On behalf of the Illustration department, the web team would like to feature students each month in showcasing who is in the department and who they are. Here we have Astrid Blurr!
1. Tell us about yourself! What’s your name; where are you from?
Hi! My name is Astrid Blurr. I’m from Chapel Hill, North Carolina. I love animals, pastel colors, cartoons, video games, comics, so i’m pretty much a media nerd.
2. Why illustration? What brought you to KCAI?
I actually didn’t know what illustration was, and thought I’d go into something like drawing and painting. I was fortunate enough to go to UNCSA’s high school visual art program my senior year, and they brought representatives from different art schools to give presentations. It was actually when one of the representatives from KCAI came to visit, and during our interview told me I’d do good in Illustration that I really started to look into illustration programs. Along with my really good talk with the KCAI representative, I really loved the mixture of nature and city that Kansas City had, and I really enjoyed the work coming out of Illustration. It felt like the right fit compared to all the other art schools.
3. What medium do you prefer?
I’m versatile when it comes to choosing a medium, so it depends on the needs of what project i’m working on that I choose what medium I use. Though I primarily use ink for line work, and then I color digitally. It’s the quickest way to work which is why i use it the most.
4. What’s been your favorite project thus far and why?
My favorite project thus far is in between the ME project and Maura’s quick zine project. I really loved that the quick turnaround that then gave you the ability to just be goofy and not get attached. I still love looking back at the nonsensical narrative I made. I also loved the ME project because I got to do what I wanted. After three years of doing teacher projects it was really freeing and rewarding.
5. Who and or what is an inspiration for you in terms of your art making?
This is really hard to answer because I have so many outlets of inspiration. I’m drawn to Sarah Lasater, Harmony Becker, Studio Ghibli, Steven Universe, music like Glass Animals, and Jungle Giants, and I could go on forever so I’ll stopヽ(ｏ-` _ ′-ｏ)
6. What’s your go to tool for sketching and idea making?
My go to tool is the classic pencil. It’s erasable because god knows I make a shit ton of mistakes, and it’s easy to draw over with ink.
7. What is your favorite go to meal?
My go to meal is jarred fruit, easy to travel with and natural/organic enough. I also like eating pickles sometimes. I’m vegan so my “favorite” go to meals are going to be odd.
8. If you were not doing art, what do you think you would be studying or doing instead?
Because of my love of animals I actually wanted to be a veterinarian before I realized I wanted to be an artist, but i’m queasy with blood and super emphatic so that wasn’t going to happen. Considering art was really one of the only things I was good at in school, I might have tried to make it as a singer. I love singing and have been told a lot I have a nice voice, but sadly I have stage fright when it comes to singing, so don’t know how long that would have lasted.
9. What other types of work interest you?
I’m super interested in game art. I love the idea of making things as simple and as exaggerated as possible while still being readable. I also love visual storytelling, and I think video games are one of the most successful forms of storytelling. Video games like Hyper Light Drifter, Zelda Wind Waker, Stardew Valley, Animal crossing, and Mario Sunshine are my top favorites.
