Who: Eva Stalinski

What: Illustrator, Printmaker and Dog enthusiast. 

Where: Groningen, the Netherlands

Hi Eva, So I think we'd all like to know, how’d you get your start in the art industry?

I grew up in a very creative family. My dad is a graphic designer, my mom paints and my sister has drawn since she could hold a pencil, so creativity was very much encouraged in our home. My sister went to art school when I was about 16/17 and that's when I got really serious about art. I applied to the same art school 2 years later in 2010. In 2015, I graduated from the illustration/animation department of Art Academy Minerva in my hometown Groningen (with a honors and an award!)

Very cool, about when did you start creating your illustrations? What’s the process behind your work? 

At the moment, my preferred technique is screen printing. It's a very hands on way of reproducing my illustrations. I work with bright neon colors and a limited color palette, mostly. I always start out with a sketch, then I trace that sketch onto transparant film with black ink. Each color is a separate layer. I burn these ink drawings onto a screen, I rinse the screen out in my shower and then I'm ready to print! I do all my screen printing at home; I'm also doing a series of youtube video's showing people how they can print at home as well.

When and where do find yourself the most creative? A certain place? A time of day? Daily routine?

I definitely strive for a daily routine. It makes me feel the best, and when I feel good, I'm the most creative. I have a dog, Willem, whom I walk a couple of times a day and I always have my best ideas when I'm outside with him. And right before I fall asleep, so I always keep a sketchbook in or by my bed haha!

Us too, it makes it so handy! Is there a portfolio piece that you are the most proud of?

Pffff that's a difficult question! I guess I'm still pretty proud of my graduation project from 2015. In a very short time I put together a big comic fairytale storybook called PRINCE in which I 'remixed' multiple fairytales into a new story. It was a very intense process and I would have done a lot of things differently looking back on it now but all in all I'm very proud I was able to do it. 

Do you have a role model? A favorite artist?

One of my favorite artists is Yayoi Kusama. She is amazing.

She is, Her work is ahh-mazing. Any parting words or advice for the young creatives out there? 

Do the work! That's the only thing you can do. Make a bunch of work, then make some more and put it out there. Don't wait until you've made something perfect to show other people. I found that people enjoy watching the process of making things more than the actual finished product sometimes.

Last, but most important, where can we find/support your work? 

Well, I have a website of course that's evastalinski.com, you can find me on Instagram and Twitter @evastalinski, my screen printing tutorials are on youtube, just search Eva Stalinski of Screen Printing with Eva! And lastly you can buy my work on Etsy, my shop is called the StalinskiSuperStore!

 P.S. All photos belong to Eva Stalinski!