This week we had the wonderful pleasure of interviewing Sandra Becker Borrée aka @finelittlepaper as our artist spotlight of the week.
Hello! Please can you give us a brief little introduction about yourself?
Hi dear folks, I’m Sandra and I live in a cozy town near Hamburg, Germany, together with my three amazing girls, our old doglady and my beloved husband. I love to be with them, it doesn’t need much more to make me happy! But travelling, cooking, playling music, being outside, books and movies, theatre, my friends and chocolate aren’t to be despised of course. As you could guess, I have always been creative in some way since I was a child. I always wanted to be an artist or illustrator, but I was too afraid to go that uncertain artist way, and so I decided to study graphic design. Fortunately, that was much fun, too. And I never regretted my decision. But with becoming a mum (it’s unbelievable 20 years ago!), my real passion came back to life. I started to draw everything for them: nursery images, inviting cards, playing cards, coloring pages - the whole range. After a while, I founded a little online business, where I sell this stuff. And more and more I’m working as an illustrator for clients.
What inspires you?
My girls, the way they see the world, their thoughts are always a big inspiration for me. But a book, an encounter, a few picked up words in a cafe, a walk through the streets, a song can inspire me, too. Everything is inspiring if you allow it to be, isn’t it? Discover new artists and their amazing work in a museum or on Instagram influences me as well.
What is your favourite thing to draw?
I love to draw elephants, mice and letters. Actually I like to draw everything, as soon as I learn how to draw it.
What art goals do you have for this year?
I will finally develop my website and my portfolio and I wish to be courageous enough to send my stuff to agencies and publishers. Practice drawing environments for my little characters and learn to be more confident with colours are on the top of my to-do-list, too. I also want to draw a new big canvas painting for our living room.
What techniques/supplies do you use?
I love art supplies so much: brushes, lovely paint tubes, paper, crayons! Oh, I could buy them all and I have a lot of this stuff at home. But actually, I mostly use printer paper, a pencil, a fineliner, and mostly my beloved iPad! I've used it for three years approximately. I have saved tons of paper and lots of time! It offers so many opportunities, it’s really great! If you think about buying one - I can totally recommend it!
What advice would you give to another doodler/artist?
Guess what? Draw, draw, draw and have fun. Preferably every day! And if you love, what you do and practice a lot, you will get better and better. Also, I highly recommend the MakeArtThatSells classes. The courses are really challenging and I learn a lot each time I join. It’s very inspiring to meet other artists, and very motivating, how everyone supports each other. I love it!
Learn more about Sandra Becker Borrée by visiting them at:
hopefully soon: sandrabeckerborree.de 😉
