Meet Marianne K. S. Paulsen | Illustrator

We had the good fortune of connecting with Marianne K. S. Paulsen and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Marianne, what’s your definition for success?
Career wise, success would be making art that makes me feel creatively fulfilled, and earning enough money from this to keep a roof over my head and afford tea, honey, bread and brie, the good life, hehe.
On a personal level, success is maintaining my love for creating art through hard times, and difficult projects.
Success is whenever someone tells me one of my pieces revived a memory for them, made them smile, or inspired them to try creating something for themselves.

I also feel successful when other artists ask me for advice, or want to collaborate. Sharing knowledge, when asked, makes me feel like I’ve succeeded in creating a safe space for expression, discussion, growth and mutually beneficial relationships. In the end, success is spreading a love of art, joy through colour and images, and inspiring others to create for themselves as well.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
My art is divided in two main categories; ‘childhood joy and nostalgia’, and ‘I crawled out of the darkest deep of the earth’. As most of my designs are inspired by emotions, they are very bright or very dark. The sweet spot is a bright piece with a melancholy or eerie undertone. Like a dream teetering on the edge of becoming a nightmare. I have the most fun when creating one image stories. The image paired with one, or a couple of sentences, is meant to pique the viewer’s interest enough that they want to know more of the story. Thus far no story has been elaborated on beyond the one frame, but who knows, maybe something is in the works. For less story-based works I usually draw inspiration from nature and folklore as they are bottomless sources for wonder and imagination.

It is hard to pinpoint what sets one’s own work apart from others’, but I think my visual signature shines through no matter what medium, or what stylistic approach I choose. As my day-job is creating mascots and illustrations for websites, I often have to change up my style to showcase the unique character of the firm I’m designing for. This is a great way to push myself to evolve, and the harder the brief, the more improvement I see in my personal work later on.
I am usually a ‘yes person’ with a ‘can do’ attitude when it comes to commissions, even if I have no idea if I can actually do it. It has worked out well so far, and I think as long as you request honest feedback, you will end up with a good result and a happy client.

These days I am mostly excited about the children’s book I am working on, it is my own personal project and I hope to find more time to work on it this summer so I can send it off and hopefully have it get picked up by a publishing house. It contains all my favourite things, cute characters, scary antagonist, nature spirits, retelling folklore with little twists, magical themes and childlike wonder. The plot is done and the sketches are underway, I was never going to get into children’s book illustration, but a university project I did in 2017 got a lot of positive feedback, so I’m running with it! I’ve learned that you have to create your own opportunities and so I am trying something new.

I am still working toward my goal of being a full time artist. I graduated during Covid, and very few people were hiring. No one were answering my cold e-mails and I had to take a zero hour part time job at the hospital, as it was one of few places that stayed open. I still take shifts at the hospital when the creative business is struggling.

When things started up again I was lucky enough to get a job with a friend of my sister, who needed an illustrator for their start-up design firm, Umble, and I still work with them regularly. The project was a mini game for mobile phone and ended up taking almost two years. We were working on and off as we looked for funding in between. It was hard work, but a lot of fun as well. I sometimes wonder what I would be doing right now if that opportunity had not come along.

The hardest part, for me, is finding a balance between doing one’s own work to fulfil personal creative needs, and taking on projects that will pay the bills in the meantime. That is not to say that I do not enjoy every project, I enjoy the act of drawing so I always like seeing a character come to life.
I often find that taking on projects with clear instructions is easy when I am going through personal struggles. They offer something concrete to focus on and offer a feeling of accomplishment when everything else is in shambles. When life is more stable, the mind has energy to play, and then clear outlines for a project feels restricting. Learning to work creatively when you need structure, and structurally when you want to play, has been challenging, but it is possible.

It is also important to remember that taking a break is okay, it is good and can help replenish your creative mojo. Going for a walk or reading random scientific articles or taking a week off, can sometimes lead to new inspiration. Most of all, having a creative community around you that is supportive, encouraging and who shares opportunities with each other is invaluable. Take the time to build good relationships and network. It is well known, but having connections in many places and fields really does help.

My future goal is to be able to support myself through my own works. Maybe one-chapter comics from the same larger universe. As long as I can create the things inside my mind that I cannot see around me in the real world. Some people like to escape occasionally, I want to offer a place to escape to for a little while, through visual storytelling.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Oh, my city is small but I think I would take them hiking in the woods. The woods near my house is where I feel the most at peace and there are many beautiful clearings perfect for a little picnic and a sketchbook session. I would also take them to the old town, and show them the bicycle lift. It is just a silly little thing, but it is exactly the sort of mini attraction people might remember precisely because it is so silly. There is also a one piece sculpture exhibit, by a local artist, in the basement of one of the banks. It’s called “Salamandernatten” and it makes you walk into a dark box with a small hole in the ceiling. This allows your eyes to slowly adjust to your surroundings and the sculptures inside are revealed as you get used to the darkness. Fascinating piece of art. I would also take my visiting friend out of the city, to the family cabin for a light mountain hike and better view of the starry night sky as a result of less light pollution.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
There are so many people I could give a shoutout to for inspiring me to choose a creative career as well as keeping me inspired!
The first person who inspired me through illustration was Norwegian artist Theodor Kittelsen with his dark fairy tale illustrations of trolls and creatures from Norwegian folklore. In later years I would credit Guillermo del Toro’s movies for inspiring me to embrace my inner darkness and pour it into my art. There is just something so hauntingly beautiful in melancholy and nostalgia. The real heroes however, are my fellow artists all around the world. I have a lot of wonderful creatives on various online platforms. These people are an endless source of entertaining conversations, brainstorming, silly meme sharing at 3AM, grand ideas for projects that stay in our sketchbooks, and enthusiastic cheering when someone reaches a goal. I hope every creative person out there have someone to lean on when art block comes around whether they are in the art business or just a friend with an interesting mind whose very presence and conversation sparks new ideas.

Website: https://www.zlnki.art/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marianne-paulsen-86812b175