Mummy’s gone digital. Illustrator, Mum and portrait artist Diana Kuksa - Interview Patrick Morgan RCA
PM - I see you are both and artist and a mum, has being a mum changed your way of working?
DK -
Hello!
Thank you for your interest to my work, and here is my answers!
DK- Well, now I have less time for drawing, and for some time I 'm out of business, not watching the latest fashion shows, but now I'm back and my fire burns as before. And also being a mum changed the way of drawing, now I prefer digital, just because have no time to set all my stuff- markers, pencils, watercolor, etc, and then run after the son, taking it all away and cleaning him and also house, I better seat at the conner with my Ipad and dive into the magic world of fashion
"being a mum changed the way of drawing, now I prefer digital"
PM - What made you select the images you draw, fashion or portraits?
DK - As you know I'm a portrait-painter (graduated from the portrait studio at the Academy), so first I pay attention for a face, in my works the face often is the main object, but I love fashion so much, and often I can hook up on some detail of an imagine, and to see how it comes at the paper in that moment.
"Maybe some colour combination or a skirt with feathers or some pretentious silhouette."
PM - Looking you style what influenced you to move in this direction?
DK- I have a lot of my favorite artist, whom I follow. But I can't say that I was influenced by someone specific, that's maybe the academical education - there for I have realistic painting method in fashion illustration.
PM - Your approach is unique to how you can draw? What made you use this approach?
DK - I think i have answered to this in previous question it's long-long years of education)
PM - What is your process for drawing an image? Pen and paper or digital? Do you prefer any process in particular?
DK - I can make both ways - traditional materials, and digital, and digital is easy in my opinion, just because you can make a step back, and draw one line so many times so it will become perfect.
PM - what inspires your work and who? How has instagram changed the way you communicate your art?
DK - The inspiration is capricious and unpredictable thing, I could say that it's fashion, but not.
I'm more the artist than the fashion illustrator.
Sometimes I want to illustrate book for children or paint a landscape at the forest near my home, now I'm working on alphabet poster with animals for my son.
The Instagram for me it's a big platform where I can share with my art, it's like international exhibition point, of course it's comfortable. I have a lot of my favorites in instagram, and so many others, sometimes you can watch how other illustrators work and use it for my own.
PM - Are you trained in drawing, if so where? Did your training help inform your approach to drawing?
DK - I have 16 years of professional education : art school, art college and Russian Academy of Painting Sculpture and Architecture in Moscow. As for fashion I started to do this while I work at TSUM market in Moscow (it's like Russian Bergdorf-Goodman) so I have six years of practice in this.
PM - where next or what next?
DK - I've been working for a long time in office as an illustrator, now I want to work for myself, to plan my time, to watch as my son grows and to have a time for my favourite business, so now I'm totally freelance illustrator
Thank you!
Be the first to know about new collections and exclusive offers.
Subscribe to our emails
Fida Membership Program
-
Sale
Project Membership
Regular price From £395.00 GBPRegular priceUnit price / per£495.00 GBPSale price From £395.00 GBPSale -
Student Project Membership
Regular price From £99.00 GBPRegular priceUnit price / per£295.00 GBPSale price From £99.00 GBPSale -
Portfolio Membership
Regular price From £95.00 GBPRegular priceUnit price / per -
Student Portfolio Membership
Regular price From £75.00 GBPRegular priceUnit price / per£95.00 GBPSale price From £75.00 GBPSale