Arts as Escapism The CreativeMindClass Blog
I'm originally from Venezuela. I was born in a city that was very tropical with hills and palm trees. However, I unfortunately, I was not allowed to explore my environment fully (partly because of my parents' overprotectiveness, but mostly because of the everyday insecurities in my home country). The majority of my time was spent indoors. TV and books became my main forms of escapism - and drawing! I would spend hours drawing my most favorite characters from anime and my pets, as well as friends. I couldn't own, costumes, and all sorts of things.
It was mostly a pastime, and I was somewhat certain that I would never be a full-time job in Venezuela. But then my family decided to relocate to the UK and that was a major change for me. As a teen I had finally been granted some autonomy, and I was allowed to go to places by myself and to think about what I wanted to do.
My love for character design and narrative inspired me to read comics which then brought me to drawing. All the pieces came together then. After a couple of years of studies (and lots of hard work), I'm now freelancing as an Illustrator from London.
My work I believe is fun, bold and a bit chaotic (in a good manner!). It can be straightforward and sometimes it's very detailed. However, every illustration has a person or animal or some nice piece of landscape. I like to think that every illustration I draw is all part of the same world.
For me, the most important thing is having fun with it. It is easy to think of things that delighted me growing in my youth: vibrant colours and characters that are sneaky, hilarious moments, and tiny little details to be lost into. My goal is to encapsulate all of these aspects whenever I create something new. If I can make the viewer feel excited or satisfied, or even feel that they have discovered something new, then I've accomplished what I wanted.
"Another key element for me is humor. It was apparent over time that I'm not the most adequate person to make very serious or conceptual artworks however I am pretty good at making something fun and lighthearted to bring a smile to someone's face. I am a good player right now."
Follow Marianna's art process on her Instagram; discover detailed illustrations from the children's books she wrote in lockdowns, as well as some behind-the-scenes shots of recoding her Skillshare class, just to mention a few. The links to the class as well as Marianna's books can be found through the website.