Nicole, tell us a little bit about yourself!
Hi! My name is Nicole, but you may know me as iiKiui from my Youtube channel. I am a freelance artist, animator and bunny mom of three. I am passionate about both art and animals and I hope one day I can use my art to inspire others to rescue animals and raise awareness of endangered species.

How long have you been painting & drawing? What inspired you to become an artist?
For as long as I can remember, I was always drawing. I was obsessed with drawing horses from Pre-school until 7th grade, but slowly transitioned to drawing people. I can’t really pinpoint the exact moment of when I decided to become an artist – art was always part of my life. However, when I entered college, initially, pursuing art as a career wasn’t my first choice. It didn’t take long for me to realize that art was my passion, so that was when I chose to create art for more than a hobby

How would you describe your style?
I like to describe my style as a mix of cartoon and anime, with influences from my favorite movies and tv shows. Some examples include Disney, Winx Club, Totally Spies, Carmen Sandiego and many more!

What is your favorite GenCrafts product to use?
My favorite GenCrafts product to use has to be the Watercolor Palette (48 set)! The colors are so pigmented and bright and I love that I’m able to rearrange the colors in whatever order I want. My art tends to favor bright colors, so this palette definitely suits my style.

What advice do you have for beginner artists?
My advice for beginner artists would be to always keep learning, whether it is from teachers at school, videos on Youtube, art books or any other means – never stop learning!

What is your favorite part about the creative process?
My favorite part when creating art is the moment I finalize my sketches. It’s in that sweet spot where I feel accomplished for completing the sketch, but can also imagine the colors and how the final art piece will look. A subscriber once said that we may like sketches more because it allows us to imagine the possibilities of the art piece.

Tell us an interesting fact about your art!
When creating my art, I always seem to find a piece of rabbit fur in my paint brushes or on my paper! Joking aside, I create my art with an animation mindset – I like things to be simple, but appealing. Animation has always been an inspiration to me, which drove me to get a Bachelor’s degree in it!

YOU CAN FIND NICOLE ON:

• YOUTUBE:  ​iiKiui - https://www.youtube.com/user/iiKiui
• INSTAGRAM: @iiKiui - https://www.instagram.com/iikiui/
 

We’d love to see your artwork on Instagram - Show us your talents!
Post your artwork on Instagram, be sure our product is featured in the photo, tag us, and use the hashtag #gencrafts
As always, CREATE, SHARE, & INSPIRE!