for sure impacted my own art.

C. Anne: Ok, I really need to go check those artists out now! So what inspires you?

Alessandra: Honestly, anything can inspire me. I'm definitely inspired by fantasy and Japanese culture, but I wouldn't limit it to that. Inspiration can strike pretty randomly for me. Sometimes I won't be in any sort of creative mind set and a drawing idea will come to mind. One day inspiration might be insects, the next might be food, the day after that could just be a certain color. And honestly I love the unpredictability of that. My favorite thing to draw is characters, so different things that can inspire character drawings are pretty wide.

C. Anne: That’s awesome! I love how so many things can bring inspiration. Tell me about your favorite medium.

Alessandrai: Choosing a favorite medium is pretty hard. I've used a good amount of different materials during my creative journey so it's hard to pick just one. I've had many phases of medium interest that I've gone through. Pencil was the first thing I took seriously, but I've had many phases; I went through the acrylic paint phase, the charcoal phase, the watercolor phase, a chalk pastel phase, etc. The most recent medium phases that I've been going through are acrylic ink, alcohol marker, and digital. I will say, marker and acrylic ink are probably my current "favorites". I love the ease of marker, I can do marker drawings anywhere because there is no mess. Alcohol markers blend so beautifully together, but they do pose a challenge because if you don't have the exact color you need, you have to try and layer other colors to get the one you're looking for. And even still with doing that you might just be out of luck. Acrylic ink has all the beauty of watercolor, but with much more vibrant capabilities. Acrylic ink has much richer colors and the same application process as watercolor, but it is much less forgiving because once it's down, you can't really lift it like watercolor. I guess the risk behind these mediums is what makes it fun for me at this point in my art journey.

C. Anne: I’ve never tried acrylic ink before but now I want to! How would you describe your art?

Alessandra: I would describe my personal art as feminie and whimsical. My personal illustration style is very cute and sort of anime-ish. However, I don't really like to label my art as a whole with one description, because I can be pretty adaptive with my style. I can definitely do more serious and realistic art as well. If I'm doing work for a client, I can fit the style to whatever it is they need.

C. Anne: That’s great that you can be adaptable and fit your clients needs. Aside from client work, what motivates you to create?

Alessandra: My motivation to create is pretty simple. I see an idea in my head and I must bring it to life. I really love the entire process of creating art. I've been drawing since I was a child, but even to this day it amazes me how what was once a blank white sheet and just an idea floating in my head, becomes something real and tangible. I'd say the other part of art motivation is just the act of drawing puts me at mental ease. When I draw, it's kind of like my mind "turns off" and I go into autopilot. I'm definitely thinking while I draw, but I guess because I've been doing this type of thinking for so long it feels like I'm not actively thinking. It's a hard feeling to explain, I just know that when I draw It's really like I'm entering another world, and there just isn't anything else I've experienced quite like it.

C. Anne: I think entering another world describes the process perfectly, I love that! What is your favorite piece you have created so far?

Alessandra:: It's hard to narrow down to just one. I don't think I'm at the point yet where I've created " the one drawing to rule them all" so I have a few that I love for different reasons. The drawing that I'm most proud of is a drawing done in the trompe l'oeil style of a bunch of random items taped to a board. trompe l'oeil is a technique in art that means " to fool the eye" and the purpose behind it is to draw realistically and with forced perspectives so the drawing looks three dimensional. It's probably the best drawing i"ve ever done as far as skill and technique goes, because I've shown pictures of this drawing to several people and every response is always the same" wait, that's a drawing?" Love that. Another favorite I have is a drawing from an Instagram series I did called "Iris the Witch '' It was this month long, 31 day drawing challenge I did where I essentially created a story about this witch who travels through a magical forest where she meets other witches who teach her different spells. Twenty three in the series is my favorite, it's the main character floating in the cloudy night sky with a witch who protects the moon, it's very dreamy, and playing with those colors was really fun.

Trompe L’oeil

Iris The Witch

C. Anne: I love both pieces! I think the fact that they are so different yet equally amazing really shows what an incredible artist you are. What are your long-term goals as an artist?

Alessandra: I have a few long term art goals. One thing for sure is career wise, I would love to have the title of Creative Director someday. I'm currently working for a company as a graphic designer, so If I could establish a title of high honor that would be pretty cool. Some other goals I would love to achieve is to publish my own picture books. I wrote and illustrated a picture book in college as my senior project, but I haven't gotten to the publishing point yet. I have a few other ideas for picture books in the works and I would love to see those turn into something tangible. Another art goal I have would be to establish more of a social media following. I know luck is a big part of something like that, but I would really love to be able to show my art to more people, I think it would be awesome to set up an online store where I could sell prints and other items with my artwork on it. I really love doing graphic design work and illustrations for books, so if I could do more client work involving that kind of stuff I would love to have a portfolio filled with that.

C. Anne: Those are some great goals and it’s wonderful you have several in mind so you don’t get stuck in one place. What are you currently working on?

Alessandra: I just wrapped up two book projects for an amazing author I've been working with, so at this time I've been getting back into doing drawings for myself. I'm currently working on an illustration series of female characters that are moth inspired. It's a cute and fun self indulgent thing I'm doing right now, and it will be the first thing I post on instagram in a few months, so I'm pretty excited about this one.

C. Anne: You’re so kind, thank you. You have been amazing to work with! The moth inspired illustrations sounds really cool, I would love to see it! I’m going to include your instagram info at the end so other’s can check out your work. What advice would you give an aspiring artist?

Alessandra: Advice I would give to an aspiring artist is to draw every single day. Doesn't have to be a finished masterpiece, literally just try and doodle one thing if you can. The ONLY way to improve as an artist is practice. If you aren't drawing you won't get better and that's just a fact. This is something I've tried to take seriously over the past couple years. Do I draw every single day? No, I'd be a liar if I said I did. I have good and bad periods of time, sometimes I'm drawing like crazy and then none at all. I know art block happens and busy days get the best of us, but it's truthfully the best advice I can give anyone looking to be a serious artist. The second best piece of advice I'd give is to pay attention to social media. If you want to be known, you gotta be on all the big apps, and try out the new ones as they come along. One of my biggest art regrets was rejecting social media when I was in highschool. I know for certain if i was on instagram then, my following would be way bigger than it is now. Make sure you're on everything, be as engaging and active as you can, and always try out the new ones. You never know what is going to be the next instagram or tiktok. And you never know what you can go viral from.

C. Anne: That is really good advice. The social media part is something I need to work on myself. Social media is a huge part of society right now. With that in mind, how do you think art is important to society?

Alessandra: Hands down, society would be nowhere as advanced as it is without art. Art is literally everything. Art isn't just that cute picture you hang above your couch. Art is your favorite movie, art is what you wear, art is even that soda can you had with lunch. Art is everything and everywhere and while you might ignore certain things as "art" you can't deny that almost everything is created by some kind of artist. As far as the traditional sense of " fine art " goes, art like that is what helps us define culture and history. When we look at art from the past, it tells a story of what was going on in the world. And I think that is something important that needs to continue going forward

C. Anne: You really said that perfectly. Art is one hundred percent all around us. I have enjoyed this interview with you so much! Readers, please make sure to check out Alessandra’s work and follow her on social media!

Follow Alessandra on Instagram @ a_li_arts

Email: alessandralianearts@gmail.com

Website: alessandralianearts.com