In conversation with Artsy Miwa, Digital Artist

Artsy_Miwa is a 22 years old self -taught , digital artist who represents the people she draws , each of them is unique like she sees herself and the others .Through her art she’s sharing observations , inspirations and reflections that she notices in everyday life. Her bold and vibrant work is a playful and honest interpretation of cartoons , manga,and video games characters . If the feeling you get when first encountering her characters is that they have a life Of their own outside of what you see on paper then you might be right especially her “mushroom girl pieces”. We Caught up with her to discuss about the process behind her digital artwork

L’auade: Hello marwa can you tell us a bit about yourself ?

ArtsyMiwa : Hi, I’m a 22 years old student, currently working towards my master’s degree, I eat too much instant ramen , and I’m an artist in my spare time. I like drawing women portraits, mushrooms, cartoon girls,forests , stars and cresentes.

L’aubade : What do you like most about being an artist ?

ArtsyMiwa : I like that sometimes when I’m broke and cant afford to buy someone a birthday gift, I can draw them (or for them) and it would still count as a legitimately good gift!And I also love the fact that whenever a class is extremely boring or I have to wait for a few hours for my friends alone at a coffee shop, I can just pull out a sketch book and draw.

L’aubade : Which artists are you most influenced by?

ArtsyMiwa : When I first started seriously trying to draw, I just wanted to be able to recreate my favorite characters from cartoons and mangas , so technically, the artists behind most of our childhood shows were major inspirations. But as I got better and got more invested in my art and developing my own style, there are a lot of amazing artists in Instagram that heavily affected how and what i want to draw, the ones I can currently remember would be @cyarine @shmuh @_picolo @artofkatiepayne @nining @vioree @tasia.m @petite.betterave and the list goes on…..

L’aubade : what Inspires you ?

ArtsyMiwa : I dont really know, sometimes a random Pinterest picture, or another artist’s artwork, or a song, or an event. But most of the time it’s an accumulation of all these things and more, I dont really notice that I’m getting inspired, I just draw when I feel like it and those things somehow reflect on it.

L’aubade : What is your favorite piece of work in your portfolio? Why did you make it?

ArtsyMiwa : I dont really think I have a favorite piece, and most of the time I dont exactly have a reason why I draw something I just do it because I feel like it, but, if I had to pick It would be one of my mushroom girl pieces, simply because I like the whole concept of tiny humans and gigantic forests/plants/ mushrooms.

L’aubade : What is your dream project?

ArtsyMiwa : There was a time where I wanted to be a professional illustrator, or character designer, but that takes a lot of work, efforts, perseverance, patience and the list goes on, and im not disciplined enough for that, specially with how much competition and talent there is in those domains. Deep down I still want all of that if I get the chance to, or if I get myself together, however, what I currently really want/dream of, would be having my own stationary line, journals, sketchbook, scrapbooks, pencil case, stickers.. etc etc With my art on them, that would give me the freedom to draw what I want to draw and to create things I wanted to have but couldn’t get my hands on.

L’aubade : What’s the best piece of advice you’ve been given?

ArtsyMiwa : The one that popped into my mind immediately is ” work at your own pace” or simply don’t compare yourself, your work, or you progress to anyone. I still have a hard time applying that sometimes, and I also often use that as an excuse to be lazy and procrastinate.. But well when you find the right balance, it’s genuine good advice.