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IA: Do you think your creative process is different when you use digital tools or when you paint in a real canvas?

NA: Not really, no. I always start out with a sketch, followed by the first layer of color, which I then build up and refine in stages. I like using references because I’m a perfectionist critter. But when working digitally I find myself more easily abandoning the references, whereas when I’m working traditionally I stick very closely to them. Maybe it’s to do with the fact that it’s harder to adjust things in oils, harder to fix mistakes. At least for me it is.

IA: When I carefully look at your personal work I can feel a bit of romanticism influences? Do you agree with that?

NA: Yes, I do. I wouldn’t have agreed with you several years ago, but these days I definitely see why someone might say that.
IA: Can you tell us more about what you would like to convey in your art? What would you like people to feel?
NA: My paintings should answer that question, really. ;)


IA: What part of a painting do you like to really focus on?

NA: The face and eyes. To me, that’s what tells the stories; everything else is secondary.

IA: As a female artist do you think you depict characters differently from the way guys do?

NA: No, I don’t think so. The subject matters may be different between male and female artists; in such a way that guys tend more towards graphic visuals, whereas girls are more likely to be more subtle in their pictures. But it’s not a hard and fast rule. Even to say that girls put more emotion into their pictures wouldn’t be right and the same applies to me. I adapt to what is needed or wanted. Yes, I have certain limits, where I’ll say that I don’t want to paint certain things, but that’s nothing to do with the fact that I’m female.

IA: You've been featured on a Ballistic cover, how were you chosen?

NA: I wish I knew! Honestly, I have no idea how the selection process for the Ballistic covers works, if there actually is a process or if they just take a wild pick and go, “We like this picture, lets use it.” I had submitted some of my paintings for the book Exposé 5, but none of them were chosen to appear in it. Then I received the email telling me that The Sentinel was picked for the cover. It was a nice surprise to say the least!

IA: Can you tell us about your recent work? Do you think you changed the way you work for the last illustration you've created?

NA: I think I don’t so much change the way I work from picture to picture, but rather that most changes in my approach evolve over time, some faster than others. I constantly try new things, new techniques, and sometimes there are those accidents where I do something without thinking, just playing around, and it makes a big difference to what I’ve been doing before. It’s always nice when that happens.

I believe the last big change in the way I work started with the painting Nuri. I don’t even really know what I did that was different, but somehow I see a difference in my work before that.

IA: What in your opinion is the key to success for an illustration?

NA: Good question. I think it’s a mix of different things. Composition certainly is important, along with focus and lighting. Colors are important too, as they help convey a lot. And if you’re doing a character portrait, then of course character itself plays a major role; the pose, the gestures, facial expression and so on. It’s hard for me to spell it out because what I do, I do by instinct. Whether that’s good or not, I don’t know.

IA: Do you think your perception of art has changed with time? Why and how?

NA: To a point. I’ve always liked naturalistic paintings, ever since I can remember. I cannot appreciate abstract art or installations for example. But where I could only see hyper-realism ten, twenty years ago, I now rather like variations on it. Stylized, impressionistic, caricature, as long as the naturalistic element is still somewhat intact.

I’ve also always been rather fond of paintings depicting people. That hasn’t changed. People tell me stories unlike anything else. I can appreciate the beauty of landscapes, or the density of cityscapes, but neither open up to me.