Artist Interviews 2024

Saskia  
By Julia Siedenburg



Saskia’s specialty is, besides some colorful abstract work, beautiful and uber-realistically drawn images of animals in addition to human shapes and bodies.

As a practicing nurse, it is clear where my exceptional eye for detail and body composition come from! When Saskia and I first connected through our shared love for horses, I had no idea that behind the intuitive and gifted equation hid such artistic talent. When she shared her work with me it truly took my breath away. When looking at her pieces, you can feel all the love and dedication that went into them. It is not easy to practice this form of art while simultaneously working in such a time-consuming pressure job. But as Saskia mentioned to us, creating is just what she needs to bring her the peacefulness she needs.

I am very grateful that I can introduce this new artist to all of you, dear readers. I am certain you will enjoy her work as much as I do. Please show her some love and follow her everywhere you can.



What does experiencing a great art piece or creating your art make you feel?

There are a few things that matter to me. The best is that I am able to process emotions or situations. I have a lot of loud and fast thoughts in my head. When I am creating art it’s a therapeutic silence. Creating art distracts me from a chaotic life sometimes. And it made me focus again. Something that matters too recently is personal growth. When I see old pictures from me and compare them, I am proud. Because I get better all the time I draw.



Which artists are your biggest inspirations and why?

I started with realistic art and drew animals from photos since I was a child. So thanks to social media my inspiration in realistic art starts with artists like Mariana Tubiana and Bethany Vere. Jono Dry was the first who inspired me to combine realistic art with “fantasy”. I love his creations so much. As I saw some art from Tahlia Stanton my love for abstract art and mixed media came in. And I love the pictures from David Riley.



Tell us a bit about your process. What does it take to get your idea finished onto a canvas?

At the moment, I´ve reached a point where I am experiencing a lot. I want to get better, so I try a lot and fail often. And start again. I try to find a style. A style between those realistic and abstract art. Because it makes me happy, and I have a lot of fun. In the beginning, I have a realistic picture or sketch, and around that I create something. The rest depends a lot on how I am feeling at that moment.



Your work has shifted from very abstract shapes to incredibly detailed human and animal forms. What motivated that change?

As a kid, I started to draw animals from photos. Over the years I got better and started to draw for friends and family and got my first little commissions. I feel comfortable with drawing realistically from photos. But sometimes I want to try something else and like to experience it. I start to draw parts from human faces or bodies. Mostly as a sketch. In between I always painted abstract shapes or studied different color gradients which gave me so much fun. In the last year, I got inspired and love those abstract works more and more. And I love the combination of abstract and reality and detailed paintings very much. So, I always wanted to combine these two directions(??).



I absolutely adore your human sketches. You have such amazing attention to detail, yet you never show a person’s face or body entirely. Why is that?

I love how strong and beautiful a human body or face can be. I love the strength and individuality of some parts or poses. When I face a body or face entirely it is more a feeling of a stranger watching me or maybe reminds me of somebody. But for me the fascination is only on the physical, aesthetic or strong parts of a face or body.



How do you choose which colors you use for your work?

I love natural colors the most. Like earth tones or when they remember me at the forest or sky or the ocean. I like it more dark and often love the contrast between dark and light. Sometimes I experience with bright colors or do them for a commission but in the end, I feel most comfortable with my natural tones.



Besides your mixed media work, you also create beautiful hyper-realistic animal sketches. Where does your love for animal paintings come from?

My love for animal paintings started when I was a kid. I loved being around animals. I loved horses and started very early working in a stable to be around horses. And since 2010 I owned my own. He is the biggest inspiration for drawing animals as close as they are. My biggest ambition is to draw the eye as much detailed and realistic as I can. Because I know how important it is to have something special from his own loved animal. I want to create a special piece or maybe memory.



Tell us a bit about your childhood and upbringing. How did you learn to paint the way you do?

I was a very introverted kid with not many friends. I loved being on my own and creating something. Mostly at home because in art lessons in school, I was very bad. Then I had a lot to struggle with so there was a big pause over the years where I didn’t draw or create something. I started out of necessity to draw again. And then I remember how much fun I had and then started try to get better and better. I am a self-thought artist and with social media, I got a lot of inspiration and learned a lot.



Are there a few tips and tricks you could share for people who would like to learn how to draw animals in such detail?

I think it’s important to know that you don’t have to have Talent. It’s just work and time you have to spend to get better and better. Do not stop and create lots of lots of bad paintings. Treat everything as a learning experience. Pay attention to the contrast between dark and lightning that’s the point where a picture gets more vivid. And focus on the details. The more you notice in your template the better.



What are your hopes and plans? Any art shows that you are hoping to attend?

I still want to get better and try to find a style between realistic drawing and abstract art. I have a full-time job as an emergency nurse in a hospital, so it is often hard to find enough time to draw and create. And it is a stressful job too, so I am often tired after work. So my hope is to reduce hours in my full-time job to have more time for this. The plan is also to build a website so maybe I can find more followers for my art and earn money on the side.