Artist Focus: Öznur Sönmez

Hello, I am a Homebody =) I've been working from home since 2016. I know, it seems very easy, but if you are not a planner, I think it is quite difficult and very open to relaxation. But of course I am very happy to have established a traffic-free work organization.

Producing in my own space makes me feel happy and free. On my desk, I have books that I am happy to look at and that motivate me, paints and brushes that I want to have at hand... But also I love traveling! That's why I always have my computer and iPad with me. You can see me working at the airport, on a sun lounger on vacation.

Before illustrating a children's book, I first try to read and understand the story correctly, then I meet the characters and look around a bit. For example, is our hero confused? Is he a human or an animal? And what does he/she feel? Where and when does the character live? What is around him/her? Finding answers to these questions is very important at this stage. And then bingo! Now I can draw the big picture.

And what exactly should the packaging and style of the story be? The main thing I look for when determining the drawing style is the emotion of the story. At this stage, I can see the color palette and the technique I will use.

It excites me to be different. Instead of drawing the same line, I like to change. In each new project, I try to stand out from my previous work and use an alternative language.

I am also an Art Director and besides illustrating children's books, I am involved in many different brands and projects in the field of advertising. Working in different disciplines such as animation, graphic design, packaging, being versatile is one of my favorite features.

I can say that my inspiration is of course nature. From the smallest to the largest, there is an amazing detail. Trees, leaves, birds, insects... There are so many things to inspire from!

The flowers in our home accompany us every day as a small part of nature. Sometimes my daughter and I change the soil of the flowers and water them. I can say that we enjoy this experience very much.

I love working with collage, the texture of the paper itself tells me a lot. On my free days, I work on textures with acrylic and make materials for myself. Magazines, cardboard bags and other paper materials that I can't throw away...

I mostly use a colorful palette in my work. The emphasis, the feeling of the drawings is very much related to the colors. That's why I care about colors.

My characters are always very active. Jumping, surprised, running... I emphasize the emotion of the character by using a lot of expressions.