Aneta Bobryk speaks to Petra Stefankova

The original language of this article is English.

What is your story?

For 20 years I have been a digital artist. My characters have been funky and simple. I started as a vector graphic designer and illustrator designing posters, logos and brochures. Later on, I worked on magazine editorial and advertising illustration commissions for clients in Italy, the UK and the USA.

Petra published her works in Bruxelles Art Vue Human Body is Art 2021 and Limitless Nature 2021 editions.

In the meantime, I was exploring automatic drawing as a technique for relaxation. They were just doodles to me, nothing much. I usually sketched on small sheets of paper, then larger and larger ones. My work was very abstract with some characters, heads, eyes and other figurative elements in it. So for the higher aesthetics purpose, I created 3D computer models of these drawings and suddenly became quite well-known for this type of work. It was more than 10 years ago.

Another stage was pure line work with black markers. These were just strange and funny characters connected by a single line all over the artwork. I used the style in a children’s book too and led a few workshops with kids thanks to the simplicity.

After many years of doing creative artwork, I started to explore acrylic painting. It was not an easy process, I tested out gouache, oils, watercolors too. Finally, I arrived at a stage, when my art feels ready for people to appreciate it more and more. And it actually works!

When did you realized art its part of you?

Art is always part of my life – by day or night.

How your career unfolded?

I studied graphic design, film and TV graphics in Bratislava and Prague, then started to focus more on illustration and digital art. My previous clients include HR Magazine, Popular Mechanics, Future Music, Computer Arts, The Economist, The Guardian, Petplan magazine, Orange, Microsoft Games Studios and others. As a designer, I also collaborated on an animated title sequence for the Hollywood film Nanny McPhee 2 with London based Voodoodog Animation studio. My work has been published in books, and exhibited all around the world.

When do you feel most connected with Universe?

Sometimes I meditate by the computer browsing the internet and imagine fantastic events to happen in my professional life. Later they tend to materialize in reality. Two examples – I always dreamed of being presented on national television news and there you go, I was interviewed for the main TV news a few months ago. I also wished hard to have the opportunity to be published by the Guardian newspaper in the UK, and I was given a chance by the art director in 2018.

How your work comments on current social or political issues?

As an illustrator, I usually respond to a variety of briefs created by writers and art directors. Some of my illustrations were created around environmental themes. I even wrote and illustrated a children’s book about a boy who saved a sea whale. I don’t illustrate or comment on politics, but I am interested in the position of women in society and give them major credit in my fine art too. I wrote more about my visual art response to global issues in my article on the blog of the Royal Society of Arts in London.

What is something that no one or very few people know about you?

When I was very young, I trained karate, I was a tennis player and I also played the piano.

What is your life’s big question?

I invested a lot of energy into my artistic development and freelance career, so the biggest question is always my life stability. I have a strong vision of being a full-time artist and follow my dreams.

So is an artist a dreamer or a tough figure with a fragile soul? Is art a better part of the artist’s soul and acts as a guide for the crowd?
I hope that our artist Petra led you to the answer with her interview and works.

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Visit Petra’s website: https://www.petrastefankova.com/

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Remember to visit Bruxelles Art Vue Expo 18 – 31 October 2021!