Artist Profile: Emmy Cicierega

When looking the art of Emmy Cicierega (Sis-er-ee-gah), one can never think of anything less than liveliness and joy. Also, know as b1ndi on dA, Emmy’s art can be characterized by a mixture of everything that was ever fun about being a kid. Currently 18 years old, she resides in Kingston Massachusetts where’s she lived her whole life and been home schooled since an early age. She also has three siblings: Leah (28), Neil (21), and Ben (14), and if you were ever wondering her last name is Lithuanian. (However, she does describe her family as being a family of ‘mutts’ with a passed on Lithuanian name). If anything, there’s no doubt that Emmy’s work is something to watch out for the in the future. Who knows? You may see her work on TV someday.




Rococo Flow: So how long have you been drawing? What was it that initially got you interested?

Emmy: I've been drawing since 10 and started getting really obsessed with it around 12 or 13. My Dad bought me a VHS of The Lion King and when I saw it, I flipped out. I decided that animation was the coolest idea ever and that I had to be a part of it. I would watch animated movies repeatedly and freeze the frames and go back and forth just mesmerized! Haha.

Rococo Flow: *Laughs* Who or what would you cite as influences as you've progressed over the years?

Emmy: I spend a good amount of time browsing deviantART every day, just going over all the different kinds of artists. There are hundreds of talented folks I admire there. Artists that stick out by name, though, well let’s see. Recently I got into Alphonse Mucha's stuff and Allesandro Barbucci’s work is pretty awesome. Hayao Miyazaki is always a favorite!

Rococo Flow: Of your peers, who would you single out as being one of the most innovative with their art?

Emmy: Hmm well you just gotta love Loish's stuff. She draws beautiful girls who have strong jaws and other strong features but still turn out just gorgeous. She uses colors I’d never think of using!

Rococo Flow: I have to agree, her use of colors and composition is amazing. How would you describe your own style?

Emmy: Uhh. Disney on vacation in Japan, attending a fashion show set to French jazz. I have no idea how to describe my art. Hahah, Cats. Lots of cats!

Rococo Flow: Haha. How do you get ideas for your drawings?

Emmy: Music! I love picturing what goes along to music and then drawing it. Music can really help me put a personality to a character. It's fabulous.

Rococo Flow: So is it any genre of music in particular or can it be anything?

Emmy: I love all kinds of music, mostly happy stuff. I'm big on Japanese Pop lately, but I also love sassy French stuff and some Norwegian punk, and you gotta love American geek rock! But yeah, foreign music is awesome to me because you get to apply your own meanings to the lyrics and still enjoy vocals.

Rococo Flow: What programs do you typically use for your work?

Emmy: Photoshop CS2! I practically live in Photoshop. Haha.

Rococo Flow: How about traditional media?

Emmy: I've always wanted to test the waters with that but it’s dang intimidating! No undo button! I do sketch with pencils a lot though. I plan on exploring watercolors at some point this year.

Rococo Flow: Could you go into detail about the process you have for creating a picture?

Emmy: It's pretty basic. Sketch, inks, flats, shading. Sometimes I’ll mix it up and do sketch, flats, shading (no outlines, ooh!). I'm trying to get more into digital painting lately though, which requires a higher resolution and lots of patience for fiddly details. It's slow going, Haha.

Rococo Flow: Ah I agree, I used to look for a lot of painting tutorials and watch event files and it definitely takes some patience, but the results can be quite beautiful.

Emmy: Yeah. Watching videos of people paint is the worst, because they make it look so easy! It never is! Hahaha

Rococo Flow: Not to mention it’s sped up.

Emmy: Yeah.


Rococo Flow: What's your favorite kind of work environment besides having music to listen to?

Emmy: A good chair, my tablet and a computer is all I need, really. And snacks, SO MANY SNACKS.

Rococo Flow: With the majority of your work, are you ever trying to portray any kind of message?

Emmy: I guess a reoccurring theme in my art could be "Happiness is chic" or "Adventure is just around the corner". I like my art to feel like it's playful and carefree, hopefully people pick up on that.

