Ashley Banda
Artist Statement
My mom was really into scrapbooking when I was a child. She would decorate the pages so beautifully with patterned cardstock, stickers, and embellishments. I was so inspired by that. Eight-year-old me would try to create my own versions and I filled several little scrapbooks of my own. I remember seeing the commercials for Crayola and Cra-z Art; the 100-crayon box, and just all the variations of art supplies from paints, markers, colored pencils, to Microsoft paint. I did like Microsoft paint because I could make and absolute mess and then delete it and start over. I’d like to say this was my first digital art experience. In the year 2000, the CD-Rom game experience of Blues Clues: Blues Art Time Activities was released, and it was my absolute favorite. I loved how the computer allowed me to create things that I couldn’t on paper, such as textures, proportions, and the ability to rapidly change the colors. Digital art soon became my favorite medium. A for the subject matter of my art, it tends to change based on the medium, for example, in digital art and pencil, I prefer a cartoon style. However, when using colored pencil and oil paints, I try to go for a more realistic look. What I like to draw most is cats because they make me happy. Since my favorite color is pink, I incorporate it a lot into my as well as other pastel colors. I like to add flower, heart, and star elements into my designs, and I prefer rounded fonts and graphics. I enjoy creating vector images, because I think it looks modern and sharp. What I aim for in my designs is clean and neat and as well fun and interesting.
