VISITING LECTURER - Kristyna Baczynski

• Quit A-levels and joined art foundation.
• Degree at Leeds Met (now Leeds Beckett) - Graphic Arts which is more multidisciplinary.
• Post-grad wilderness - got to make work for yourself and get it known).
• Concentrates on themed sketchbooks making them restrictive and applied.
• Uses different materials making it playful but measured.
• Started off with local client work (Hyde Park Picture House, Leeds College of Music).
• The more you get your work out there (online etc) the more likely you are to get more clients. As well as being nice and doing a good job.
• Her parents are from Ukraine which sometimes comes through in her work (folklore).
• If one job is seen by the right person then a link can be made between clients.
• Doing shows helps to give yourself deadlines.
• Having her own risograph printer allows her to self publish work (cheaper)
• Always trade/give pieces of work to other people.
• Self-publishing and comics have a strong community making it easier to make your work known. 

After seeing Kristyna's work in person I am more fascinated by how she creates pieces and uses her time effectively as a freelance illustrator. I now know that after I graduate it is extremely important to continue making work for myself and trading/giving it to other people to get it known. Also I have learnt that the internet is useful for getting work out there but it can also be toxic because of how many other artists are on there and it can quickly become lost. 

My favourite piece of artwork by her is the 9 Lives zine. She created this when she was low on money and managed to make a concertina with 9 pages using a piece of A3 paper meaning a lot of initiative went into the making.
I enjoy the minimalistic colours that have been used throughout the whole zine as well as the colour the paper has been printed on as it makes the design a lot more subtle rather than placing it on a bright white background.
The use of layout in this zine and the initial thought process of making it is what strikes my interest the most as she has used a lot of thought to get herself back on track again.