{sneakypeek}

printed pretties: sneakypeeking emilie maguin illustrations

Emilie Maguin (aka Printed Pretties) is one of our favourite Etsy illustrators. She’s from Switzerland, but you wouldn’t know it, what with her sweet tooth for Parisienne imagery and fishily French sounding name. We decided to get to the bottom of all this (not-so-faux) Frenchery and spoke with the lady herself.

{ You’ve drawn Marie-Antoinette, a map of ‘Mon Paris’ and a very Parisienne work called “Love always love”. Why so Frenchy?}

Aha! You got me! I lived the first 19 years of my life in the South of France, as I am half French ( my dad is the Frenchie and my mum is British). I moved to Scotland for university, and I absolutely loved it, but somedays I would find myself in the supermarket with a basket full of red wine, camembert cheese and baguette! What a cliché!

It turns out I have a pretty strong “French core” that has to be set free sometimes. I also love French cinema of the 1950′s and 1960′s, with all the cigarettes and doe-eyed ingenues running after moody alpha-males, I find it enchanting and hilarious.

{ What’s your creative process? }

Over time I have learnt that inspiration strikes anywhere. So, first, I try very hard to always have a notebook and a pencil at hand all the time, so I can capture the mad ideas that enter my mind. I usually jot down key words along with basic doodles, and an idea for a specific palette I want to use, those kind of things.

Then, I will start my line drawing, usually in pencil. I try to make this as detailed as I can, and I usually continue the picture with good old watercolour, before finally scanning it and tweaking it on the computer, maybe adding texture layers and so on.

{ Your drawings are definitely romantic. Does the romance in your own life play any part? }

Why, thank you! I like that! My work is usually coined “whimsical”, but now that I think of it some of them are really quite romantic, aren’t they? I guess for one thing I love working with pastels and translucent layers and textures and those tend to convey sweetness and romance.

I also love retro movies, retro music, retro fashion… I find those all very romantic and I quite like the idea of being nostalgic for times I didn’t know.And also I am very lucky to have an awesome boyfriend who is very romantic and supportive of my work, so if that shows, well it’s wonderful!

{ Where did you learn how to draw? }

As far back as I can remember, I have always drawn. Some of my earliest memories are of me sat on the floor furiously doodling away with a pack of Crayola wax crayons. I’ve always loved it, and I’ve always felt the need to draw, paint, or do anything that envolved using my hands creatively.

I guess you could say I am self-taught, but with a lot of help: my dad is a huge bibliophyle and when he noticed that I liked to paint when I was little he started collecting tons of books about the techniques of drawing and painting, and took me to museums from a very young age.

{ Who has inspired you? }

My mother also is very artistic, and she went to art school. She used to make paper dolls for me when I was tiny, and I got to use all of her pastels, watercolour boxes and pencils. I also like to bake a cake and listen to some Joni Mitchell on those days, I find her lyrics so poetic and evocative.

{ You also have a darling blog! What do you like to blog about?  }

Thanks! I really like blogging about fashion, cool things I’ve “discovered” on Etsy, art, and FOOD! I have a huge passion for food and an even bigger passion for eating. Actually, you are reminding me, I really need to blog about my Lemon Cake recipe. It kills!

Sneakypeek Printed Pretties for yourself on Etsy.

Sneakypeek Emilie’s printed pretties for yourself on Etsy. Sneakypeek her adorable blog - the Pretty Chronicals.