Q: Originally from [where?] what are some of your favorite things about living and working in [your current locale]?

A:  I’m originally from Southern California, first generation Mexican-American, but I grew up in the Pacific Northwest and call Oregon and Washington my home. I’m currently living in the Midwest. I have a studio in my home that I share with my lovely 5-year-old artist. We usually work side by side—that’s one of my favorite things.

Q: Do you keep a sketchbook?

A: I do keep a sketchbook but it’s also filled with my day-to-day notes, to-do lists, ideas, writing, everything.

Q: What is the balance between art you create on paper [or other analog medium] versus in the computer?

A: I would say currently it’s 60/40 analog/computer work.  I always start analog and compose digitally, although most of my watercolor and acrylic gouache are one-shots. I enjoy starting analog first, it allows me to explore organically.

Q: What is the most important item in your studio?

A: Probably my botany reference books. I have a small collection and it’s my prized possession.

Q: How do you know when the art is finished?

A: This is a hard question and it’s something that I’m still learning to rein in on. I have found that at a certain point I have to take a break and walk away from the artwork and come back to it later with fresh eyes before I can say that something finished.

Q: What was your favorite book as a child?

A: One of my favorite books as a child was Where the Wild Things Are. I was captivated by the illustrations.

Q: What is the best book you’ve recently read?

A: I started reading The Wildwood Chronicles by Colin Meloy and Carson Ellis. Such a beautiful series— not to mention the visuals, they are just stunning.

Q: If you had to choose one medium to work in for an entire year, eliminating all others, what medium would you choose?

A: I would probably choose black ink. You can do a lot with very little, I use it in most of my work.

Q: What elements of daily life exert the most influence on your work practice?

A: Spending time with my daughter. She’s has an amazing sense of color that I try to incorporate into my illustrations. I’ve always been fascinated in how children view the world. She’s naturally confident and she’s an inspiration in a lot of my work. We spend a lot of time drawing or coloring, mostly around nature.

Q: What was the [Thunderbolt] painting or drawing or film or otherwise that most affected your approach to art? 

A: Charley Harper’s work is incredible. I still remember flipping through his books and remember being inspired by his use of textures, colors and overall composition in his works. It’s part of the reason I always start with analog. I want to explore and get to a point where these textures just come naturally to me, even in my digital work.

Q: What was the strangest/most interesting assignment you've taken that has an important impact on your practice, and what changed through the process?

A: My most interesting piece of art happened when I was working at Starbucks. Most of the gift card illustrations I did there furthered my exploration of the range of my illustration and how far I could take my work. I learned a lot from the various projects there but most importantly, from my Siren linocut illustration (below) that turned into a large painting that is hanging inside the Starbucks in Seattle, in Capitol Hill. I not only learned to push myself from the drawing to the linocut and then to the much larger painting itself but also, I had multiple people help me execute that painting, which has had an enormous impact on my process.

Q: What would be your last supper?

A: Breakfast burritos, by far.

Marisol Ortega is a designer, illustrator, and maker originally from the West Coast, currently living in the Midwest with her husband, daughter and kitten. She is a multi-faceted designer, illustrator, pattern maker and letterer. Her fearless use of bright colorways, interesting texture and range of mediums make her work stand out from the rest!
http://www.marisolortega.com/
https://www.instagram.com/marisol.ortega/
https://dribbble.com/MarisolOrtega