Kira Shaimanova

Illustration, 2010. Sculpture Artist and Illustrator.
www.kirashaimanova.com

“I went out and made real friends with some of my illustration idols in the industry, and you can't get more ‘real world’ than that. I visited their studios, went on lunch dates and connected with artists that have been in the game for many years.”

What do you enjoy most about your work? What is the most challenging aspect of your work?

I've always loved getting the phone call for a new project and having all these elaborate concepts rush to my head. It's new and different every time, but I love challenge. Although, the most challenging for me is having super short deadlines. My work is very intricate and time consuming. It involves creating my characters individually from clay, painting them, creating outfits, building the set, then photographing the final. At the very end I do some photoshop colour adjustments and send in the final.It's a mission to get it done, but it's so worth it in the end. Because of the type of work I do, I usually don't take on projects with a deadline shorter than 5 days. I know if I take on a super short deadline, I'll drain myself in the process and it won't be my best work.