Rococo Flow: Looking back at your past works, what improvements and changes are you proud of?

Emmy: I think I am better at anatomy (hopefully, haha) and I'm quite pleased with how my taste for colors has developed. (I used to be the kid who would draw cats in rainbow colors with polka dots)

Rococo Flow: Haha... do you have any original stories you're working on or projects in general?

Emmy: Well I've always got stories in my head that I develop just to entertain myself, but I've been working on making them more public. It's hard, seeing as I'm a terrible writer. I've got no solidified projects planned, but there are always at least a hundred IDEAS for projects in the back of my head.

Rococo Flow: If you ever had the opportunity, are there any artists you would love to work with?

Emmy: On a large scale, I'd LOVE to work with a team of artists on some sort of amazing project like a movie or something. On a more personal scale, there are too many people to list by name! One on one collaborations are really fun, though, if you're working with someone with a similar taste in art and style as you, or even a complete opposite style!

Rococo Flow: Since you seem to have a love for animation, do you have any particular thoughts on the industry?

Emmy: The industry needs to bring 2D back with a classy comeback. Studios should focus more on a good story, and less on what would entertain an obnoxious child for an hour. Pixar is really good at making good stories, and I wish they would branch out into 2D!

Rococo Flow: Cannot agree enough!! I hate how people are sort of dismissing 2D when in reality a good story is what's necessary for a solid foundation regardless of if it's in 2D or 3D. However, I'm curious to see how the Rapuzel movie by Disney will turn out

Emmy: Exactly. Yeah, Disney is trying to get back in the game, it's been shaky, but I’m still reserving judgment.

Rococo Flow: Yeah, I'm crossing my fingers. Haha, I really do want them to succeed.

Emmy: Me too :-)

Rococo Flow: So what are your future aspirations? Where do you see yourself 10 years from now?

Emmy: I see myself with a robotic left arm that can shoot lasers and brew coffee. Honestly, though, I see myself involved with a movie somehow! Storyboarding or character design sound pretty cool to me. I'd like to be involved in both animation and live action

Rococo Flow: What are some of your interests besides drawing?

Emmy: Film, comedy, traveling, writing, photography, fashion!

Rococo Flow: If you could be any character from a video game, movie, or novel, etc. who would it be?

Emmy: Tough one! Let's see, Kiki, from Kiki's Delivery Service. I identify with her a lot. I'd also like to be Hermione from Harry Potter, I suppose. I think it would be loads of fun to be any sort of Disney Princess, especially if you get to sing all the time. But mostly I want to be Voldemort. Yeah.

Rococo Flow: Give a list of your top 5 favorite movies and your top 5 favorite songs.

Emmy: Hahaha. No fair, they're always changing! Uh let’s see. Right now some favorite movies of mine are Stardust, Spirited Away, Mirror Mask, The Incredibles, and Singing in the Rain.

Favorite songs: Lets see, ‘Kimi Ga Suki’ by Ram Rider, ‘Dancing with Myself’ by Nouvelle Vague, ‘That’s How You Know’ from the Enchanted soundtrack, ‘So You Say’ by The Bird and the Bee and ‘Somewhere Beyond The Sea’ by Frank Sinatra!

Rococo Flow: Nice =). Now you have singing ‘That’s How You Know’. *Laughs*

Emmy: Haha yeah, that song is addictive!

Rococo Flow: Do you have any advice for any other aspiring artists?



Emmy: A big problem I run into regarding young artists is subject obsession. They learn how to draw like, say, wolves, and that’s ALL they draw in like one style. That’s no good! I'm not saying to stop drawing wolves, I'm saying draw wolves in more styles and draw humans and trees and all kinds of things, don't limit yourself at all when it comes to art, ever! But don't cut back on what you love to draw either!





To see more work by Emmy check out the following links:

http://www.emmyc.com
b1nd1@dA – deviantartART account

You can also contact Emmy at emmybindi[at]yahoo.com