ABOUT ANE ARZELUS
Ane Arzelus was born and raised in Donostia’s beautiful coastal city, between the sea and the mountains of the Basque northern Spanish region.
As she had always been drawing and filling sketchbooks since her childhood, she realized – while applying to psychology in high school – how also drawing would upon all be her academic interest.
Having completed her degree in Creative Design and her Master’s Degree in Editorial Illustration, and after working part-time for some design agencies, Ane Arzelus is today a full-time freelance illustrator. As she initially got a job as a graphic designer for communication, Ane believes this influenced her perception of illustration that today characterizes her artworks with tools of visual communication to disrupt language barriers.
“I mostly focus on conceptual illustrations, to communicate an idea in a witty, simple, and clear way,” she tells us. Ane works mostly digitally for its versatility and reproducible results, and her artworks are usually vector shapes textured in PhotoShop.
STYLE AND TECHNIQUE
Driven by the need for communicating, illustration to Ane Arzelus is a vehicle to express ideas both is fun and efficient ways. “Be it a cause I believe in, a message I wanna send, my discomfort or happiness, or the values of the client I am executing, this is what mostly pushes me to make art.”
Ane still doesn’t define her style as a set one but full of dissonances. However, she would recognize how her method of expressing conceptual messages with shape, flat colors, and digitally manipulated textures has always been a coherent technique to her.
Despite being filled with geometric forms, her pieces still carry an impressive depth given by the sharp storytelling of the ideas she wills to divulge.
Her artworks are vibrant and joyful, with a hint of retro yet contemporary style, a bold combination to depict both commercial or conceptual ideas.
MORE ABOUT ANE ARZELUS
Ane is a big fan of Spanish photographer Chema Madoz and illustrator Eva Vazquez, both for their creative conceptual approach. She could also list many other sources of inspiration such as Javier Jaen, Victor Ngai, Yuko Shimizu to make us notice how Ane is always researching the contemporary creative field to enrich her visual language.
Besides art, Ane Arzelus finds inspiration from the beauty around her to look for new color palettes, combinations and shapes through everyday objects or buildings. But, she points out how nature is above all her primary source of inspiration.
Ane wishes for people to relate to her work with that hint of surprise typical of when facing something sharp and witty. “I would love for them to understand what I’m saying and consider my artworks engaging and thoughtful.”
Ane just published her first illustrated book last year and is currently working on her second one. “It’s been a beautiful project on a complicated topic, and I am very proud of the work we produced,” she says. She is getting ready and very excited to publish her first fanzine too.
In January 2020, Ane left her part-time job in a design agency to become a full-time freelance designer in March. This was just before Spain, her home country, was facing one of the strongest lockdowns for the Covid-19, which thing filled her with feelings of concern and hope. But today, Ane is positive about divulging her works online, as she sees herself producing more illustration projects to reach a reasonable professional level.
Go here to discover more about Ane Arzelus’ illustrations or follow her on Instagram.
