Secrets.
I am going to start interviewing some artists about their work and process to share with you. I love to talk to people about their space and materials, every artists workspace and process is so different I think it will be interesting to peak. My first peak is with Caitlin Shearer of pepperminte:
Caitlin's Workspace.
What does your workspace look like?
My desk is such a mess, covered in black ink and half of it is taken up with papers and prints and pens and stuff. Plastic ponies and quills and notebooks.
What materials and brands do you use?
Montmartre watercolors and gouache, artists spectrum ink, rotring clicky lead pencils, and ink pens. Daler Rowney, Canson, or Arches watercolor paper and dollar store glitter.
A pages from Caitlin's Sketchbook
Who are your favorite artists?
J.W. Waterhouse, Charles Anastase, Sofia Coppola, Julia Deville, Gustav Klimt, Crispin Glover.
What kind of images inspire you, do you keep a sketchbook?
I'm constantly inspired by my friends on livejournal and flickr, people like Jessica Nicholls, Joyce Kipling, Matthieu Maharaja, Arielle Gavin, Jessica Sea, Katie Armstrong, Aviva Rowley ... there are heaps!
I do keep a sketchbook, but I am not very constant with it. Some weeks I will cover pages, and then sometimes I won't touch it for a month. I draw when watching tv sometimes and then it's just a mishmash of words that float past. Then it doubles as a diary too and I gush about all the silliest stuff... you know... boys and dresses and cakes.
How much self portraiture is in your work?
LOTS. Although a lot of it is subconscious. I use my art as a diary, or an outlet for whatever is going on in my head that week, it flows out because of the subject matter. Some days I will look up from a painting and it will shock me that my face is looking back at me from the paper when it wasn't really what I intended. The self portraits take on a sentimental role afterwards though, and they are kind of secret messages for people in my life.
Caitlin says this was drawn after she watched the Disney film The Princess and the Cobbler. She says she doesn't remember the movie now but that it must have really moved her when she was 6, and that this drawing would have been epic to do at that age.
Some of Caitlin's works in progress.
What age did you start taking drawing seriously and what do you think it is about drawing and art that interested you?
I always drew as a kid, but in the middle of high school, when I was about 16 I thought that if i tried hard enough then maybe I could make this into a career. I've been working hard and this year everything has started to come together nicely. I'm not very good at speaking bravely, so I suppose to use art to communicate is what I love most. To substantiate and make real what is in your head is also great.
What is special and inspiring about living where you do?
I live by the ocean, backing onto a bush reserve. There are bush turkeys and birds everywhere. There are peacocks in this suburb, also some cows were freed from a nearby property and ended up in our front yard a month or two ago. It really makes you appreciate nature and there's nothing better than looking out your bedroom window to see the ocean. My mum keeps a pretty amazing garden too!
What is a normal day like for you?
A normal day for me is trying to draw, visiting the computer, maybe watching a film. I go to uni 3 days a week, and the other two are spent making art and attending to emails and etsy. On the weekend I love going to car boot sales, having sleepovers with friends, movie marathons, parties, and adventuring.
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