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Artist Speaks The Truth About The Struggles Girls Deal With (40 New Pics)
Interview With ArtistIf you’ve already read the title, you probably know what you signed up for when you clicked on this… but if not, let us tell you just a little bit more! Today we’d like to introduce you to Bella Sriwantana, who is an incredibly talented comic artist from Belgium. Bella is known for her comics that depict real-life situations and just a general day in the life of a simple girl. Though Sriwantana is basing the comics off of herself, we are pretty sure most of us have found ourselves to be in pretty similar circumstances nonetheless.
Bella’s comics are bright, hilarious, and have their own distinct art style and approach. The artist even covers topics such as the latest memes, pets, what it’s like having a boyfriend, and just in general shares how hard and tiring it is to be a woman at times.
Given all of that, Bella’s comics were also featured previously on Bored Panda and you can find them by clicking here!
With all of that being said, we hope that was enough of a reason to make you scroll down!
More info: Instagram | bellaillustration.com | patreon.com | Facebook
This post may include affiliate links.
Bored Panda reached out to Bella, first, we asked the artist if she had any major influences in her life that might've helped her to develop and refine her style.
"I believe that Japanese manga does have a lot of influences on my style and I did read a lot of them when I was young. In order to make my comics fun and enjoyable for my audience, I studied facial expressions and enhanced them with my own art style to make them even more unique."
Art, in any kind of form, takes a lot of time not only to practice but also to produce, therefore we asked Bella how long it takes her to fully finish her comics.
"It depends on the storyline of each comic. Usually, it takes me around 2 hours for a 2-panel comic and 2.5 to 3 hours for a full 4-panel comic!"
Most of her cartoons could be described as a slice of life, and as of now, one of her main fortes is creating funny and girly comics that depict Sriwantana's life with her boyfriend and their dog. The artist has practically made it her mission to bring a smile to her readers' faces with her colorful comics, and the overwhelming support she has received over the years has only made her strive further.
Being an artist is not easy, one can easily encounter a lack of inspiration, burnout, etc, so we wanted to ask Bella about her ideas for the comics.
"Anything that does happen in my life can be drawn into a comic. I would sort these real-life experiences by what I think people can relate to the most and draw them."
As we mentioned before, sometimes creative work can cause quite a burnout, therefore we asked the artist how she dealt with that as well.
"Absolutely! There will be days that I don't feel like drawing at all or my creativity just won't work. I would go for a walk with my dog or take a long shower to booze up my ideas and you know what? They actually work!"
We also wanted to know how the about how people reacted to Sriwantana's work.
"I'm grateful for each of my followers because they are so supportive. I would get DMs that my work made their days or it simply made them smile. This is what motivates me to keep creating because I love to make people happy, one comic at a time! "
The creative process is not easy, but there are some enjoyable parts about it.
"I do enjoy coloring and choosing the color palette for my illustrations. I love to work with bright and fun colors to generate positivity and liveliness."
every new years party ive ever been to. it's always "3.... 2..... 1.... HOORAY!!!!!!! .........well i guess we go home now."
We also asked about the inspiration behind the artist's Instagram account.
"At first, I started my Instagram to get out of my comfort zone, to put my work out there and share my story. I was never confident enough to show my work to anybody because I felt like these comics were my personal diary that I should never show to anyone. But then my friends encouraged me to see how this would take me and here we are!"
Digital art and art, in general, is not easy and requires a lot of patience, time, resources, and in most cases even money, therefore we wanted to know how the talented comic artist started her own career in digital art.
"I've loved to draw since I was very young, so yes, I was drawing traditionally first. I only started drawing digitally in 2014 and decided to put my work on Instagram in 2016."
Artists tend to get motivated by a lot of things such as curiosity, the search for beauty, or even meaning. Therefore, we asked Sriwantana about that too.
"I look up to a lot of artists who helped create and shape my childhood. I used to be (and still am) that girl who would turn to art as a safe space. I want to do the same thing for someone out there. I like to imagine that 'maybe someone is having a hard day and when they see my work, their day is not that bad anymore!'
Each comic that I create also marks every chapter of my life. I'm excited to share this story with my followers and grow this lovely community together with them!"
I love "foggy", it's a cloth with some oil-mix that prevents it, when rubbed over classes :3
Oh yes, my sweet childhood and teenage years and adult years to now... be married helps a lot to get up in time. Wish i know that sooner. :D
This is me but the mirror vs pictures. I'll be in the bathroom looking in the mirror like "Ooh, I'm lookin' kinda cute!" But as soon as I try to take a selfie or even a pic of the mirror I'm like "...NEVER MIND WAT DA HECK"
Little do these people know.... today marks exactly 100 days till Christmas!! I have a personalised Christmas countdown background that I made and change each day.... yes I do have a life.
Papaya is my personal battle cry. Along with “Krakatoa” and a foot stomp.
I've been craving french fries for three days, and now you do this??!!?? Get me to a Wendy's, QUICK!!!!
Idk, this might only be because I'm a teenager, but 30 isn't that old?
Change the title of this thread... it is ridiculous. "Every girl"? Really? -- I find a lot of posts on Bored Panda have lame titles that sensationalize or misrepresent the actual content. I wouldn't be surprised if the actual artist of the comic would be annoyed if they knew they were being misrepresented like this... now people are going to trash talk it in the comments, when the problem is the person who posted this to BP, not the artist herself. -- Have you not noticed how flame wars start in the comments when it comes to gender stereotypes?
Bro, u need to chill TF out. U don't relate??? Cool. Some others do. These r cute. Stop criticizing bc u can't relate.
Load More Replies...I don't mean to be mean to the artist, but I find that all these 'comics about an everyday girl's life' are the same, just drawn differently. Other than that - I really like her style :) She's a good artist!
Change the title of this thread... it is ridiculous. "Every girl"? Really? -- I find a lot of posts on Bored Panda have lame titles that sensationalize or misrepresent the actual content. I wouldn't be surprised if the actual artist of the comic would be annoyed if they knew they were being misrepresented like this... now people are going to trash talk it in the comments, when the problem is the person who posted this to BP, not the artist herself. -- Have you not noticed how flame wars start in the comments when it comes to gender stereotypes?
Bro, u need to chill TF out. U don't relate??? Cool. Some others do. These r cute. Stop criticizing bc u can't relate.
Load More Replies...I don't mean to be mean to the artist, but I find that all these 'comics about an everyday girl's life' are the same, just drawn differently. Other than that - I really like her style :) She's a good artist!