Ep.26: How to be resourceful artist with Djamila Knopf

Djamila is a Leipzig-based professional illustrator. Her drawing style is heavily influenced by Japanese animation and artists such as Iain McCaig, Tran Nguyen, and Amei Zhao. She enjoys anything mythical and fantastical.

She illustrates surreal and dreamlike imagery with a fragile and delicate quality to it. Her imaginary worlds are filled with simultaneous brightness and darkness, where ghosts and spirits linger in the shadows. She seeks to capture a single moment, quiet and frozen in time while using the human form as a means to explore and portray abstract concepts from her mind’s landscape as well as symbolism to communicate and establish a connection through her artwork.

Djamila mainly works digitally, but also has an ongoing series of small ink drawings.

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Get in touch with Djamila

Website: http://www.djamilaknopf.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/djamilaknopf/
Patreon: https://artsideoflife.com/djamilapatreon
Store: https://artsideoflife.com/djamilastorenvy

Key Takeaways

“Do whatever feels good to you, do what you like, what feels natural to you. Find out who you are, what inspires you and follow through. Be yourself and you will be fine.” 🙂

Djamila’s artwork is anime inspired, fantasy-ish. It’s about everything that goes beyond what you can see in your ordinary life, like dreams, abstract concepts, feelings, loneliness …
Djamila is very resourceful, her ink series are first done in Photoshop, then she prints them out, takes them to the window, and traces it with pencils. Being ‘poor’ is the best motivation ever
Djamila wishes she knew to draw what she loves before she started and that you have to keep it simple in the beginning and not to take too much on
Djamila is all about designing her life as she wants and she wants to have a great life

Resources mentioned

Note: some of the resources below may be affiliate links, meaning I get paid a commission (at no extra cost to you) if you use that link to make a purchase.

Movie – Sailor Moon
Podcast – One Fantastic Week
Artists that Djamila follows – Kelly McKernan & Audra Auclair
Inspirational artist: Tran Nguyen – she does surreal, dreamlike dreamings – watercolor acrylics and color pencils
Art Tools:
- Schmincke watercolor Acrylic paints – great because, they don’t lift up paper that much
- Hot pressed watercolor paper – Canson Moulin Roy
- ink drawings – Hahnemuhle paper
Online tutorials – Sycra
Blog from an art director – Lauren Panepinto – http://muddycolors.blogspot.ch/p/lauren-panepinto.html
- Art directors want to be connected and want to be talked to at conventions
Ghibli museum book 1 month in advance at LAWSON CONVENIENCE store – info
Art books:
- James Jean – Fables covers
- Anatomy – Michael Hampton – Figure Drawing: Design and Invention
- Color & Light – James Gurney
- Mateus Nestre: Framed Ink – a composition bible
Tools
- Standing desk – BEEKANT Ikea