Artist 62: TJ Lubrano

A warm welcome to the lovely work of TJ Lubrano. TJ states she lives partly in her own little world which if her work is anything to go by is a truly wonderful place full of life and colour. She creates incredibly warm and friendly illustrations that bring you straight into a beautiful watercolour fantasy of bright and inviting characters and happy carefree scenes. Her work is both cute and instantly likeable. She has that skill in creating a really good distillation of an image to isolate and capture cuteness and beauty in her characters. Her style is a fusion that really gives the viewer something to savour with rich deep colour that gives a translucent quality to the background that helps to create that warm glow which characterises her work. She gives you an illustrative hug with work that instantly transports you into smiles as you cant help but go with the flow with TJ Lubrano. Find out more about this talented illustrator here!

Who are you:

Greetings readers! My name is TJ Lubrano and I live in the Netherlands and also in my own little world where lots of my characters run and play around.

What do you do:

I am capturing all the little characters that are running through my mind. They are captured on paper, so in that way I am an illustrator. I love to create stories and to bring the characters to live. In that way, I am also a storyteller. I work with washes of watercolor to bring the illustrations to life and create a fun and whimsical illustration for others to enjoy. I love the flow of watercolors and the many structures you can create with it, so I use this for all my illustrations so far. However, lots of other mediums are on my study list as well. I get commissioned to create e.g. paintings that people either give as present or keep for themselves. Also personalized mugs are popular.

How did you start:

Even though creating art has been in my life since I was very young. I didn’t take it serious enough to pursue an Art study or do more with it. Or should I say lack of confidence? Therefore, I pursued a more secure path and studied Human Resources & Sociology. I kept on drawing on the side and also picked up writing along the way. At first I drew little things for friends and family and it wasn’t until I started my blog in 2009, that I realized that people really liked what I was creating and wanted to see more. Next to that, it also was a wake-up call for me that I really had to pursue what I wanted to do the most and that is illustrating. It’s not easy and seeing all the other talented designers & illustrators can be a bit daunting, but in the end it me pushes me to become better and better. I love every second of it!!

A Personal statement about you or your work: 

Happiness, playfulness & just fun! I love to create images that make people smile and recognize themselves in. With commissions it’s always a challenge to create the perfect image from the text people provide to me. But that’s what keeps it fun in the end and why I love to do what I’m doing ^_^.