Urban Outfitters - Features

How did you start drawing?
I have been drawing as long as I can remember. Even if I think every kid likes to draw? But I also had the fortune of always being encouraged by my parents and the people around me to eventually take it seriously.

Your illustration style is incredibly realistic. Is this something you learned from studying or taking classes, or is it just something you always knew how to do?
I have always loved realism, and I still do. I think it's a combination of me having a pretty bad imagination actually, and some kind of love of therapeutic work. I'm not the type of person that can imagine a scene, or a person in my head, and then draw it down on paper. I always want to have a picture or two to look at. And I'm at my happiest when I can sit down and spend an hour on getting some eye glare just right. But I also have a lot of years at art school behind me, even if I didn't specifically take drawing classes (I studied printmaking art, and then I took a Masters' Degree in Graphic Design and Illustration), it definitely has helped me to develop a working method.

Do you have any tips for people who want to learn how to draw?
Copy! No, really—copy a few people who's work you like, until you'll find a style that is yours. As a kid I subscribed to an illustrated magazine about horses, and I used to blatantly copy my favorite artist with tracing paper. That taught me a lot about how to do shadings and get proportions right and so on. Taking figure drawing classes is also essential if you wanna draw people.

How long does it usually take you to create a drawing?
Depending on the motif, one to two days, or more if it's something super detailed, like a specific texture or a really big drawing. But ideally, if I don't have a short deadline, I like to work like an hour or so a day on a drawing for a longer period of time.

What's your studio like?
I have a room in my apartment (in Greenpoint, Brooklyn) that I use solely for drawing. It's very small but very pretty, with a glass door and a window that leads out to a fire escape towards the backyard, and another tiny square window on the left wall. I have a desk and a chair and a scanner and a printer and that's it. I'm afraid it's a bit of a mess most of the time, I have piles and piles of finished and half-finished work, and craft projects everywhere. And the wall above the desk is pretty much covered with pictures and notes and reminders and such. But I work really well in there.

What are your favorite features to draw on a portrait?
Eyes! Or anything that is a little off, like a strand of hair that is messed up or a thread coming loose from a shirt or such.

Do you ever take your sketchbook to the park or a public place to just sit and draw?
No, I'm a bit too self-conscious, I think. Drawing is such a private thing for me. But I sometimes get job requests to do just that, so maybe I should practice it more often.

What kind of materials do you work with?
Almost always the same, a 0.5 mm mechanical pencil with an eraser in the end, and smooth Bristol paper. Scanner and photoshop for retouch.

What kind of inspiration images do you collection?
Anything and from everywhere. It has become so easy to get influences, like you can find almost any movie on Netflix, and there's tons of inspiration blogs like ffffound. I'm also pretty addicted to tumblr. I would say that's where I get most of my inspiration these days! It's always something there that leads me to discover something, a film or a book or a photographer that gets me really excited.