Clare Sansome: In Bloom to a Better Man
Clare Sansome, digital artist, gives TNE a glimpse into her process and the figures who inspire her work. For more insight into her latest collection; In Bloom to a Better Man, stay tuned for the November magazine.
On discovering digital art.
I’ve always been an ' artist’, I was always the kid with a pen in my hand and ink on every inch surrounding me. The seemingly endless stacks of notebooks I have filled with pen markings through the years. So the art has always been there inside me, but I started working digitally when I was 16 because I started a digital media course at college and that was my first real access to equipment like a graphics tablet and photoshop which I never could afford at home. There were 2 years of my life at college where there was not a single day (no exaggeration) that I did not use them, so that's what led me to where I am now.
On her earliest pieces.
I feel nothing but affection for them, they are what led me to where I am now and I still stay true to the style I started. They still inspire my late creations.
On her inspirations.
Without sounding sloppy, it really just is what I feel. I guess I'm very stimulated by the world around me and I try to pull beauty from anywhere. Art itself by other content creators are also huge at driving me to create art, I see, hear or read something and suddenly I want to create something. My friends and people inspire me incredibly too. I would also say that visually, I'm very inspired by colour and contrast.
On her audience.
It really depends on what I am trying to achieve with the piece, because I have collections that are often based around a theme which is often on a social topic and then the drawings will reflect that, but sometimes I like to just create something cool to look at.
On her future aspirations.
A lot of my work is based on commissions, almost always including portraits because I capture people and turn them into my stylised characters. There is nothing better to me than capturing the best essences of people and making them smile so I guess my aspirations short term are to continue bettering and refining my style and making content wherever I can and continuing to receive commissions, but a long term dream of mine is to be a part of a graphic novel or animation.
