Interview with Tiina Menzel

We asked Tiina some questions...

Tina is a Germany-based artist best known for her unique drawings of skeletons and their cute cat pets. You can find her here @therese_nothing.

• How would you define your style?

Dark. Sometimes cute. Very neat with an emphasis on the outlines.

• What’s your favorite technique?

My favourite technique is drawing with fineliners. I love the scritching sound while drawing with fineliners and the feel and smell of textured paper. But I also draw on an iPad, for example when I add colours. It's just so handy because I can undo or change colours as often as I want until I like them.

• Who or what is your biggest inspiration/s?

My grandfather had a large collection of comic books and let me read them (even when I was a toddler and ruined them in the process of looking at them). I think those old comic books were my biggest inspiration and I think you can see that in my line art... I still love reading comic books :)

• How did it all start?

I can't remember a time when I haven't been drawing. I didn't go to art school, I just drew for myself for a long time. Then a friend suggested I should show my work on social media and to my surprise, many liked it and asked for prints and stickers. I started with only a few prints and when I had sold them, I was able to buy more prints and also stickers and so on. Today I can make a living from my art and I feel very lucky.

• Do you have a tip for those who are starting out?

It may sound boring but practise is important. Practise as often as possible. Draw what makes you happy. Don't draw for others. Draw for others if it makes you happy. Try different styles. Stick to one style if it makes you happy. Look at art a lot. Don't compare yourself to others if it makes you feel sad. Compare yourself to others if it motivates you. Use reference for drawing but don't copy other artists. And if there is a day when nothing works at all, take a break. Do what makes you feel ok.

• Favorite app/program?

My favourite app is Procreate for iPads. It's so easy to use and it's great because I can take my iPad with me everywhere.