We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Daniela Werneck a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Daniela, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Learning the craft is often a unique journey from every creative – we’d love to hear about your journey and if knowing what you know now, you would have done anything differently to speed up the learning process.

I have always loved art and crafts, I was born with this very strong interest in me.

As a teenager, around 16, my father believed I had talent and encouraged this with private drawing lessons. I took these classes that were held once a week for seven years. Do You know those little classes that you don’t really believe in what they can learn but deep down you gain a lot of knowledge from them? My drawing teacher/mentor was amazing. He taught me how to draw by observation alone, hands-free, without graphing or anything. From him, I also learned the notions of charcoal, pastel, and acrylic.

In my early 20s, already in college, my attendance at these classes started to drop, and I didn’t have the same time as before. That was when I saw a book about watercolor in a local bookstore very close to where I lived. This book, small in size, aroused my curiosity about the technique. As I was already absent from classes a lot, my mentor suggested that I copy the paintings from the book and then show them to him. I learned a lot about watercolor just by copying the work of other artists and following some suggested techniques indicated in the book. I still have this book today.

Already graduated and working, I had watercolor as a hobby. I’ve always really liked human figures, so I started painting family members. Little by little, some commissions were appearing and I did them for fun, there was never any intention of being an artist.

If I could go back in time I would not change a thing. I was very happy with my career in the past and I truly believe that things happen when it is time.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

My name is Daniela Werneck, I am an artist with a bachelor’s degree in Interior Design. I was born and raised in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, surrounded by Portuguese relatives. After marrying my handsome husband, we moved to Australia and lived there for 3 years, just before we landed in Texas in 2011, a place that our two sons call home, and where they do not want to leave anytime soon.

​As an artist, I am a romantic, and an art lover since my childhood. Although, as a teenager, I attended private drawing lessons, where does all my artistic base come from, I consider myself a self-taught watercolorist. I painted commissioned portraits in watercolor for many years, which helped me a lot to improve my skills.

Influenced by my personal background My paintings are a mixture of the classic and the romantic, with a contemporary look. The hard life of my Portuguese ancestors, my childhood in a poor and tropical country, our immigration, and caring for children in the foster care system, have made me into a more sensitive and humbler person. This tendency impacts what I expect from my paintings and their emotional narrative.​ My art is innocent, romantic, and pure, but often with a social focus that brings knowledge with a sense of freedom and hope to the public. Like fairy tales with all the rebellion that they can provoke, my paintings usually speak to the public, tell stories, and create an emotional narrative, revealing feelings and thoughts.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

It’s gratifying to be able to express myself through my drawings. Putting out my feelings and telling stories with just an image. It’s gratifying to touch people’s feelings and make them laugh or cry just by looking at my work. Every compliment I receive is gratifying and stimulating, as they encourage me to continue. I’m very grateful for that!

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

I don’t have a goal for my art. I’m grateful for what happened and for all the opportunities I have had by now, as I mentioned before, I never imagined I would be an artist. But, I have a goal for myself to be better than I was yesterday in everything. And my focus is always on making the best painting the one that is yet to be made.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.danielawerneck.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/daniela.werneck/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dani.werneck/

Image Credits
Daria Ratliff