I’m Astheri Art, or Amai; an illustrator and a digital painter based in Poland. I study Art & Education on one of Poland’s most renowned universities and want art to be my labor of love, as well as a bread-winning day job.
WHY I DO THE THINGS I DO
Drawing and writing stories have been my passion for many years. I still remember first characters I created and how much fun I had designing their appearance and writing different scenarios with them. However, for some reason it has always been easier for me to think in shapes and colors I would synesthetically connect with feelings and emotions in a way no words could. That’s when I first attempted using my drawings skill to portray a scene I saw in my mind’s eye.
It was so much fun to see my characters coming to life, as well as the places they lived in or powers they possessed. One of the things I did was not limiting myself and keeping on creating artworks that definitely were out of my comfort zone – pushing my boundaries and not giving up on any ideas I had, no matter how hard they were for me. Trying new things in practice and constantly failing, that’s what kept me going and improving with every illustration I created as a self-taught artist. By adding backgrounds to my character designs I learned to draw architecture and landscape and by trying digital art and its versatility I stopped being scared of experimenting with color and light, which now is one of my favourite things to work with. Back then, I had no idea which direction I wanted my art to go in and my style changed countless times – I got to try fashion design, comics, manga, traditional painting, realistic portraits. But, even if a little bit lost, I would always come back to art and by bit, it all brought me to a place where I am now.
UNI LIFE
In 2021 I enrolled in the Pedagogical University of Cracow, aspiring to major in Arts & Education and become an art teacher. Learning about art from an academic point of view has given me the ability of understanding my creative process much better and sharing this knowledge with others. Not only did it allow me to explore other disciplines of fine arts, but also gave me an idea of how I want my art to look like. Even though I still enjoyed drawing sharp lines and details, I noticed how much joy I had playing with colorful shapes and in no time, my art style began to lean more towards a painterly one. By combining my technical skills I gained working with ditial art and what I learned using oil and acrylics on canvas, my artworks finally began to reflect what my inner world looked like.
TEACHING EXPERIENCE
Around that time I started gaining extra experience being a private tutor for drawing. At the very beginning, the role of a teacher was a truly tough challenge to me due to all the new things I now had to to face. However, working with people who were just setting off on their journey in art, turned out to be another opportunity for me to reflect on the process of learning. Now that I was able to reflect on past mistakes I made as a beginner artist, I got the chance to speak up about them and help others face fears that had once seemed unbearable for me. In times of burnout, sitting down with a young person and freely creating an artwork together or doodling in the same time was often just what I needed at this moment. Listening to their suggestions on what we could work on that day gave me a chance to try out even more things which I enjoyed, but probably wouldn’t take up myself in any other situation. In the meantime I kept expanding my portfolio, which I finally started to take pride in.
FREELANCING
In the middle of 2022, I took my first steps in the world of freelancing. I set promoting my art as a new priority and in a short amount of time, through various platforms online, such as Facebook and Fiverr, I got contacted by my first clients. Over the year, I completed over 30 commissions, both for commercial and personal use. I learned to work under time pressure and still enjoy the process of creating an artwork, which boosted both my time management skills as well as shortened the time I needed to deliver a high-quality illustration. Seeing my customers leave a positive review on my page and being able to meet their expectations was truly the experience I desired the most. “This looks exactly as I imagined”, has been the most flattering compliment I could have ever heard.
For almost two years I have also been one of the main illustrators for a Polish YouTube channel “Praktyczna Teoria”, which is all about language learning. Its main focus is French (which is, by the way, currently one of my personal interests) as well as English, with a wide variety of videos on grammar, all explained and presented in a casual, fun way. As for me, I used to be responsible for drawing backgrounds as well as doing simple graphic editing from time to time. Working on this project along with other artists has given me the opportunity to learn new software and test my technical skills in a more professional field.
OTHER PROJECTS
In the meantime I kept pursuing my personal projects and had some of my artworks displayed on a few exhibitions in Cracow, Poland. My biggest one was “Art AIN’T dead”, a digital illustration exhibition organised with my friend and art buddy Ada Guzik. We decided to display our most personal artworks in order to present art as a living experience, something we both are very passionate about. It was also the moment we took a stance against the rising threat of artificial intelligence overuse in the art industry, which we know a lot of artists are concerned about. However, since this matter is far more complicated, we simply focused on showing the importance of the human component in art we create, by sharing lighthearted stories about every piece in the gallery and creating a welcoming environment for our visitors. The fun moments and the tedious process, the struggles we faced while working on our illustrations as well as the inspiration behind every one of them, it’s all what will always make our art stand out.
Currently, I’m preparing a new series of artworks which will be exhibited at the end of January 2024.
FUTURE PLANS
One of my childhood dreams was writing a book and sharing my stories with the world, which unfortunately I still haven’t had the opportunity to do. However, the plan is still present in my heart and I would love to fulfill it one day. Whether I decide on a novel or a comic (I might actually do both in the end), thinking about publishing something that personal brings me a lot of joy.
Another field I’m currently exploring is 2D animation. Having once made an animatic for a university project, I discovered how fun it is to work on, and my head is bustling with ideas for new short stories I would like to breathe life into. I will soon write more on this topic in my Workplace section.
Last but not least, I’m also planning to keep up with my freelancing work, which I get a lot of satisfaction from. There’s plenty of fields as well as more specific projects I would be glad to test my abilities in, so I’m always open to any offers. Don’t hesitate to contact me through e-mail or social media if you’re interested in working together.
Thank you for getting familiar with my art. I hope the creations I make speak to you in some way – and if not, that you find them nice and pleasant to look at.
