Portfolio of the Week: Nataliette

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Portfolio of the Week: Nataliette July 13, 2009

This self-proclaimed "angry hedonist" says she was on her way to becoming a doctor when she took a quick left turn at art school. Luckily for us she has grown into an accomplished designer by day and illustrator by night. We caught up with the Singapore based Nataliette aka The Angry Hedonist to find out more about her edgy and enticing works of art, and why following the artistic path changed her life.

Q: Tell us a little bit about your artistic background. When did you decide that this was for you?

A: I was basically a science/math nerd back in elementary through high school, and somehow when I got to pre-university I kind of lost interest in studying. I loved physics and math but chemistry killed school totally for me. I decided to abandon my scholarly path and took a huge leap in pursuing art and design at a local art school. It ended up being one of the best decisions I made in my life.

Art school as a whole was complete bull%*$!. But while going through that lousy excuse of an education, I met interesting people who helped me break out of my comfort "bubble," they changed my life and perspective.

Q: How do you get inspired?

A: Inspiration comes to me at random! Most of my work is influenced by my reflections of myself, and hence somewhat cliché sometimes.

Q: How would you describe your visual style?

A: For the past year I've been drawing wide eyed seemingly innocuous girls doing violent things to themselves, in bold, strong lines.

Recently, I decided I was tired of my doll-like characters, and I ventured back to working in traditional medium, picking up a pencil again. Dirty fingers ensue, but truly there is nothing like working traditional - getting down and dirty gives the process itself so much character! Also digital can never quite replicate the textural depth of traditional work.

Nataliette aka The Angry Hedonist

My current characters are edgier, fiercer, aggressive young women with sharp noses, sneering lips, razorblade cheekbones, heavy lidded eyes and giraffe necks and bushy eyebrows! They are normally 'captured' in moments that I enjoy making up stories about - some of which are personal reflections of my daily life. I love it! But at the same time I am scared to try new things because I have kind of worked hard to associate my name as a brand with the old imagery... But for now I'm saying, "screw it, just do what you love."

Q: Tell us a little bit about some of your recent and favorite projects.

A: I have recently gotten into digital painting, which takes grueling hours out of me but is very satisfying because I colored my drawings! It seems that there is new life breathed into my illustrations now. It takes extremely long, but the end results are totally worth it!

Q: Anything else to share?

A: Art is narcissism!