German artist Jana Heidersdorf is famous for her dark surrealist paintings depicting various fantastic creatures. She is young, but unlike many other modern artists, she prefers to work the old-fashioned way - with a pencil, paper, paints and canvas, rather than chasing after newfangled digital illustrations. We will talk about the life and work of this extraordinary girl in this article.
Illustration for Bracken Magazine. Source: janaheidersdorf.com
Clutch. Source: janaheidersdorf.com
According to Yana, all children start drawing, but most of them usually stop at a couple of unsightly drawings, quickly finding something more interesting to do - all sorts of games and cartoons. But in her case it was different: she drew illustrations on Harry Potter, then comics for school friends, and when she grew up, began to put their creations on the network. The public received them with delight, although they were still “very childish”. At the age of 14, Yana seriously considered drawing comics on a professional level, but when she entered art school, she became somewhat disappointed in them and switched to fantasy illustration, with a good share of surrealism.
Inner Demons. Source: janaheidersdorf.com
SHIVER. Source: janaheidersdorf.com
Flame Unhurried (Ghosts). Source: janaheidersdorf.com
In her opinion, fantasy and surrealism have much in common: in both cases, the main thing is the rich imagination of the artist himself, the ability to look beyond the subconscious, to depict what cannot exist in real life. This is difficult and attractive at the same time - any artist who has the necessary technique can draw an ordinary landscape or portrait, but to depict unusual and outlandish worlds and creatures in such a way that you can believe in them is only available to a truly creative person, somewhat "out of this world."
Cover for the novel "All That Remains". Source: janaheidersdorf.com
A Window in Time. Source: janaheidersdorf.com
When Yana graduated from art school, she painted a series of works based on the Brothers Grimm fairy tale "The Seven Ravens". It was not without reference to Leonardo da Vinci's classic painting "The Last Supper", but the drawing is still original and quite interesting, albeit gloomy.
Seven Ravens. Source: janaheidersdorf.com
The Cherry Thief. Source: janaheidersdorf.com
Wren Hunting. Source: janaheidersdorf.com
And Yana found herself in book illustration, for example, she created the cover and interior illustrations for the novel "Sleeping Beauties" by the famous Stephen King. That is, she immediately began to play in the "major league" and quickly outgrew the level of ordinary online freelancing.
Cover of the book “Sleeping Beauties”. Source: janaheidersdorf.com
She says that now, gradually, more and more drawn movie posters have started to appear, as they did in the 1950s–1980s, and she would like to try her hand at this genre, since many expensive fantasy blockbusters are being made now. It is nice when millions of people see your work, it inspires you, you feel that your work is not in vain. Nowadays, it is not enough for an artist to just study painting, he must be aware of the affairs of the entire world culture.
Mermaid. Source: janaheidersdorf.com
I live in a rose garden. Source: janaheidersdorf.com
Make a devil out of me. Source: janaheidersdorf.com
"I love cinema, and thanks to it I learned how to create dark fantasy worlds, the standard for which I consider the works of Guillermo del Toro and Neil Gaiman. Fellini suggested how to build a composition and set the general atmosphere in paintings, and books are as necessary for an illustrator as air. They help develop the imagination that some readers lack, and we, illustrators, try to clearly imagine how literary heroes and characters described in books might look."
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