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Getting To Know POP Member Mandy Finke

posted by Marcroy June 12, 2024

On the blog with Verfied People of Print member, Mandy Finke. Mandy is an artist and illustrator based in Amsterdam. Her distinct style and mark-making are what capture viewers’ attention, here we find out more about her process, work, and inspirations.

For new visitors, please tell us what you do and the sorts of projects you work on.

My creative practice is quite varied, I spend a big chunk of my free time drawing and developing my illustration skills, but also dabble in other fields such as painting, embroidery, felting, ceramics… For a couple of years, I’ve focused on learning risograph printing and developing my style in a way that lends itself better to the medium.

What’s your work and education background? Did you go to Art school?

I don’t have a formal education in printmaking or illustration, I studied architecture and interior architecture and graduated with a master’s degree in interior architecture in 2015. Ever since I graduated, I’ve been working in the design/architecture industry in Amsterdam.

What is your working process?

Once I determine the idea/concept of an illustration, I start the “sketching process”. This often actually starts with photo-collage and bashing things together to block out the general composition. Since I love to add lots of detail, it helps to have a somewhat realistic starting point to work from. Then I will start sketching over the top of this, changing existing elements, adding things that are missing, and generally adjusting the sketch until it is to my liking. Once this basic sketch is done I start my linework/hatching and shading, which is a very intuitive process.

I usually start and finish all of my illustrations in black and white, with grey to add a range of values. Only when the illustration is done will I convert it to incorporate colours and play around to see which colours I want to print it.

What are your inspirations? Are there any themes you like to look at in particular?

I find inspiration in many different things. My daily life, food, people, nature and architecture. Recently I’ve been very interested in illustrating fairytales and making fantastical illustrations.

When I was a kid, what sparked my interest in drawing were manga / graphic novels and Japanese RPG video games and their elaborate character designs and world-building. The work of Hiro Isono has been and still is a huge source of inspiration to me.

The graphic black and white panels and shading style of Japanese manga also have a big influence on my preferred drawing style. But also the work of European graphic novelists like Sergio Toppi are a big influence.

What materials/equipment do you like to use?

I work mostly digitally. For sketching and drawing, I use Procreate on an iPad Pro (2019 model) with an Apple pencil.

Once initial illustrations are done I transition to Photoshop for file prep and setup for riso-printing. I prefer the layer structure in Photoshop and that you can easily put clipping masks on folders.

What are your hopes and plans for the future of your practice?

I hope that I can keep on growing as an illustrator and printmaker, and improve my abstraction skills and storytelling. I’m working on sketching out simpler concepts from my imagination instead of relying on photographic reference images.

I hope that at some point in the future, I will be able to make my art and print work a bigger part of my everyday life, and hopefully transition towards making it a consistent part of my professional life as well!