Keep Dreaming, keep feeling inspired, and love what you love!
Meet Aubrey – popularly known by her alias TSUWMI – a digital illustrator based in Calgary, Alberta whose work mainly focuses on vibrant colors, Japanese culture, kawaii subjects and anime fanart!
She has been into drawing since a very early age. TSUWMI believe that her creativity has always been a huge factor in how people see her and so she always thought that her future held a career in illustrating.
This month we sit with TSUWMI to learn more about her and her art. We hope you will enjoy reading the interview.
Please introduce yourself to our readers.
Hey everyone! My name is Aubrey, but online I go by my alias name tsuwmi! I know the name does look difficult to pronounce, so to help you out, its similar to how you would say tsunami, just without pronouncing the ‘na’ in the middle. I am a digital illustrator based in Calgary, Alberta whose work mainly focuses on vibrant colors, Japanese culture, kawaii subjects and anime fanart!
Tell us about your education.
I’m currently going to school at Alberta University of the Arts majoring in Character Design and Illustration. I’m hoping that one day I can become a successful character designer specializing in the video games industry!
Why did you choose illustration and character design?
My reason actually isn’t that different from my other colleagues in my same major, so apologies for my non-unique answer haha. Ever since I was young, I have always been into drawing, especially drawing my own character designs. Whenever I would watch anime on the tv, or watch my brother play video games, it would always fascinate me how so much artistic design can create such wonderful entertainment. My creativity has always been a huge factor in how people see me, so I always thought that my future held a career in illustrating.
Have you always been a digital illustrator or do you also do illustrations with a pencil?
I would say that majority of my life has been drawing with pencil and paper. It wasn’t until around 2015 when I got introduced to digital drawing, and I have fallen in love with the medium ever since. I also experiment with watercolor, gauche, acrylic, and clay.
How would you describe your illustrations in three words?
Whimsical little doodles.
How do you get inspired?
Since most of my illustrations focus on anime characters and redraws, I think its safe to say that anime has always been a huge inspiration to me. My own drawing style has elements mixed into it that I have picked up from watching anime like Pokemon, or reading manga like Tokyo Mew Mew. I am also inspired by video game design, and character design in film and tv.
What is your process for creating an illustration? Do you start with an idea in mind? Or do you draw something and let it evolve naturally?
I honestly don’t really have a set process that I go through every time I sit down to draw. Sometimes when I am hugely feeling inspired, I will brainstorm and jot down notes of an idea that I have and go straight into drawing it after. But other times I like to just let my mind wonder and doodle out something to bring myself comfort.
What kind of projects have you worked on recently? What was the most challenging? The most rewarding?
I have recently worked on a redraw challenge with a friend of mine. We both took a screenshot from either a tv show or movie and redrew it in our own style. I chose to go with a shot from Howl’s Moving Castle which is one of my favorite Studio Ghibli films. It was quite challenging to find a way to interpret the scene in my own style while keeping the same emotions in the scene. But overall, I am so happy with how the colors, facial expressions, and rendering turned out!
When someone commissions a project from you, what’s the first thing you do? Where do you start?
The first thing that I do when getting a commission is to always ask the client to describe what they want. And not just what they want, but what details they want me to include, what pose of the character or if they want to add specific elements into the background. I think it’s always important to let the client know that their commission is made unique for them, and that I will do everything in my power to make them happy and satisfied with the outcome!
What’s your favorite thing about being an illustrator?
I think my all-time favorite thing is bringing joy to other people that view or even buy my illustrations! It fills me with so much happiness when I see that my work is out there making other people smile and love the things that they love!
What are your plans for the future?
My plans aren’t really set in stone, but I am working towards joining in on more opportunities in the community to really put myself and my art out there! I recently participated in an art show/night market via Raw Artist Canada and I really enjoyed my time chatting to people and selling my work. So I would love to do more stuff like this, such as joining in the Artist Alley for conventions or having my own booth in other art markets!
What is compelling to you about art?
I would say it’s split between my bright color palettes that I use, or how I draw the eyes for my characters. I always found the eyes to be very compelling in my illustrations!
Tell us about your workspace…
I am a huge night owl haha, so I love drawing mostly in the evening. My room is filled with fairy lights, and I have a little acrylic light stand on my desk that cycles through different colors. And when I whip out my ipad to draw on either my desk or bed, it feels calming and somewhat magical to draw in a dark workspace surrounded with tiny lights.
Do you have any traditions or rituals that help you when you get to work?
I think always having a snack and drink beside me when I draw has become a tradition. You know what they: artists never eat or sleep, so I’m here breaking the stereotype (although, I could work on the sleeping part).
Are there any messages you are trying to convey with your art?
No, I wouldn’t say there is any main message for my art, but I just hope that my illustrations can bring people joy and remind them of their favorite characters and why they loved them in the first place!
Your favorite quote?
“Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, but today is a gift. That is why it’s called the present.”
Your message for our readers and your fans.
I don’t think I have any avid fans yet, but to my family, friends, my loving partner, and I guess any fans of mine that are reading, thank you from the bottom of my heart for all your support and kind words! I hope you can continue to follow me on my art journey and potentially see me in any future anime cons or art markets! You can find me on Instagram @tsuwmi. Keep Dreaming, keep feeling inspired, and love what you love!
Your message for us at TorontoPages (TOPS)?
My biggest gratitude to TorontoPages for giving me the opportunity to be in my first ever magazine interview! I will forever be thankful for the chance to spread the art of tsuwmi !!! Thank you so much!
