Fubiz and Adobe Stock are partnering with different artists to imagine collaborative creations around the 2020 themes and trends identified by Adobe.
This year, the “Handmade Humanism” trend was approached and selected for illustrators to create works around this theme.
Artists look for a natural touch and create an emotionally accessible style that stands out for its simplicity and artisanal tone.
For this collaboration, 2 2D illustrators collaborated: Sacrée Frangine, 2 illustrators in a minimalist style with ocher and warm tones and the contributor Nadezda Grapes who is more oriented towards the creation of very colorful patterns and illustrations.
Sacrée Frangine produced 2 original creations integrating motifs from the contributor Nadezda Grapes.
They took over the work of the contributor by choosing creations that inspired them and opted for the integration of patterns in order to give texture to their original creations.
Can you introduce yourself in a few words and tell us a little more about your creative universe?
Sacrée Frangine :
Célia and Aline, 26, childhood friends, Sisters for 2 years, illustrators and creatives as often as possible, lovers of colors and lovers of mint tea.
We imagine compositions that bring together, familiar portraits. We like to illustrate tender moments, interactions, to freeze the simple sweetness of everyday life.
Our works express positive themes such as love, friendship, living together or sharing. We are trying to transcribe a benevolent vision of the world and of everyday life through images that can speak to everyone and in which everyone can identify, identify their couple, a loved one, an acquaintance …
Nadezda : I drew from early childhood, as I remember. And already at that time I realized that it was my future profession and passion. After school I graduated from the college of traditional Russian culture, wood painting department. Then I studied at Art Institute in the department of graphic design and book graphics. While studying at the institute, I got a job as a merchandiser in fashion stores. My long and exciting experience in the magical fashion industry began from that moment.
I had passed a way from merchandiser, window decorator to art director. I worked with leading Russian brands for the production of fashionable clothes. I created advertising campaigns, developed store concepts and it was amazing, but deep inside I always wanted to just draw and be completely free. I did not want to depend on anyone. I quit my job and became a freelance illustrator. And now I’m truly happy.
You create minimalist portraits in warm colors. How did you come to this universe? And what are your inspirations?
Sacrée Frangine : Our love of colors certainly comes from our origins and this notion of mixing that is part of our history.
Célia is Algerian / Dutch and Aline Beninoise / French. This mixed heritage greatly influences our portraits, we love to mix people and colors. From pinkish beige to brown, these warm skin tones are very often the starting point for our creations and largely determine our color palette.
Henri Matisse’s works, mainly those in cut paper, also greatly influenced our illustrative style.
We are inspired by details, by all the small things at first sight banal but which can offer a beautiful subject to illustrate if we take the time to take a closer look; a table corner in summer, a hug, a feeling, a sentence, a landscape from our last trip, …
But the Woman undoubtedly remains our favorite subject because it is the most recurrent theme of our works. A lot of women inspire us every day and that inevitably affects our work.
Nadezda, you choose different compositions that touch both the creation of patterns or illustrations in a minimalist style. What are your inspirations?
I think the love for patterns is connected with my past experience in the fashion industry, but not only… It’s fascinating to think that the pattern you created can be on any surface, on which you can apply a drawing – paper, fabric, wallpaper, interior decor, etc. And on each surface the pattern will look different, live its own life. This is amazing!
Illustration gives me the opportunity to fully express my attitude to this world.
Inspiration comes from everywhere: Travelling and nature, fashion trends, new films, books, advertising campaigns and of course talented illustrators and designers – all this provides new ideas for drawing. “Keep your eyes open and scan the space around you” is the key to my inspiration.
How is your typical creative day organized? Where do you feel best to create?
Can you tell us a little bit about your creative process?
Sacrée Frangine : We don’t really have a typical day of creation. We share a lot of inspirations, we exchange our ideas, we draw, sometimes from a distance, we talk about our next projects, we talk about our lives, we order Lebanese, we listen to music, we draw again.
The best place to sketch our illustrations is Celia’s pink sofa, accompanied by a cup of tea and a Spotify playlist from the 90s.
Our works are constructed more like a composition than a figurative drawing. We are constantly looking for the perfect harmony between shapes, colors, people.
After a preliminary sketch we work first in masses of colors before adding texture and tweaking our color palette. It’s really this last step that brings our illustrations to life. Color has this power to transmit an infinite palette of emotions and it is through this that we take the most pleasure in expressing ourselves.
Nadezda : The creative process is tightly integrated into my life, this is actually my life. I have no separation between work and rest. Even on a trip, which I really love to do, I always have a computer, a graphic tablet, a notebook and pencils with me.
When I am at home, I like to start my morning hours with work – 2/3 hours. This is the best start of the day for me. In the afternoon I do housework, talk with my family, walk a dog. During breaks I also try to draw. In the evening I also try to devote a couple of hours to my favorite business. I work mainly at home, it’s convenient, I have everything I need here. Sometimes I participate in coworking, but this happens if I need to concentrate on a specific task.
Sacrée Frangine, For this work you have collaborated with Nadezda, who has a very diverse palette of creations, some of which may come close to your work. What did this collaborative work bring you?
Our compositions have a fairly minimalist aesthetic, we usually use large flat tints and simple shapes. This collaboration has brought a new dimension to our universe, new forms, new textures, a new look. We love the collaborative concept, giving birth to a project, a creation or an idea by meeting different influences and different sensitivities. It was a real pleasure to mix our universes and to dress our forms with the pretty Nadezda patterns!
Nadezda, You are an Adobe Stock contributor. According to you what are the creative advantages for an artist to publish his creations on the platform?
I think the idea itself is great opportunity for illustrators, designers, and photographers to sell a license on usage their creative work on large stock platforms. It is ingenious.
And Adobe implements this idea as good as possible. Here, creative guys can realize their ideas and get good income for it. Due to the support of the authors,
competent marketing and attracting buyers, sales are constantly growing. And buyers, in turn, have access to a huge library of quality content.
Adobe has selected the theme of “Handmade Humanism” in the 2020 trends.
The artists seek a natural touch and create an emotionally accessible style distinguished by its simplicity and its artisanal tone.
What do you think it represents? How can this notion get closer to your universe and how does it fit into your art?
Sacrée Frangine :
The new tools have allowed art to be accessible to everyone, we can now create everywhere, faster, easier. But these new techniques have also smoothed creation and creativity. There are more and more styles and universes that are alike.
On the other hand, handmade allows the artist to bring his own sensitivity, his “paw”. This touch naturally allows you to take back control of creation, to move away from this polished mold and to return to simpler emotions.
For our part, we mainly use digital tools to make our works but we like to work with organic shapes and colors, add textures, illustrate subjects that encourage us to take time.
Today, we find great tools that allow us to reconcile these two worlds of traditional handmade and digital, ultimately brought together by the human hand.
Nadezda : I think this trend reflects the global trend of people in the world – the desire to just be yourself, not to seem better, to respect your personality and just love yourself.
Regarding the illustration, I can express myself in uneven lines, imperfect forms, hand drawn textures. It is so lively and truly, openly and emotionally. This style, devoid of idealization, makes it possible to play, fantasize, tell your story.
If you could summarize your work in one sentence, what would it be?
Sacrée Frangine :
It’s an invitation to “sweet life”, to take the time to appreciate the world around us, to give more importance to the simple moments of everyday life.
Nadezda :
This is my multi-colored kind ironic story, which is living in pictures and patterns.
Sacrée Frangine then participated, as a continuation of this project, in the LiveStream organized by Adobe in order to present their work, to speak about their inspirations and to allow internet users to follow a Masterclass around their creation process.
