Iva's Story
My name is Iva (rhymes with “viva”,) and I’m a full-time illustrator, teacher, and nature enthusiast. I was born and raised in Central Europe; lived, worked in, and made friends from many countries so I feel like a “global citizen” at heart.
I have always loved creating something which brightens other people’s day. You can see my portfolio here.
I have multiple years of experience in the toy industry as an illustrator, character designer, art director, and branding specialist with a focus on storytelling, concepts, and animation.
I also teach art and work with businesses in the field of social media and visual communication.
My art inspiration comes from traveling, trips to nature, decorations on the old buildings, and animals.
I am currently based in Central Europe where I take advantage of beautiful nature and draw outside as much as possible.
As me and my partner love to travel and explore different cultures, we lived in and visited various countries and I tried to learn several languages like French, English, Spanish, Croatian, German, Swiss-German, Japanese, and Danish … not that I can use them fluently, some of them are so hard 😳😊 … English is still my go-to language!
My life experience has been my best creative teacher!
Throughout my creative career, I went to a design college in Denmark, taught art and creative workshops in Germany and Switzerland, worked in advertising and design agency in Hungary for brands like Ariel and Wella, illustrated and designed for clients in Belgium, Switzerland, the USA, and around the world, and spent a quiet few years working in LEGO headquarters in Denmark.
In addition to working with inspiring companies, I started a podcast and YouTube channel called Art Side of Life, interviewing various artists for more inspiration for you, me, and other artists. I’ve published 200+ episodes and now continue with written interviews series.
While working as a designer and illustrator in LEGO, among others, I worked on award-winning product line called LEGO Friends. I helped to bring the toys alive in animated series which was aired on Netflix and Disney channel. I worked on character design, style guide as well as packaging, color scripts, storyboards, and with partners such as DK Books (concepts, layouts, style guide) and LEGO Entertainment Parks on costumes and designs. I was also part of the team working on the LEGO Lord of The Rings, Hobbit, as well as part of the team working on the early stages of the first LEGO Movie.
Alongside my commercial projects, I run my little online shop where I sell posters and other products.
I host workshops on creativity, illustration, acrylics, watercolors, patterns, concept art, and I speak on these topics too!
My inspiration comes from all around including exploring art in different cultures and meeting new people and hearing their stories. I grew up going to nature with my parents a lot, so I developed a strong attachment to everything nature-related, which you can see in my art. As well as seeing animals in the nature, one of my fav experiences was feeding seeds to wild cockatoos, snorkeling with manatees and manta rays and visiting Tasmanian Devil sanctuary and sketching those cute “devils” while they were running around 😊
In regards to cultural influences, I’d say some of my most memorable inspirations come from a trip with my art class to “renaissance” Italy and studying the works of the old masters, visiting creative cafes in Japan (Alice in Wonderland and Robot Cafe), getting lost in towns of northern Europe and admiring their colorful houses and taking walking tours in Australian cities with their imaginative murals.
Besides art, I have many other hobbies too, like drinking coffee or tea with a good book, snowboarding, swimming, a variety of other sports, and interior design. I love pizza and freshly baked bread but I am allergic to white flour…you can see the irony 😳😊. At least I learned how to make a good dough from the buckwheat flour!!
So whether you are here to boost your creative career or paint for fun in your free time, I am very happy that you are here! I hope you will find what you are looking for and more…
Love, Iva ❤️
