Wobby #36 – Courting: Huge dresses, happy drawings and festive people
By Simone Vos
“My drawings already look quite medieval, I guess that’s my style. I draw with pencils on paper; I don’t like the computer that much. So, my illustrations always have a specific feeling, sketchier and with a lot of character”, explains illustrator Arthur Devisscher (BE). Last year he graduated from LUCA School of Arts Ghent and now he is fully focused on drawing and made the cover for Wobby #36. Devisscher and illustrator Malwine Stauss (DE), who did the centrefold/art print, talk about work, inspiration and how to live as an artist.
“The topic ‘Courting’ fits me well” says Malwine Stauss (DE). “Medieval paintings and the Christian religion have influenced my work for a long time now. My illustrations are always kind of flat and 2D, just like medieval paintings. I grew up very Christian, but I’m not that religious anymore. Still, these images influence me and my work a lot”, she states. Stauss is an illustrator and sculptor and graduated in graphic design and illustration (2019) from the Leipzig Hochschule für Grafik und Buchkunst. She explains her inspiration for her contribution to Wobby: “In the centerfold I made for Wobby #36 the medieval theme is brought together with present days. No smartphones or so, but I focussed on the fashion, and the architecture style that reflects on the present.”
Mix of media
Malwine has a specific way of making her illustrations, she tells us. “I mostly work analogue, with watercolour paint and gouache. I’ve always liked to work with these media. I make most of my sculptures with clay and my hands, but I recently started working with 3D sculpting as well. I really like to mix all the media I work with together. They all work with each other”, she says. “I work most of the time on my own work, but also do commissions, so I am an artist as well as an illustrator.”
Art print by Malwine Stauss for Wobby #36
Focus on illustrating
In his work, Arthur focuses one hundred percent on illustrating. “I illustrate as much as I can. I feel a huge drive to draw a lot. When I was in art school it was more open-ended, but now I really feel like I want to make a life out of my work. I work very hard to establish that”, he says. “Sometimes I have a parttime job for a short period of time, but I don’t need that much to live from, so most of the time I can draw. I did an artist-in-residence already and had a couple of exhibitions in galleries. Instagram is also a great way of getting new commissions. Although I mostly work for myself now.”
For Arthur it was the first time that he was asked to make a cover for a magazine. “Normally I start with a small sketch and from there I make my illustrations wider and bigger. Now I had to think about the front and backside and that was quite nice. I had to think about the composition more than I used to do”, he states. “I really liked to draw the dresses with nice designs. Just like I did in my illustration in Wobby #32, I made a stage on which it all happens. It’s a reference to my previous work in fact.”
Collective ‘Squash’
Malwine has already created quite a few illustrations for different magazines and commissions. She even started a collective, ‘Squash’, for comic artists and illustrators. Her motivation was to work with other people and to discuss her work with other artists. She explains: “In 2018 I began this collective with two friends of mine, when we were still in art school. We wanted to do something fun, and we didn’t think there was so much going on at that time at the art school where we studied. So, we started to organize exhibitions and made some magazines together”.
“It’s so great to talk to each other about your work. When you draw you’re doing a lot alone, and that happens quickly. That why this collective is so great. Discussing your work with other people is good. In the last few years the Squash collective has organized the Snail Eye comic festival in Leipzig, which was also very nice. Now we are making more time to make books and magazines again. We’re also attending fairs and festivals again. It takes a lot of effort, but we all work very hard, and we get some funding from the local government. For me it’s really great, a space to discuss your work with different artists.”
Wobby #36 – Courting and the art print by Malwine Stauss are our now available in our webshop.