Interview with Artist Nadia Blackford

Nadia Blackford is an artist and children's book illustrator with a multicultural background. In this interview Nadia shared with us her childhood memories and her passion for illustrations.

We were also happy to collaborate with Nadia on our Light & Optics Box magazine!

When did you start drawing?

I don’t remember when I actually started drawing. All I remember is that I was around 5 or 6 years old and I was drawing a bit better then most of my peers. I only came to this slightly bold conclusion after I was asked by my classmates to draw for them different characters again and again. Endless princesses and princes, cars and castles, monsters and flowers helped me to find many friends and admirers. I wish my parents kept at least a few of these naive sketches, but for them (electrical engineers) It was not serious or good enough as I was not drawing as Michelangelo or Leonardo da Vinci were drawing in my age!

What do you like to draw the most?

Now I love to paint with both traditional and digital mediums, incorporating botanical elements, intricate details, human figures, portraits, and animals into my work. Basically all I liked to draw as a child, but maybe in a bit more technically advanced level.

What do you work on now?

Right now I have a few very interesting projects, one of them is particularly exciting. I have been asked to draw illustrations for a children’s book. It is a lovely story about adventures of an unusual little girl and her friends living in a Russian forest. The story is funny and full of sparkles and hopefully the illustrations will reflect this visually.

Why illustrations for children’s books are important?

For me illustrations were always extremely important. I learned to read based on being curious to know what was going to happened with the heroes of the Russian version of the Wizard of Oz drawn by L.V. Vladimirskyi. I remember looking through the book and imagining their adventures. Unfortunately my grandma didn’t read fast enough for me, so I had no other option but to start to read by myself. I was not disappointed!

Who are your favorite children’s book illustrators?

My favourite illustrators and endless source of inspiration are L. Aisato, L.V. Vladimirskyi, A. Scheffler, N.C.Wyeth, V. Yerko and many others...

You may visit Nadia's page at @blackfordnadia