We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Andrea Corsini. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Andrea below.

Andrea, appreciate you joining us today. Can you talk to us about how you learned to do what you do?

It took time to learn what helps and what hinders my artistic growth and while these tips might be useful for lots of artists you’ll learn what’s most helpful to you by doing art.
I’d say that my biggest boost in getting better was being very curious and always on the hunt for tutorials or possible exercises to do and lots of practice (shocker, I know).

The most essential skills to have actually tie together with the obstacles one might encouter; being open to critisim, both from others and from introspection, is essential to develop a more refined “artistic eye”.
Perfectionism can be detrimental and might stop you from trying out new things because you might not “ace it” at the first try.
Being able to go out from your comfort zone will push you, on the other hand, to try out new things and might lead you to make “happy accidents” along the way.

The last thing I see a lot of new artists obsess over is style, this is something you develop with time, practice and by looking at a lot of other artitsts’ work and trying out things for yourself. You should focus on learning art fundamentals first and have a solid base from where to build your style from.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

Just like many other artists, growing up I didn’t actually thought of art as an option for my future job; especially because my parents, as supportive as most parents would be when their small child would show up with a jumbled piece of paper with random shapes and colors, saw art as a pastime and nothing more.
This unfortunately impacted my own view, being very jealous of my sketches, keeping them locked in my bedroom like the most precious of treasures.
As a child, I was my happiest with a pencil in my hand and a blank paper before me; I treated art like a diary.
I was drawn to art like a moth to a light and would spend afternoons staring at my favorite childhood books’ illustrations.

Me and my family are gipsies (Romani people, if you prefer) and my parents own amusement park rides which periodically move from city to city. This from an outside perspective might sound like a very creative job, and it was in some aspects, but the direct contact with people was not for me and it made me suffer.

During the time I worked for my parents I had stopped drawing almost completely and slowly I realized I could not continue with this life. I moved out and started jumping from part-time job to part-time job. During this period, I met who is my now partner, which changed my view on a lot of things in my life.
He pushed me to finish highschool, which I had dropped out of to work with my parents, and encouraged me to start drawing again.

I was very lucky, he bought me my first ever drawing tablet and paid for an art course later on and supported me while I was figuring out the whole art thing again.
My 6 year pause from art was no more and I started to draw everyday, watch tutorials and consume anything artistic that came my way. This led eventually to my first ever private commission and 5 years later I now work as an illustrator and concept artist for book publishing, TTRPGs and TCGs.

I’m very proud of all the hard work and dedication I put into my art, bringing characters and ideas to life.
I love to tell stories through my illustrations and connect with the viewer, transporting them in a different world just like my favorite books did with me as a child.

Any resources you can share with us that might be helpful to other creatives?

Growing up, I wish I knew how much learning material was avaible on the internet.
English is not my first language, I’m italian, and a lot of videos and tutorials were and are in english.

I am a self taught, I’ve learnt 90% of what I know from free tutorials on the internet. If I had known about all of this before I’m sure my skills could have developed quicker and sooner.
Youtube especially, is a holy grail of tutorials. Artists like James Gourney, Proko, Marco Bucci and many more offer incredible advice and useful lessons.

Another great resource are artbooks, both from old masters and contemporary artists, which help you expand you mental library and come up with more intresting ideas and new techniques to try out.
Reading and watching about different topics in general, even unrelated to your area of expertise, can be very beneficial especially as a concept artist. Being able to come up with unique concepts and and break away from stereotypes is what might make you stand out to potential clients.

Any advice for growing your clientele? What’s been most effective for you?

A common sentiment amongst my clientele is that they like my communication, availability to hear feedback and ability to come up with interesting ideas.
As an autistic woman, being able to communicate and understand what is requested clearly is right next to delivering a great illustration or concept on my scale of importance.
I want to make sure my clients are heard and that their projects are treated with care. This also means being able to discuss options together and being able to present new ones that the client might have not considered before.

This in turn, leaves a positive expirience for both you and the client which will most likely be more prone to refer new clients to you if the opportunity arises,
I also really value being honest, connecting with other creatives and building a positive work eniviroment which helps attract clients with similar values.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://cara.app/syqkos
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/not.not.andreas/
• Other: https://linktr.ee/Not_andreas