Currently living in London, illustrator and designer Mahdis Nikou was born in Tehran, the capital city of Iran, and moved to the UK at the age of 19, “carrying a lot of hopes and dreams”. Since a young age, she was always into drawing and painting, and pursued art in high school and college. At the same time, she went to college to learn English with the hopes of going to university and finding a fulfilling job, as well as living freely and away from restrictions. With a lot of dedication and help from her tutors, she got into the London College of Communication where she studied Design.
After graduation, she landed a job as an in-house graphic designer, and since then has been working in the creative industry. Mahdis is now a full time senior design consultant at a presentation and e-learning agency. “Although my job allows me to be creative on a day to day basis, I found the creativity I’m required to express always has to follow certain rules, whether it’s client’s brand guidelines, their vision or project requirements. Therefore, I’ve always had an urge to express my creativity outside of work where the only rules existing are the ones I make,” describes the designer. Thus, she decided to pursue illustration on the side, and any spare time is now spent drawing.
“I’ve always been interested in illustration, but I never believed my work was good enough to share with others and that really knocked my confidence internally and stopped me from drawing anything and pursuing illustration professionally for many years,” says Mahdis. However, during the first lockdown, with a lot of free time and loads of thoughts and ideas that needed expressing, she discovered Procreate. She spent some of her savings and bought herself an iPad and the Procreate app, starting her journey into her illustration business; “Before this, I’ve done a few pieces traditionally but being a perfectionist always led into leaving them unfinished and left out. There was something about the process of traditional drawing that intimidated me… So in a way Procreate and digital art really helped me to overcome that fear because I knew at any stage if I wasn’t happy with something I could just go back a step or two and fix things.”
Overtime, this practice taught Mahdis that making “mistakes” are actually a part of the learning process and crucial in style development and self-expression. The first few months of her digital art journey was purely experimental; learning different techniques, letting herself make mistakes, and creating work for the sake of creation played a massive part in developing her unique style. During this process, Mahdis also gained confidence to start expressing her thoughts and feelings, and by doing so attracted clients that wanted to work with her to illustrate their vision using her expressive skills.
By expressing how she felt through illustrations and sharing it with others, Mahdis showed that she was able to illustrate deep feelings and emotions through art by using colours, shapes, and textures. This led to a commission for Sue Ryder’s #griefkind campaign; “When I was commissioned to create an illustration for the campaign, I realised how important it was to not shy away from expressing myself through my art and how it was helping me get to where I want to be as an illustrator. If I haven’t shared my work with others, an amazing opportunity like that wouldn’t have come knocking at my door!”
Being able to generate income by doing something she was truly passionate about was a big confidence boost for the artist, and a motivational factor to keep creating and doing what she loves. Mahdis states; “Looking back now I realise all my previous “failures” have led me to being able to confidently call myself an illustrator which back then was impossible for me to do.” While creating, sharing, and working, Mahdis was often asked if she’d sell her work as prints, which was not only another confidence booster, but also led her to set up her own website and online shop. “Seeing my illustrations in people’s home in different parts of the world has
brought so much joy that I never knew existed” describes the illustrator.
Seeing how others see the world through their art always inspires new ideas, and is a big part of Mahdis’ creative process. Walks in nature, observing flowers, colours, and greenery fuel further inspiration, and Mahdis always takes pictures in order to bring them into her work in different shapes and forms.
Her illustrations always begin with a rough sketch of it, which she then builds upon and develops into a more detailed version. She then draws shapes, adds colours, textures, and line details in Procreate. Mahdis found that creating a set of brushes and a range of colours swatches that she regularly uses helps with creating more consistency and a unique style. She then produces a test print using her “beloved” Epson XP-15000 to see if colours need adjusting when printed.
Looking to the future, Mahdis hopes to one day have her own studio space where she can spend all of her time creating art and illustrations. She concludes; “I’m hoping to let myself learn and grow without worrying too much about perfection. I also hope young creatives can see past their internal thoughts and insecurities and keep creating what they love and share it with others. Because expressing ourselves can lead into opportunities where meaningful work can be created and what’s more fulfilling than seeing your work is a true reflection of your personality and who you are.”
www.mahdisnikou.co.uk
@mahdisnikou
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