Arts as Escapism The CreativeMindClass Blog

I'm originally from Venezuela. I was raised in a tropical town surrounded by hills and palm trees. However, I it was never allowed for me to explore my environment fully (partly because of my parents' overprotectiveness, but mostly because of all the anxieties that surrounded my country). Most of the time, television and reading became my primary ways of escape - as did drawing! I would spend hours drawing my favourite anime characters, my friends, pets I was not allowed to own, costumes, and everything else.

It was mostly a pastime at the time, and I was conscious that it wouldn't go beyond that in Venezuela. But then my family decided to relocate to the UK and that was a major change for me. In my teen years, I was finally allowed more independence, was free to explore places by myself and to think about what I would like to accomplish.

My love for the design of characters and stories led me to comics, which in turn inspired me to draw. Everything came together then. Following a few years of studying (and a lot of hard work), I'm now freelancing as an Illustrator from London.

My work I believe is bold, fun and a bit messy (in a good manner!). It can be straightforward and sometimes it's very detailed. However, it always features a character or animal or even a beautiful piece of scenery. I believe each illustration is part of the same universe.

My main goal is to have fun with it. It is easy to think of aspects that made me smile growing in my youth: vibrant colours as well as sly characters, humorous scenarios, little details that you can be lost in. The goal of my work is to capture the best of these things every time I make something brand new. If I'm able to make the viewer feel excited or happy, or like they noticed something interesting and interesting, then I've succeeded in the goal I set for myself.

"Another key element for me is humor. Over time, I've realized that I'm not the most adequate person to make very serious or conceptual artworks, but I can be pretty good at making something fun and lighthearted to inspire laughter. I work to my strengths right now."

You can follow Marianna's artistic process on her Instagram Discover detailed artwork from the children's books she worked on during lockdowns as well as backstage shots of recoding her Skillshare class to name just a handful. The links to the class and Marianna's books can be found on the website.

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