Art Feature
Last modified: 6:56:26 CET on 01 Feb, 2009 |
Starting from September 2008, each month this page will be reserved for a feature. Talented artists from all over the world who are Invisible Movement readers/contributors and John and/or RHCP listeners; are welcome to apply to be on this page and leave links to their artwork. A couple of pictures of what they're working on would be more than appreciated as well.
Previous features: Maja Đeke (September/October 2008). February/March 2009 feature coming soon.
November/December 2008 art feature: Katarzyna Jabłońska
Katarzyna Jabłońska (known to mere mortals as Kasia) is nearly18 years old and is finishing high school next spring. Apart from drawing, she's obsessed with films, music, books, bass guitar, foreign languages and Spain. She shares a very little, messy room with her brother, dog and a rat. She likes collecting pretty much everything. When she finishes school, she wants to study psychology. You can check her art thread on the BBS.
How did you first discover your artistic abilities?
My theory is that everyone can draw, if they just enjoy it and practise long enough 
I just liked drawing and fortunately I have parents who always encouraged me to do what I like. My art teacher at primary school also helped me a lot, because she was an incredibly good pedagogue and was able to show me how much fun it can be to make art.
Which artists would you consider as your influences?
There are a lot of artists who I deeply admire, but I can't say they influence my work very much. At this stage I'm just trying to treat every drawing as a exercise, to learn as much as possible. I draw mostly still life or from photos, so I guess my biggest influences are photographers, because whenever I see a beautiful photo I want to draw something like that myself. However, every once in a while I do what I call 'weird art' - pop-art-stylish collages or weird portraits inspired by a Polish painter, Witkacy.
You're doing both paintings and drawings. Which is harder and why?
Both techniques are demanding if you want to achieve some level of skill. Drawing requires a lot of control over line and you need to look at objects as if they were black and white. On the other hand, if you want to do a good painting, then you have to know some technical stuff like how to make the colour you need and how to use it so that it looked real and three-dimensional on paper. I would say paintings are harder for me, because I've never really made many of them, so I'm currently more interested in painting and making collages.
Can music inspire visual art and, if so, which musicians inspire you?
I'm just so incredibly happy to be alive and observe the world that I get inspired by all sorts of things - people, books, places, scents, documentaries, just about everything. I listen to music more or less all the time because it's one of the greatest things in life, so I often start to draw when I'm listening to something. Most of these sketches don't look good at the end, but sometimes I'm lucky enough to get a good idea which I can develop and make something interesting of it. I draw while listening to e.g. John Frusciante, Radiohead, Tool and a lot of jazz.
What would be your advice to young people who would like to get better with visual arts?
Find someone who knows stuff and can teach you something. You won't get better if you don't know what your mistakes are. When you learn how to draw realistically and know some basic rules, then the real fun starts and you start doing your own original stuff. And let it always be fun for you.
Many thanks to Kasia for having the time for this beautiful interview.
