Happy !

 This week we’re featuring artist Martine Moen. She mainly focuses on amazingly detailed and realistic portraits of people. She sparked her interest in drawing in 2013 after following some inspiring artists on Instagram and tried her hand at painting after watching Youtube tutorials. You would never be able to tell that drawing is a relatively new pursuit for Martine! We also love her attitude about pursuing your creative path. Her advice is to just keep pressing forward with your work if it is something you like to do. Always try to learn and improve your work, but to do it for yourself, not to keep up with other artists out there. That’s some really great advice as it can get pretty competitive in the art world and it’s hard not to play the comparison game. Read on to learn more about Martine and her work!

: Tell us a little about yourself.

: My name is Martine and I currently live in Oslo, Norway. I am 22 years old and half-way through my studies. I enjoy photography, and like to think I’m better at it than I actually am. I have at least 10 tv-shows I’m watching at the same time, jumping back and forth. I read whenever I can, I have the cutest cat, and when I’m old I want to live in an old castle of some sort. Preferably with a library and a hot-tub.

: When did you start drawing?

: Two years ago, in 2013. I actually started painting first. I watched a lot of YouTube tutorials on how to do basic landscapes and stuff like that. I really loved it, but couldn’t get the hang of it. After following some great artists on Instagram I got inspired to try out drawing instead, and that was it, I was hooked.

: How did you start Martine Moen Art?

: When I had been drawing for a little while I wanted to show people my drawings and get feedback, and since I was too scared to put them on Facebook where my real-life friends could see them I decided to put them on my Instagram. Almost nobody I knew followed my account anyways! haha:)

: You draw a lot of portraits. What about them inspires you?

: This is a difficult question. When I look at other peoples drawings, I always bookmark and screenshot a well drawn portrait. There is just something special about them that draws me in. There are just so many different styles out there and I find that very inspiring. I absolutely love the stages when a face come to life while drawing. The eyes are the best part, and I love spending forever on them. I almost spend as much time on the eyes as I do the rest of the face!

:What are your favorite medias to work in?

: Colored pencils, without a doubt! It takes a very long time, and it’s difficult, but it’s worth it when done right. My second favorite media has to be graphite and watercolors mixed, that can be really beautiful.

: You are from Oslo, Norway. How does where you live affect you creativity?

: Well, not much to be honest. I would love to have quick access to beautiful buildings and sunshine the ocean, but that’s not the case up here in the north. I find most of my inspiration on tumblr actually! Although when I get away from the city Norway is really beautiful, so don’t get me wrong.

: Are you self-taught or did you pursue art in school?

: I’m self-taught! I have no idea how color theory works or how the lighting is supposed to fall in a drawing. I just draw what inspires me and try to improve every day. Right now I’m in my last year of my bachelors degree in economics, and I will start on my masters after that, just need to take a gap year to breathe a little.

: Do you have a favorite piece?

: Yeeees, my drawing of Evan Peters! I received so many nice comments and positive feedback, and it was also really fun to draw.

: What are your future dreams/goals?

: I want to get better. Much better! And open an online store for selling prints and originals. I recently did a collaboration with Infinite Universe, and they are currently selling t-shirts with my drawings on them! So I would like to do that again. I want to travel, and I’m hoping I get to see some amazing places in my gap year coming up. I have already started planning for it! I hope that I never lose my passion for drawing, and that this is something that I will do for the rest of my life 🙂

: Any advice?

: If you love to create and draw and paint, then just keep doing it. Don’t give up just because you are not as good as you think you have to be or your progress is not fast enough. It’s not about being amazing right away, it’s the journey there 🙂 I read a quote somewhere saying the only way to fail is to stop creating, or something, and I liked that. Oh, ummm, and invest in some good quality paper. It will really make a difference!

See more from Martine at: martinemoen.tumblr.com and @martinemoen_!