Corrie Kuipers
Corrieweb – The wonderful world of Corrie Kuipers & Nene Adams
I first saw Corrie’s work on Greeting Card universe where she has an enormous collection of fabulous cards for just about every occasion. I immediately fell in love with her style which is whimsical and lighthearted yet also displays something very ornate and thought provoking. There is a raw beauty in her line work, I can’t help but gaze dreamily at every image she creates. She also has a way of adding a touch of girlie humor to many of her images… There are female giggles in those brush strokes.
I am so grateful to be able to share with you today a little insight how Corrie Kuipers creates.
What do you create?
I’m a painter and Illustrator.
When I paint my medium is acrylics and ink on paper, MDF (pressed wood fiber), wood and canvas.
When I illustrate I use my Wacom Intuos drawing tablet together with Photoshop CS2.
What medium do you enjoy most?
At the moment it has to be Illustrating. I absolutely love my tablet. I bought it last summer as a treat (and to help me work more efficient). Before the tablet I would draw everything by hand in b/w, scan it into the computer, clean it up and add color to it in Photoshop.
What title would you give yourself?
Ehm…lucky girl?
How did you get started?
It started all by being the singer in a band. We rehearsed at the guitarist’s place who’s husband was a professional artist. We were of similar age and it got me thinking. If I had made the right choices from the beginning I could have been where he was now. Was it too late to try and have a go at it? I decided it was all or nothing. I was reaching my 30ies, was laid off from my job I was very unhappy with anyway (I was doing a nine to five at a bank) and if I wanted to do a career switch now was the perfect time.
So I started painting in acrylics and ink, I don’t know why I picked that but it suited me and it stayed with me until this day. I went to a local gallery to show some of my work and the gallery owner saw potential. My style was very much unique (I had no art training and therefore wasn’t influenced by teachers). He encouraged me to keep on painting and he would check in on me from time to time to pick a collection for my debut solo exhibition. 6 Months later I did have my first show and I haven’t looked back since.
What do you want to be when you grow up?
Exactly that what I am doing now
Name three favorite artists/designers/creative:
It is hard to pick only three because there are a lot of really talented people out there!
The Cart Before the Horse
Fun and Folky Art.
Kelly Murphy
Illustrator extraordinaire. I wish I had her talent.
Alex Ross
In my eyes the absolute God of comic book artists. He has a unique style in that every comic frame he makes is actually a painting. I have never seen anyone draw the human form as well as he does.
What kind of training, schooling or other learning experiences have you gone through that have helped you get to where you are now?
No training or schooling, I’m self taught. My inspiration comes from everything around me, my loving partner, our animals, music, film, the Internet, nature, myths and legends, old cultures….
Do you feel you’re successful?
My art pays the bills and has done so since 1994. Maybe not as royally as I sometimes would wish, but it gives a great sense of accomplishment to be my own person.
What do you like most about what you do?
The freedom to creatively do whatever I want to do
What #1 piece advice can you offer to those which might like to “follow in your footsteps”?
Believe in yourself, find your own style, do tons of marketing and work very, very hard. I don’t want to scare you off, but the artist life is not an easy one and you can’t step into this half-hearted.
If you want a regular pay-check, a nine to five lifestyle, are bad at marketing yourself, can’t take criticism, this is probably not the job for you. Also it takes careful planning, self-discipline and a lot of determination. There is often no instant success so you have to think years rather than weeks or months.
What are you most proud of?
It feels really good when I add a new design to one of our online stores and the public picks it up. Every sale still makes me smile.
More places you can find Corrie’s work for purchase:
Corrie Kuipers at Zazzle
Corrie Kuipers at Cafepress
Corrie Kuipers at Red Bubble
Corrie Kuipers at Greeting Card universe
