@franlabuschagne

Instagram: @franlabuschagne Facebook: www.facebook.com/franlabuschagne Bēhance: www.behance.net/FranLabuschagne Dribble: www.dribbble.com/franlabuschagne Bēhance: www.behance.net/FranLabuschagne Website: www.franlabuschagne.com  

1. What's your story? Where are you from?

I’m from South Africa, the most beautiful and diverse country I've ever been to. I’ve always been interested in drawing pictures and feel lucky that I get to do it every day.

2. Tell us about your aesthetic.

My aesthetic could be described as a mix of organic and rigid shapes, with a feminine touch. I like to slip in some colour and humour in too, especially pink, you might notice the pink :)

3. What is your favourite medium and why?

Adobe Illustrator. I am quite the perfectionist, so working with a medium that enables you to align points and object with one another is quite enjoyable for me, the latest version of CC also allows you to play with some organic shapes in quite a great way.

4. What is your artistic process like?

I usually start off with a sketch and once that is approved I dive into the final render on Illustrator. Sometimes I will take the final render into Photoshop for some texturing, but mostly prefer subtle textures to jarring ones. Sketching out an idea first can be very helpful, as you aren’t trying to make it look good, but rather attempting to get the idea out your head.

5. Who and/or what inspires your work?

I usually gain inspiration through thinking about relatable elements in my life, and how those can translate into illustrations. I love food, so most of my self-initiated work is somehow centred around that. The character interaction came later... When I started working as an Illustrator I could barely draw a decent looking human, but I loved how you could make it your own and convey humour through characters. I started illustrating them more often and worked at developing many different ones and eventually found my style through that process.

6. What role does art play in your life? How does it change the way you view the world?

I used to think that people see the world quite similar to how I do, but my husband always says that I see things that other people don’t notice. My work is very detail oriented, and I’ve come to realize that I see small details in the real world. I see patterns on trees, faces on top of mountains, I notice the colours of a seagull’s feet. My work brain and life brain is someone forming one.

7. Where did you study?

I studied Graphic Design with Multimedia & Illustration at the North West University in South Africa, and completed my BA Degree in 2014.

8. Where do you see yourself in five years?

That’s a tough one. I don’t even know where I’ll be by Christmas. I have always loved change, so living in different places and doing different things is something that excites me a lot. Maybe I’ll be working as an illustrator, maybe I’ll be doing something different in a different location, who knows.

9. What about in ten?

I’ll be 35 by then, hopefully, I would have settled down a bit, with my husband by my side of course.

10. What do you hope to achieve with your art?

I like to think of my illustrations as happy and joyful, it’s not necessarily an emotion I aim to convey, but rather something that happens naturally.

11. Now, tell us a little more about you as a person: what is your favourite food?

This is the most difficult question for me. I absolutely adore food, any kind. I think the food I have talked about the most would be waffles with ice cream and caramel.

12. Favourite book?

I have always been very curious about the world and how things work, driving my parents crazy with an endless amount of how and why questions. So when I stumbled upon A Short History of nearly Everything by Bill Bryson, I was hooked from page one. I also like reading classics, and I have to say The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett was such a beautiful read.

13. Favourite genre of music?

There is a different genre for every mood, but I guess the mood I could be found in most of the time calls for 1920’s to 1940’s Café Jazz.

14. What are your hobbies?

Cooking, baking, hiking, reading, gardening, sewing, the list goes on but I’ll stop here.

15. If you weren't an artist, what would you be?

My friend and I always joke about how we want to be apple pickers, out in the sun surrounded by nature. So I’d probably be an Apple Picker.