We chat with visual artist Karin Miller about Garden Day, her creative process, and favourite florals to illustrate.

Tell us a bit of background about yourself?

I was born and raised in Pretoria and besides living in New Orleans for a year with my family when I was 5, and three years in Jhb as a young information designer, Pretoria is pretty much my town. I ventured into fine art when my children were at school so I could spend more time with them.

What inspires your work?

Old photographs, medieval art, pop culture, the female body and nature.

Can you tell us a bit more about your involvement in Garden Day?

I received a call from Koos Bekker in 2016 asking me if I would like to do a design for a new concept called “Garden Day”. After discussing the full brief I was super excited. I have always been in love with flowers and beautiful gardens so I enjoyed every minute of working on it. After the first year I was asked to do the next poster and banner again and have been doing the visuals for 5 years now. I have since gotten an assistant twice a week which makes the process go much smoother… as I do tend to stress easily. 

How are you planning to celebrate Garden Day this year?

What I personally love about Garden Day (which is taking place on 17 October this year) is the making of the flower crowns. For me, being social with a purpose is way more enjoyable than just sitting around talking about tedious things. This year I will have a small family celebration with my husband and my four adult children and their partners. 

What is currently growing in your garden?

A beautiful show of Petria and Irises as well as romantic climbing roses. My white bougainvillea is starting to bloom which makes me extremely happy.

Do you have a favourite flower or are there any you love to illustrate in particular?

At the moment the Helleborus Fire and Ice is my favourite. I research flowers online and sometimes I discover the most jaw dropping specimens. When I do not have access to a good photograph of a flower I do  an illustration either with watercolours and colour pencil or on the Procreate drawing app on my iPad Pro. 

What is the process for creating a piece?

After I receive the brief, I make a rough design. Once it is approved I start looking for a mode. When the model is approved I plan the shoot by looking for a suitable outfit for her to wear by searching in shops and looking online. After that,  props have to be found – anywhere and everywhere. Once the photoshoot is done we start deep-etching our model and the first part is done. I do a lot of research online to put together an idea of what I would like to see blooming in the garden. Plants need to be photographed and old botanical drawings accessible within the public domain need to be found and touched up. Slowly but surely my assistant, Donovan Drodskie, and I start building up the background and foreground, plant by plant by superimposing images on top of each other in Adobe Photoshop. Highlights and shadows need to be added everywhere to create a realistic digital “collage”. Finally the crown is carefully created by using indigenous flowers and foliage. 

Do you stick to one particular medium?

I work with photography, found images, botanical illustrations as well as illustrations done by me. It’s quite  an extensive process of moving in between ideas and mediums.

What are your plans for the future?

Art and design has been a constant in my life and have seen me through the worst of times as well as the best of times. I will carry on being creative until I drop.

Are there any local artists you admire?

I love the work of Caryn Scrimgeour, Mohau Modisakeng and Zimbabwean artist Kudzanai Chiurai. Although they seem very different to each other, they have a common thread that really speaks to me.

Where can people see your work?

My work is always on show at manzart Franschhoek and can also now be seen at manzart Hermanus, Reuben’s & co, Val de Vie, Paarl and manzartplus Franschhoek.

For more information, visit karinmiller.co.za

Looking for more on local art? Take a look at all the local virtual exhibitions, here.

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Brazilian illustrator and designer Willian Santiago creates colourful artworks featuring beautiful depictions of people and wildlife.

From fashion to skateboards, his work forms part of a variety of collaborations, where his illustrations are used in the form of prints. Inspired in part by nature, Willian also draws on the rich culture of Brazil and its local artisanal crafts.

Most of Willian’s work is produced through digital mediums while drawing on the stylistic elements of hand-made art, layering textures such as paint splashes or crayon markings.

He uses a range of bright, bold colours, with a focus on red, turquoise, blue, green and black, a nod to the Art Deco movement.

See more of his work on Behance and follow @willian_santiago on Instagram.

(h/t) wepresent.wetransfer.com

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Cape Town-based illustrator Andrea Liang creates stylised portraits and digital illustrations inspired by nature and diversity. Here, she chats to VISI about digital art, drawing and what’s next.

How did you initially get into digital illustration?

I initially got into digital illustration as a way of art therapy during a stressful time in my early teaching career. My partner is a graphic designer and illustrator, so I borrowed his Wacom tablet and played around with Clip Studio Paint. I enjoyed digital illustration so much that I invested in my own tablet soon afterwards and eventually moved on to drawing on my iPad when I discovered the Procreate app.

What do you love about creating portraits?

When illustrating portraits, my goal is always to capture the essence of my subject. I love simplifying my subjects to highlight their key features and I enjoy adding bold pops of colour.

Which one of your portraits have you enjoyed creating the most, and why?

My favourite portrait so far would be the self-portrait I did of my cat and me! It was actually part of a “Draw This In Your Style” challenge on Instagram, with the original concept and composition done by Y. Putrii (@y.illustrations). It was the first time I had drawn myself and my cat in my semi-realistic pencil-crayon-like art style. It was quite an introspective process as I wanted the piece to resemble me, but to not look identical to me. It was also just a lot of fun to add large sections of colour in my favourite textured pencil!

If you could collaborate with any artist, who would it be, and why?

Wow, I have so many artists that I look up to, it is difficult to choose only one! Based on the “why”, however, I would have to say Fran Meneses aka Frannerd. I serendipitously discovered her when Googling YouTube reviews of “Drawing on the Wacom tablet vs the iPad” (as I was still considering whether the iPad was a worthwhile investment – it was!). She has an honest and down-to-earth personality and preaches a message of sustainability, ethics and empowerment through her art business.

