Chit-Chatting with Ivana
“Art is a form of communicating with the world. I am here to tell something.” From drawing on the margins of her bullet journals to making beautiful illustrations with watercolors and gouache, Ivana is deeply committed to her creative journey! Discover how she celebrates nature, childhood, and her favorite cities in her art in this interview! ♡
Who is Ivana?
I am Ivana Poljičanin, a Croatian teacher, and lover of traveling the world, fine arts, literature, music, and cinema. I have spent the past few years living and teaching in Spain and England, but in 2021 I came back to the south of Croatia to enjoy slow living and to have enough spare time to draw and write!
How did you get started in the art world?
Art has always been a part of my identity, therefore I decided to study Art History - alongside Croatian Language and Literature. Learning about the theory of art and admiring the works of great masters has inspired me to start doodling and playing with ideas, composition, and colors. At first, I drew mostly on the margins of my bullet journal with markers, but about a year ago I fell in love with watercolors and gouache.
Your illustrations are full of bright colors, nature, magic… Where do you get your inspiration from?
It’s so nice that you’re mentioning the bright colors…! Light has a very positive effect on me, and I am always kind of chasing it either while editing a photograph or while drawing. There is nothing more calming than being in nature on a sunny day, walking by the sea or in the forest, and observing leaves and flowers. Also, as I mentioned, I’m a teacher and work with children and have always been fond of children’s picture books and that “carefree” part of our lives. All of that inspired me to create a series of illustrations connecting children with animals and nature.
How would you describe/outline your creative process? What are the major steps you take when completing an illustration?
It’s very spontaneous! If I have an idea, I feel the urge to start working on it as soon as I can. Then I put some music on, I think about the composition, texture and colours and draw the sketch with a pencil. In most cases, I use a fine liner to outline what I drew with the pencil and then erase the pencil, but sometimes I draw only using the brush. I am a big fan of Japanese Kuretake Gansai Tambi watercolours, which are slightly different from the western ones. Their texture is somewhat between watercolours and gouache. The last step, after finishing the piece with watercolours, is adding extra details with a fine liner, white gel pen or coloured pencils.
And what about your bullet journal… is it a celebration of the places you’ve been to or wish to visit?
Celebration… that is a beautiful word to describe what I aspire to do with my bullet journal this year! It is a celebration both of the places I’ve been to and the ones I still wait to discover. Most importantly, it is a place for keeping my colourful memories and monochrome to-do lists. I have decided to choose a different city to represent each month during the year 2021 and celebrate travelling and exploring. In the end, it will become a travel journal, an art journal and a planner all in one.
What cities have inspired you the most and why?
When I travel to another country, I am most alive. Exploring the unknown, learning about different cultures and languages, observing the architecture and nature, meeting people, and trying local food is what inspires me and puts me in that creative mood. The places that influenced me most are the ones where I spent the most time in the last few years. When I moved to Valencia, I knew that I wanted to immerse myself in Spanish culture. Later I changed jobs and moved to Cambridge, UK, only to discover how much I needed that multicultural setting and speaking in English. The latter one I consider my second home and is also a place where I started drawing more and making collages.
What does creating art mean to you? How does it make you feel?
Switching off from the world and entering a peaceful place of music, colors, paper, and ideas is how I distract and express myself. Art is always a form of communication with the world. I am here to tell something. It makes me happy and fulfilled when I get positive reactions and when it reaches people.
What advice would you give to someone starting a creative journey?
Whatever form of art you would like to create, just start. When you start doing it, then try to do it as often as you can. Draw at least a few lines, but do it every day and be consistent and persistent. Then explore. The most important thing is that you enjoy the process. Think of the creative things you liked to do in the past but you don’t do anymore because life got in the way. It helped me to think about my childhood and what I was like when I had no worries.
Where can we see your work?
At the moment you can see my work on my Instagram account, but stay in touch with me if you would like to keep an eye on some new things that might come in the future!
