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Hello I’m Sümeyye Merve. I’m here to introduce myself and here is my workspace where I try to work but I can never start and finish a drawing here. I love drinking tea while working so a teapot is a must in this room. Whatever the piece I work on, I generally watch a film or series and listen to podcasts about it.
Every work is a brand new experience and teaches new things and I love it. Besides that, I realized that I choose the music by the story and speed. Also, I have another atelier where I organize workshops, and teach watercolor.
I study Graphic Design at Hacettepe University and Marmara University. I also work as a graphic designer besides illustrating. Every production on communication design is exciting. Especially I enjoy designing logos. Besides books, I draw for animations and packages. Working in different fields scares you at first but seeing your own drawing on a package or seeing it moves are different experiences.
Recently, I worked on a historical picture book and the book covers different eras of time so each piece of drawing needed to be in a certain mood.
Whenever a new subject comes along, I researched the era’s colors, architecture, clothing, and place and if a piece of writing will be seen on the illustration, I research the era’s fonts and mix all of them with humor to make the book.
With each subject, I needed to make new characters so when I feel stuck, I draw people I know that resembles that character. And sometimes I draw characters from songs I listened to. In this way, it was easier and more fun to draw so many characters.
One of the things I like most is eating and trying to cook. Especially I have an interest in olive and meals with olive oil. With this “delicious” interest of mine, I draw foods with a huge appetite. Sometimes I work with watercolors or pastels and sometimes with digital brushes with different textures.
When you draw traditionally you have to plan the process and sketch so you won’t have to redo it or if you have a short time for it, you have to do it that way. But when working digitally, you don’t have to think about all of them. I’ve been doing my sketches loose and then erasing them for a long while and realized that it’s more practical than the other way I do.
I started to illustrate with a sense of a sculptor. Working without specific lines is more surprising and enjoyable.
It is very valuable to never say "I made it", to learn constantly, and to enjoy this process while exhibiting this evolutionary process.