Stephanie Unger
When Unger was younger she began drawing with her older sister who was also creative at the time. They used to watch films together and make their own versions of the characters they saw as well as designing their own comic books. She creates portraits and anything from everyday life that inspires her ALWAYS using vivid colours whether its in her sketchbooks or the final designs.
“Using vibrant colours has always been very important to me when producing work. For me it’s not just about putting good looking colour combinations together but making sure the colours set the right feeling to my images.”
The use of vivid colours with minimal or no outline to her designs is what attracts me to her work the most. I myself sometimes find it daring to work with no outline although Stephanie has worked in her practice for some time and goes straight ahead with her bold colours straight onto the page. I particularly like that she chooses to look at everyday objects and interesting bedroom/bathroom scenes which appear throughout her work rather than trying hard to go out and find something interesting which would look too much with the use of such strong colours.
Stephanie Unger uses Posca pens to create her work which is why her work has such vivid flat colours throughout. Her sketchbook work as well as her final pieces are all created using the pens.
“I’ll often begin [an illustration] just by grabbing a sketchbook and start drawing until I get an idea and then develop that until I’m happy,”
Stephanie Unger bases her work around her surroundings and draws items that she finds interesting whether she has seen it on television or when she's out. She creates a lot of scenes that are typical home scenes such as the bedroom or bathroom that often relate to sex. She is often attached to everyday environments that her audience can relate to.
Unger tends to draw people as well as different objects which could be as she is a London based illustrator so she always surrounded by a crowd. London is clearly seen as a massive influence in her work as she focuses on the 'exotic' elements of the city such as food products she sees in local independent shops which is emphasised with the bold colours.
I personally like her pieces with minimal use of colour because it is how I would like to produce my own work with no outline by using screen printing, acrylic paint or possibly pens which I intend on experimenting with more to create my future work.
The first time I saw her work was at a Basement gig on one of their shirts although I did not recognise her as an artist at first I found myself looking further into her work.