Which local illustrators are on your radar right now?

Local illustrators on my radar are: Amy Slatem (@shmaymee), Tasmin Naidoo (@tazbedevilled), Katya Wagner (@pony_of_the_sea), Anja Venter-Rausch (@nannaventer) and Kaylee Claire (@kayworx).

Do you have any exciting projects coming up in 2020?

Inspired by my South African Pantry Essentials postcards, I am collaborating with another maker based in Bristol to design and screen-print some South African snack food-themed merchandise for the UK and SA market!

Follow @andrealiangart on Instagram to keep up to date with new work and exciting projects.

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The creatives at NeoMam Studios have stripped away the special effects of six imaginative worlds in a new series that highlights the architectural brilliance of each.

The studio has produced a series of grayscale pen-and-paper illustrations showcasing the detailed architecture present in several of the most popular fantasy worlds, such as Game of Thrones, Harry Potter and Star Wars.

“In a world of CGI, the architectural landscapes created in the film, TV and gaming industries are now almost as realistic as the world outside your window. But strip away the special effects, and the architectural creations of Studio Ghibli, Skyrim and Marvel are no less impressive,” says NeoMam’s Luke Doyle.

Take a look at some of NeoMam Studio’s other featured projects, including ancient ruins reconstructed in the form of GIFs, what your bedroom would look like if designed by famous film directors and seven home office designs inspired by fonts.

(h/t) Angie’s List

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Madrid-based 3D illustration studio CESS has created an alphabet inspired by 26 world-renowned artists.

“Everything begins by assigning the name of the artist to the letter,” says designer César Cid Rivero. Spending time studying the work of the artist, César then adapts the shape of the letter according to one of the artist’s most well-known pieces. “Once I make the sketch, I put it to shape in 3D,” he says. “The whole project, like the rest of my work, is made with CGI.”

The Art•phabet A tribute to the most famous modern & contemporary artists. . #36daysoftype #36daysoftype05 #dalí #andywarhol #banksy #fridakahlo #mondrian #picasso #vangogh #instaart #instaartist #c4d #typography #3dtype #cgi #c4d #art #goodtype #fubiz #modernart #conteporaryart #c4d #zbrush @36daysoftype @behance @yorokobu @fubiz @adobe @huffpostarts @thisisinsider @goodtype @thedailytype #whpinspired @instagram #fubiz @streetartglobe

A post shared by CESS (@cess_tm) on Apr 30, 2018 at 3:04am PDT

The 26 letters, which each take a day or two to complete, celebrate the work of artists like Andy Warhol, Banksy, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Piet Mondrian, Frida Kahlo, Pablo Picasso and Jackson Pollock.

Inspired directly by modern and contemporary artists and their masterpieces, César’s aim was to pay homage to the works of each artist. “The idea, in principle, is to match the letter with the initial of the name or surname of the artist,” he says, but this wasn’t always possible. “The process is very varied, sometimes even experimental, as each letter has a very different form and process of work.”

View more from CESS at cesstm.com or follow CESS on Instagram and Facebook for the latest.

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Milan-born, New York-based designer Nicholas Misani creates typographic mosaic illustrations that could easily be mistaken for actual mosaic floors.

Working as a senior designer at Louise Fili Ltd, where he plays with lettering and design on a daily basis, he developed a technique and affinity for fauxsaics. “I love creating realistic digital typographic mosaics to commemorate my travels,” Nicholas explains on his website.

Nicholas hopes that his self-initiated project, which currently features designs focused on nine different cities, including London, Los Angeles and Mexico City, will soon become real-life installations.

You can also buy prints of the fauxsaic illustrations via Society6.

For more typography inspiration, follow Nicholas on Instagram. To view more of his work, visit misani.com.

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Self-taught Kentucky-based illustrator Jeremy Booth began his career as a graphic designer. It was during this time that he found digital illustration and it has since become his passion, and profession.

We decided to catch up with this talented creative to find out more about his work.

What do you enjoy most about illustration?

I love making my own body of work. Client work for now pays the bills but I am seeing more of an opportunity to create my own work and hopefully will one day be able to solely focus on that. 

Your pieces combine bold colour with minimalistic detail. How would you describe your work?

I would describe it as a vector noir. Well, that is what my friend coined it and I have been using it since. Bold colour and dark shadows are my thing. My work is highly inspired by photography, either my own photographs or with the help of others. I am really inspired by Joel Bear’s body of work, it’s very similar.

The subject matter, as seen in your recent Sergeant Paper exhibition in Paris, is somewhat architectural and decor-driven. What inspired this body of work?

My wife and I recently visited Palm Springs before I was contacted by Sergeant Paper to have a solo exhibit in Paris. When asked to come up with a theme, mid-century design and culture was well on my brain because of our trip to Palm Springs. So I began to research the culture and design of the time and The Simple Life was born.

Do you have any exciting plans for the near future?

My show has brought many new and potential opportunities, some of which I can’t speak on at the moment. There might be a chance that I will be a part of Modernism Week in Palm Springs this year. At this moment my contact and I are working together to see if it can happen.

Where can our readers get hold of your work?

Right now, my work is available on Sergeant Paper’s website until the pieces are sold out. I am planning to open up my own shop next year and will be selling new work there.

View more of Jeremy’s creations at jeremy-booth.com.

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