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Hello! We look forward to introducing our illustrators to you. In the "Focus Artist" section, we visit the studios of the artists we represent, get to know their styles and productions better, and get acquainted with their sources of inspiration. Our guest for the first week is Mavisu Demirağ. Let's meet her!
Hello, I am Mavi, we are together for a week, welcome to my world! I live in Izmir with my mom and a fat cat. Since my mother is a painter, we use the house as a workshop and we cannot stay tidy. But I am not complaining about this, when I want to draw something, I like having all the paints and brushes at my hand, and not making any effort to keep it tidy. I mostly make children's books and editorial drawings. Empty coffee cups, papers, sketchbooks, and cat Mr. Pasha are not missing from my work desk. While working, I always wear headphones, open music, podcasts, or series and movies that I know and watch over and over again. These days audio-books are my favorites!
I think the ones I like the most among the children's books I have illustrated are those which mention emotions. It makes me more satisfied to think about abstract concepts and to produce something new. I like the subjects that nourish my imagination, open up space to think and create, rather than draw by adhering to a particular reference.
I finalize my works with digital techniques. But when I work on the character, I usually think of the hottest ideas and scenes before I go to sleep, so now I'm putting paper and pen on my bedside.
In addition to illustrating children's books, I am actually in more intellectual production. I do research and produce projects on culture and the arts. We are starting a project with the Daragac Collective next week. We organize a workshop for the children in the neighborhood where the collective lives, where they can improve their creativity during holidays. I hope they have good results. I believe in the healing power of art, being active in this field excites me.
My biggest inspiration is nature! Every living thing in nature impresses me a lot. I love to deal with plants, jump on my bike, and discover new ways. I have a logbook where I write and draw what I see on my bike. In the beginning, I started collecting and storing plants to use in the collages I worked in this notebook. Later, this situation turned into a new hobby. I want to keep the flora of my own environment as much as I can.
My other inspiration is undoubted "Marquez"!
I admire each of his books, imagination, descriptions, and literature. It takes me to completely different worlds.
I've been painting since childhood. Painting is a relaxing, healing, biggest tool for me to express myself. But even the most beautiful pursuit brings certain concerns when it comes to business. So I separated work and love. I perform book studies digitally with a graphic tablet. If I paint for myself, I do not have any color, material, or technical limitations, and I like to try everything freely. This of course feeds and develops the books I work with.
You can click here to visit my portfolio and get in touch with my agent for your future projects.