Perfected Impasto
Interview
Fida Spoke to Award winning artist Hana Tischler
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When did you first get into drawing?
I’ve been drawing my whole life and I’ve dreamt about becoming a painter from a very early age. At the age of 18 I began my studies at the Academy of Fine Arts in Zagreb, Croatia, and that was when I first started drawing with charcoal. I completely fell in love with the medium and from that point on I started taking my drawing practice a lot more serious.
Why did you choose to make fashion a part of your inspiration?
Fashion has always played a very important role in my life. I think it all started with Grace Jones, one of the biggest fashion icons of all time. I was growing up listening to her music and admiring her fabulous photographs and image, which is how I slowly started getting into painting black women and close ups of lips. I buy Vogue every month, even if it’s just for the cover, in hope to find some new interesting and inspiring images to paint, and I follow lots of fashion related profiles on Instagram where most of my inspiration comes from. I absolutely love fashion and life would be so dull without it.
What is your particular working day as a creative?
I work in a shared studio in Lisbon with a few other artists and I have my daily working schedule. It’s my full time job so I take my practice very seriously. I plan my work weeks ahead and I am always balancing between commissions and personal works. I’m not an early bird so my working day usually doesn’t start before 11 o’clock, but then I tend to stay in the studio until 7 or 8 pm. I mostly always work with my headphones on, listening to some good music, because it really helps me dive into the whole creative process and keeps me focused.
What tools do you use when creating your images?
Since I am more of a painter than an illustrator, I mostly use oil paints in my art practice. I’ve been working with acrylics for many years and after switching to oil paints, I took my painting to a whole new level and started enjoying it even more. I’ve also been using coloured pencils a lot lately and it’s actually becoming my favorite new medium. I use charcoal a lot for sketching and of course, my iPad for reference photos.
Who or what influenced you over the years as an artist?
Lucian Freud definitely made the strongest impact on me as an artist. I started admiring his work during my studies on the Academy of Fine Arts and completely fell for his way of panting flesh, the imperfections of the body, his brush strokes, impasto and chiaro-scuro. He inspired me to get into painting bodies myself, and most of my current work is based on painting female figures and flesh.
What advice do you have for younger artists looking to be part of this industry?
I work with a lot of young people who aspire to become artists, as I am a giving workshops and art classes in my studio in Lisbon, and one of the things I am noticing with most of them is a lack of determination, which means that lots of them give up very easily and will probably never pursue their dream. Building an art career is not easy and it takes a lot more than just talent and skills, but then again, if it was easy, everybody would be able to do it, and that’s not how things should work. Ask yourself how serious are you about making art as your career and how much do you really want it, then stick to what truly inspires you and create every day, even if it’s just one simple little doodle. Practice makes perfect. Don’t let Instagram and social media get you down and know that you should be, above all, creating for yourself and not just to impress others. Surround yourself with creatives, take art classes, follow artist who truly inspire you and learn from them. Success takes time, patience, passion, belief, and a lot of work and determination, but enjoy the process and don’t give up.
"Since I am more of a painter than an illustrator, I mostly use oil paints in my art practice. I’ve been working with acrylics for many years and after switching to oil paints, I took my painting to a whole new level and started enjoying it even more. I’ve also been using coloured pencils a lot lately and it’s actually becoming my favorite new medium. I use charcoal a lot for sketching and of course, my iPad for reference photos. "
H. Tischler
What are you drawing today? Music you are listening to? Books that you are reading? Favourite artist/designer at the moment?
Today I am working on my second big oil painting for my upcoming exhibition “She is Water”, as well as some new coloured pencil drawings. I have my headphones on most of the time while I am working, and the music I listen to usually depends on my mood, so today I am in a Jessie Ware mood. I have to be honest with you – I’m not much of a book person and I always remember Andy Warhol’s quote “I never read, I just look at pictures”, which kind of describes me in a way. One of my favorite contemporary artists are the fabulous Chloe Wise and Ines Longevial.