Tigra Tigra Hand-Embroidered Dress (2019)
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Isabelle Feliu: The Language of Escape
We present the intimate collection of paintings by Isabelle Feliu, a Honduran-Québécois illustrator based in Oslo, Norway.
Ms. Feliu, welcome to The Baram House! Please give our readers a short introduction.
Thank you! I am an illustrator from Québec city currently living in Oslo. I studied fashion in Montréal, but ended up working as an illustrator when I moved to Oslo almost five years ago. My work mainly revolves around my inner feelings and wishes, animals, nature, travels, interior design and many other things.
Always Gentle (2018)
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Tell us a little bit about your painting journey. When did you start illustrating and what pushed or allowed you to continue the passion up until this point?
I always liked to draw, but I started thinking about doing it professionally when I first moved to Oslo. Back then, it was impossible for me to find a job here due to the language barrier and lack of fashion positions. I had a lot of free time and I just started painting every day, sometimes showing my work on social media. Eventually, I started getting some clients and selling prints on Society6.
We have seen that you have a strong preference for gouache. If there is a specific advantage that gouache has over other mediums (e.g. acrylics, oil, pastels), what would it be?
These days I mostly use acryla-gouache from Holbein—I like how opaque it is and the texture of it when it dries. I love to create details and gradients with it, I find it more instinctive than with other acrylics or gouache. It is also great to be able to thin it with water and use it as watercolor. It is a very versatile medium.
You often add on layers of color rather than mixing the color directly from scratch—for instance, you would layer on a red and then a blue, instead of mixing a purple. Is there a particular reason you prefer this method?
I actually mostly mix my colors from scratch, but I like layering colors to create textures or in some cases when I am not satisfied with the initial color, to change it completely or alter it.
We feel a heavy moodiness from your illustrations. Where do you usually find your inspiration?
These days, most of my inspirations come from my inner moods or feelings. They mostly revolve around the fact that I am an introvert, my ambitions and desires of escape.
What is your process behind creating the color palette for each illustration?
It is always different, sometimes I don’t plan at all and just figure it out as I go. I often like to find some pictures that have an inspiring color palette to guide me. Other times, I get an idea of a color contrast that I like out of nowhere, and I try to note it and find the colors on my iPad before I forget about it.
Kiss on the Cheeks (2018)
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You recently began illustrating on an iPad. In your opinion, what are the pros and cons of digital illustrations?
I don’t really make final illustrations with my iPad, I mostly use it for sketches. Before, I used a lot of paper that I ended up throwing away. It is also practical not to carry too much material around, and some apps have interesting tools that I love to sketch with, like the symmetry tool in Procreate. I prefer to make final pieces with traditional media though, because it is just such a pleasure for me! It really relaxes me and, to be honest, it feels like it is the only thing nowadays that I don’t do on a computer. I never manage to finish a digital illustration because the possibilities are infinite—I get lost in a sea of layers, so I always start again until it is perfect, but it never is! It is so easy to erase that I can never accept my mistakes or work around them. It drives me crazy.
Pursuing a career in art is difficult and can often be disappointing. What advice do you have for young artists who are just starting out in the business?
What worked best for me was to stop listening to the advice of others. There is no traced path in how to work as an illustrator, and this is great; it is time to do things your way. People will tell you to go to art school, to get an agent, to do a certain type of projects—which are all great things that can be amazing experiences for some people, but you don’t need to do them. My advice would be to listen to yourself, to learn to say no, to be curious, and to experiment. Finally, there is something that is very hard, but that has been important to me: try not to be too afraid of risk, change, and instability.
What are your long-term artistic goals?
My only wish is to develop my style further and be able to live from my illustrations all my life, I would be satisfied with that.
Morning (2018)
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Isabelle Feliu is an illustrator from Québec city who is currently based in Oslo. She studied fashion design and merchandising in Montréal and started working as an illustrator when she first moved to Norway five years ago. Although she started as a fashion illustrator, her recent work is focused on personal thoughts and moods as well as interiors, travels, nature, and animals. She mainly uses gouache on paper, ink, and collages, but loves to explore different mediums. You can follow her art on Instagram (@isabellefeliu) and on her website.