In this post, I’m going to explore just a few (okay, a lot) of A Print A Day illustrator Yasmine’s inspirations (read about her blog and her life history here (scroll)!). In the following few images, an “inspiration” image will appear on the left while a few A Print A Day images will appear on the right.
I think my inspiration comes from everyday things, from the weeds that grow on my lawn to breaking into an old abandoned mill and finding a treasure trove of decaying awesomeness. I like “pretty” things, but what I find even more attractive are the layers underneath. — Yasmine
LOCATION
Yasmine has lived all over the world, and is frequently inspired by her location. San Francisco offers everything from “the cute little mushroom grafs on the ground to the gorgeous Victorian architecture,” says Yasmine. While her other home in Arizona is more relaxed, she still finds inspiration in everything from “the tiny scorpions to the crazy amazing skies, especially during a thunderstorm.”
Yasmine has several mushroom prints, the one on the far right (Red Caps, a notepaper and label version can be downloaded free here) is one of her favorites.
COMICS
Yasmine was obsessed with comic books growing up, and still loves them now. From them she sometimes borrows a graphical pop-art aesthetic (middle) or classic comic panes. (Little-known fact: Yasmine’s blog was initially going to be an online comic! She says she still might make a printed comic or a zine one day.)
Some comics Yasmine loves (left to right, then top to bottom, click on image for larger version): Watchmen by Alan Moore & Dave Gibbons, Blankets by Craig Thompson, Uncanny X-Men, Tank Girl, Archie, Tekkon Kinkreet (and other Manga), and Ghost World.
FOLK ART
“I get a majority of my inspiration from folk art: America, Russian, Filipino, or otherwise,” says Yasmine. “I love Amish craftsmanship and lines. I LOVE Pennsylvania Dutch images. I love ikat and batik patterns.”
FAMILY
Yasmine says she learned a lot of both the art and business of her work from her family. Her mom was an animator for Jem & the Holograms, and, in similar bright-color fair, Yasmine later worked for Lisa Frank. Some of her work still shows off such bright colors and cartoon-flavor.
OTHER ARTISTS
Yasmine admires a lot of illustrators, especially fairy-tale artists & self-taught artists (hence the folk art, which I’ve collected in the lower left hand corner of this image).
Left to right: Henry Darger (Check out this guy’s life story on Wikipedia! He was a recluse and his work was discovered posthumously, & his work is now one of the most famous examples of “outsider art“.); Edmund Dulac, who drew beatiful fairy tale images (she also loves Arthur Rackman, who also drew fairy tale art); Beatrix Potter; Gregory Blackstock, a man diagnosed as an autistic-savant who draws with amazing detail (Yasmine pointed me to a youtube video of him here); Folk Art: Pennsylvania Dutch, ikat and batik fabric patterns; Vera scarf (cool patterns on these).
This is the sad but true end to my Yasmine interview! You can view Parts I-III of this interview here and, of course, you can visit A Print A Day for more prints from Yasmine!
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