A living portrait told through voice, memory, and the things we choose to keep.
STRIPPED | TALK DIRTY TO ME | created by Sarah Rose
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The world never stopped being magical.
So for me, I’m stimulated by everything.
Typography. Brand packaging. Marketing. Colour palettes. Simple designs. You could be walking down the street and see a sticker on a lamppost… or some cool packaging on a noodle bar… and suddenly it’s a whole new colour palette. There’s so much out there and you’re not even looking for it half the time. It’s just in your face. It’s almost an involuntary spark.
“You’re not even looking for it half the time. It’s just in your face.”
Funny where things come from.
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I’m hugely inspired by the skate industry. I worked in a skate shop from the age of fifteen… skate graphics are a massive inspiration for me. Seeing tangible products that your art could go onto—not necessarily art being in a gallery—but on something as obtainable as a skateboard. You could skate it, then hang it on your wall, and it becomes art. Learning that at a young age made me think… maybe I could be a full-time artist.
“…maybe I could be a full-time artist.”
I’ve kind of always been this way.
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I remember putting my first bits of work on Instagram… little sticker parody mashups… and realizing there were other people who loved the same nostalgic things I did. I’d get messages from dads saying they’d rewatched an old cartoon with their kid because of something I’d drawn. That sort of stuff means so much to me because it means something I’ve created has connected someone with someone else… and created these amazing memories.
“…something I’ve created has connected someone with someone else.”
.
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You can’t really force it…
I’ve had my fair share of artist block. It’s fucking horrible. The only way I generally get out of that funk is to stop trying. The harder you try, the worse it gets. Sometimes you just have to walk away from a project. Read a comic book. Listen to music. Watch a movie. Do something non-creative… then come back with fresh eyes.
“You’ve got to constantly play.”
You’ve got to constantly play and use your artboard as a creative playground. You have to experiment. Push yourself a little bit. Make mistakes. See what sticks. When you stop doing that… isn’t that the opposite of the creative mindset?
But here’s what I keep coming back to…
I see inspiration everywhere.
I’m never limited to what I think is cool. I try to draw inspiration from anywhere and I’m just open all the time. I think having an open mind is everything because if you constantly live in this little bubble, you’re never going to grow. I love starting a piece where I don’t really know where it’s going.
“I’m just open all the time.”
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Maybe that’s why I love it.
Thinking quite ADHD, I find it really hard to stick to one project because another idea always comes into my head. I have to write it down or throw it into my mood board. Anything that’s in my brain—I just get it out. Typography. Designs. Colour palettes. Whatever catches me. It’s great because it means I’ve always got three or four different projects on the go.
“If I could take one bit of advice from a fictional character… Garfield. Because I truly do hate Mondays.”
I’m still that kid.
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