Interview of Marie-Louise Becker by Sophie Pellegrini // Drawing for me is having the freedom to change my lines at any time or choose my color scheme all over again.
Tell us a bit about yourself.
My name is Marie-Louise and I am 25 years old. I currently live in Hamburg and work as a junior fashion designer. I got my degree in April this year. Working in my normal job does not fulfill me completely, that’s why I picked up my drawing technique from my finals and worked on it.
How did you get started in illustration?
For my final exam in university, I had to make a magazine which describes my final collection with silhouettes, colors, inspiration, etc. After admitting that I was not motivated enough to draw all my silhouettes with a pencil, I had to think about something else. Since I loved Adobe Illustrator, I committed myself to find a solution in that. This is where my design started.
You seem to do mainly digital illustration. What do you enjoy about this process?
In my drawing process with digital illustration, I can better control my lines and their shape. The drawing doesn’t have to be started new after small mistakes – I can easily press undo to fix the mistake and the illustration is back on track. The variety of Adobe Illustrator offers me my freedom to paint whatever I want, whether it be changing the size of the line or its intensity. I don’t feel forced to be perfect on my first try. Drawing for me is having the freedom to change my lines at any time or choose my color scheme all over again. That is why I prefer digital illustration.
Your work has a very particular color palette across all your images. Is this intentional? Is there a significance to the color choices?
For me, it all began with these song lyrics, “Picture yourself in a boat on a river, with tangerine trees and marmalade skies” (Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds, The Beatles), in which The Beatles describe a nonexistent world with candies and fantasy all over. Escaping from the real world into something so soft and sweet, I came up with my color palette. This meant pastel colors, mints and soft lilacs.
Tell us about your work process.
I mostly work with photos in the background which I then recreate with lines and color blocks. By filling them differently or adding layers over each other I try to reveal some dimension. Although everything is more 2D, the viewer has time to dive in and let the colors and flowers get to them. By leaving spaces, I want everyone to make their own mind up on how it could be filled. I don’t have a structure on how to start with my work, I just browse through pictures and if something catches my eye and reaches out to my feelings I translate it to what I see.
How would you describe your aesthetic?
I would describe it as simple, imaginative, and dreamy.
Who inspires you?
Everyone and everything.
Do you have a favorite image you’ve created?
There are a lot of favorites but the one that inspired my work the most is a short-haired woman wearing a grey bomber jacket with lots of flowers. That drawing was the key piece from my final collection in university that led me to my path in making my digital illustrations. My drawings from my family are my favorites – of course.
What are your hopes and dreams for the coming year?
I am trying to reach more popularity through drawing celebrities which inspire me and repost my art. As a project on my own, I want to start with first prints on t-shirts or jackets to sell. It should be going online by the beginning of the new year and I hope that the raver girls are out there ready to spread my mission.
