Artist Spotlight: Nicole Medina

A recent graduate from the University of the Arts in Philly, Nicole Medina is one of the sweetest people we have had the pleasure of working with. This summer, we asked Nicole to create original artwork for Tempesta’s five main projects in our 2018-2019 Concert Series and she created something very special.  Aside from her incredible talent, she’s a force to be reckoned with and we are very excited to share a little bit about her story.

Growing up, how did you become interested in the arts and when did you decide you wanted to be an artist?

Growing up, art was my security blanket. I always carried with me a bag with paper and crayons and my mom would sit me down and I would draw for hours. As I got older, I always knew I wanted to do art, not sure exactly what but I knew I had to be involved with art. There was no question about it. Also, I feel very lucky because my high school art teachers were very encouraging and pushed me to always do my best work. Both my mom and grandmother were seamstresses and I grew up surrounded by all of their textiles. Early on I noticed the colors and patterns in these fabrics, which in turn allowed me to notice the colors schemes and textures on TV, in books, everywhere. I’ve also always been inspired by art history and older artworks, such as those from Baroque and Rococo periods, and the attention to detail in these works have had a lot of influence in my own art.

How did your journey into illustration begin and where has it taken you now that you are out of school?

I had no idea what illustration really was, I mean, I knew the term but I thought it was mostly children’s books. I always wanted to do posters and in high school, we did that, but I thought it was graphic design. It wasn’t until I was looking at colleges that I realized graphic design is more digital and I like holding a brush, I like painting, I like all of these other hands-on things. And then, when I came to UArts and they introduced to us all of the visual arts majors, I realized illustration is what I really want to do. You can do posters, artwork for blogs, editorial and book covers, children’s books, so many other things. I was kind of doing all that through high school but I didn’t know the name for it. So when I found Illustration, it was great because it had a title, it had a destination that I was excited about.

Saying you’re an artist is a great, but it has a lot of things attached to it. People ask how you’re going to make money and the whole “starving artist” idea comes up. But I always felt confident that— because I put a lot of care and attention into my artwork—that I would find a way to make it work.

Yeah, people don’t realize that everything around us was designed by someone.

I know, for sure! A lot of people I talk to, they don’t know that packaging can be an illustrator’s job, not just a graphic designer’s. Illustration is in everything, like packaging, advertising, book covers, editorial, etc.

Where do you see this taking you?

I recently graduated and it’s very scary and exciting. Art-wise, I feel a little more liberated in my work. I feel like I can finish more pieces now. I definitely want to start off in certain markets but I have always wanted to do a little bit of everything. As I mentioned before, I’d really like to get into packaging, notebook covers, and fabric design, all of those things. I don’t know where it’s taking me, to be completely honest. I guess currently I’m really inspired by editorial work. I want my art to get more political and I feel like editorial is the way to do it. I follow a lot of artists on social media that are doing a great job at saying what they need to say through their work. I’m starting to do it but I definitely want to get more into it.

What is your process like? Particularly for the work you did for Tempesta.

When you met me at Portfolio Day, I was so nervous. When I was younger, I used to draw lyrics for my favorite songs, but that was the only connection I had between art and music. So when you reached out to me I was so excited.

For Tempesta’s pieces, the time period and the music really inspired me. I love that time between the 13^th and 18^th century of art in general. It was easy to be inspired by the chandeliers, textures and different elements from the baroque period. For each concert, I created an image based on the specific stories in and around the music which you had shared with me. Messiah was difficult because I didn’t want to be cliché; same with Paris Quartets. So I had to find other ways to bring the point across, like picking a periwinkle blue color that I think screams French without it being too obvious.

I’m also definitely inspired by patterns and to come up with images I write down all the words I can think of that relate to the topic. Once ideas start flowing, I begin sketching, which eventually translate to a final composition. I currently use a mix of digital and painting techniques to create textures and contrast, not just in color but also of patterns. It’s awesome, because you can now buy all these brushes to work digitally. I like to have the option of doing both but there’s still nothing better than painting your own textures! I usually start with watercolor or gouache and then I scan it and edit it digitally.

You speak a lot through your illustrations about your cultural identity as an immigrant. How has this affected your work?

That actually started kind of recently, my senior year, in fact. It’s when I felt comfortable to talk about it and make art about it. It’s very liberating but I also want to do more. I struggled a little bit with my culture because I was born here in the US, but I was raised for a short period in Venezuela and my family is from there. I always felt the need to be American since I was born here, but my parents raised me the way they were raised, which is the Venezuelan way. So I’m working on finding that balance to merge the two. I get inspired by other people’s stories like Javier Zamora’s “Let Me Try Again” poem, which I illustrated a few months back.

Do you think your heritage has also influenced the way you create your work? For example, your color palette is very bright!

Oh absolutely! I’ve been intentionally using a lot of yellow, blue and red in my work, and people are like “oh it’s primary colors” but they are also the colors of the Venezuelan flag and I’ve been very conscious about using those colors. It’s a way to bring in a little bit of my culture without being too loud. I only lived in Venezuela for a bit when I was little, but I remember it being very bright and sunny, full of plants and animals, which is reflected in my color schemes. And of course, being influenced by fabric patterns, I look at a lot of South American and Mexican patterns. They are very bright and very bold, and I love having contrast in my work.

Are there any exciting projects on the horizon?

Right now I’m working on a book cover for a friend and more personal work to add to my website. I’m trying to build a bigger portfolio and I would really like to work on some editorial projects. Trying to improve and get my hands into different areas, so we will see where that takes me!

To learn more about Nicole’s artwork, check out www.bynicolemedina.com