Although she is the go-to illustrator for magazines and children book publishers, Nata Metlukh has a dark side. Separate from her commercial work which finds the San Francisco based artist designing for clients, Nata’s personal sketchbook series paints an entirely different portrait of the artists. Art Nouveau recently caught up with Nata to talk about her work, commercial art vs personal art and more.
Art Nouveau: Describe your process of creating.
Nata Metlukh: It is pretty straight forward, no magic here. Once I’ve got an idea of what I want to do, I draw several thumbnails to make the best composition, then I pick one and make a line drawing. Usually I do it right on my Cintiq tablet. Then I digital paint the drawing using couple of brushes and blenders. Most of the time I keep all in one layer, just like in real painting.
Art Nouveau: What influences you?
Nata Metlukh: Observing people and traveling are the main endless sources of ideas. And of course great inspiration comes from other artists’ works: children’s books, humorous editorial illustrations, sketchbooks, art journals, collages, cartoons. And hand-drawn animation – I just love it. I’ve read tons of animation books just to understand how they do it. Now this knowledge helps me in illustration a lot. There are many basic principles which are common for animation and illustration such as storytelling, composition, exaggeration, gestures, simplicity, mood etc. I consider illustration as one-frame-long animation.
Art Nouveau: Some of your work is dark. Would you say too dark for a children’s book?
Nata Metlukh: Sometimes children’s book require dark pieces to show the difference between good and evil. So it always depends on a context.
Art Nouveau: Do you believe all children are artists?
Nata Metlukh: Definitely yes. But more important is to be the artist who remembers his or her children’s vision and is capable of recreating it. It’s not that hard to paint and draw in academic way – it’s just a matter of practice. But it is way much harder to think and draw like a child.
Art Nouveau: What is it about children’s books that interested you?
Nata Metlukh: Some picture books are real art pieces. Their vivid colors, unusual composition and characters inspire me a lot. But the most important thing is the idea, the story. And I’m beside myself with delight if it is fun, smart and fresh. Illustration is very powerful tool to create different worlds which can be very fascinating.
Art Nouveau: You were born in Ukraine. What brought you to San Francisco?
Nata Metlukh: After six years of working as a graphic designer, I understood it just wasn’t for me. So my husband and I started looking for a change. And when an opportunity occurred, we moved to San Francisco. It was the right time and the right place to start doing something different. I experimented a lot with different materials and techniques to understand what I really want to do. As a result I have total immersion into illustration.
Art Nouveau: Do you draw a distinction between commercial art and art made for galleries and museums?
Nata Metlukh: Yes. Art for galleries is much more personal than commercial works. Because of many restrictions and other conditions commercial work is more challenging – and that’s why is more interesting for me. It is difficult to create an interesting piece when there is no restrictions at all. When I’m working on a personal piece I always think up such restrictions and boundaries by myself to have something to work with.
Art Nouveau: Is there anything else you’d like to mention?
Nata Metlukh: I think any good illustration has two things. First, it tells us a story. And second, it doesn’t follow the text word-by-word repeating it. There is always something more, some surprise in details or composition or something else. And for me, good illustration is a mix of idea, humor and passion. And it is the best form of art!
Art Nouveau: What’s next for you?
Nata Metlukh: I plan to work more on editorial stuff. And I am interested in doing interactive children’s books for iPad. It’s a device which gives lots of opportunities for illustrators. Also I will continue sketching and work more with live materials as gouache and ink, which gives constant growth as an artist.
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GREATeclectic aka Kendrick Daye is a DJ, artist and the Editor of Art Nouveau Magazine. As a freelance journalist and photographer his work has been featured in the NY Times Magazine, Ebony Magazine, Upscale Magazine, Creative Loafing, Honeymag.com & Yo-Raps.com.
