Say hello to Yana Kaneva, and her artwork Passion Fruit.
Introduce yourself:
My name is Yana and I am a fourth year student studying Visual Communication Design. I major in Animation and Interaction, and Graphic Design and Illustration. I love going to the beach and hanging out with my baby nephew.
What does Passion mean to you?
To me being passionate means to create. When inspiration strikes and all you want to think about and do is your project that is one of the best feelings. Being in “the zone” and feeling as if it’s just you and your art for hours or even days that feel like moments. Finding yourself flowing between what’s in your mind and what is at the tips of your fingers. Getting stuck in details that make your piece just as you imagined it. The feeling of passion is a feeling of excitement and enthusiasm towards your own expertise, knowledge, and skills.
Can you tell us a little bit about your creative process?
I am most interested in animation and illustration. When animating I generally start with an idea of what I would like to produce. Then I sketch out still frames and flesh out a storyboard. This storyboard then becomes my key frames, which are the main frames of my animation. In-betweens, which are all the frames between the key frames, come next. Once all of my frames, 12 frames per second minimum, are sketched in I line them and then colour them. At the end, I add my audio and do any final editing.
My illustration process is very similar beginning with a sketch and then rendering. My favourite medium is watercolour; however, I also enjoy other types of paint, and I have been experimenting with digital painting and drawing.
I would describe my creative process as unplanned, spontaneous and messy. There is usually a lot of experimentation, trial and error, and failed attempts. Thankfully that is my favourite part.
What went into the creation of the cover of this issue?
Not too long ago I rediscovered a lino print kit in my art supplies drawer. I bought it a few months ago when I remembered how fun printing was in high school and then completely forgot about it. When thinking about what to make for my submission for the cover of the Opus Passion issue I wanted to combine what passion means to me, my love for delicious fruits, and the most popular definition of passion, sex. I blended these aspects together into a pattern design of vagina-shaped passionfruit.
“The feeling of passion is a feeling of excitement and enthusiasm towards your own expertise, knowledge, and skills.”
To achieve this look I carved my design of a passionfruit into a lino tile and then used purple ink to create the main shape. Then I carved into the lino a little more and used white, then yellow, and then blue to finish the passionfruit. This technique gives the print a very satisfying imperfect and unaligned finish and texture. I then scanned my artwork and edited layers in Photoshop to create a sense of depth.
Do you have any advice for students starting their creative journey?
My advice for students starting their creative journey is to stay curious and ambitious. It is not worth comparing yourself to your peers because everybody comes from a different place and moves at their own pace. Instead, I suggest learning together, from each other, and finding new and better ways to create whatever makes you happy. No one is rushing you!
Where can people find you?
You can find me around NuSpace or if you want to see more of my art you can find it on my website: yanakaneva.com
