We had the good fortune of connecting with Yvonne Arasa and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Yvonne, can you tell us more about your background and the role it’s played in shaping who you are today?
I was born in raised in the Bay Area. I didn’t have the best childhood growing up and I was abused alot as a child. Growing up I didnt have a voice and when I became an adult and started healing my trauma I became a more postive person and be an advocate for those who dont feel they cant be themselves or scared about talking about mental health issues. The impact of my childhood gave me a voice as an adult to stand up for myself when others wont.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
Ive been a graphic design for the last. 8 years. Its been a long road and I didnt get more recognition until I started teaching myself how to create digital airbrushing in beginning of 2020. In 2020 one of my artworks ‘Fuck The Police’ airbrush artwokr went viral that I started to get noticed. During that time It wasnt common that people can do digital airbrushing. I learned alot of lessons during that time with alot of happiness and heartache. CHallenges I faced was people copying my artwork down to tracing, its hard for it not to happen. All you can do its let people know its not ok. I became a huge advocate for crediting artists/graphic designers for their work. Lessons I learned is to speak up for yourself and dont let people take advantage of you. Through 2020-2022 I was known as the airbrush queen and even selling my artwork on backdrops for 90s/2000s glamour shots. There is alot of my influence on the y2k trend from the last 2 years that single handedly came from myself.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
First thing first I would start in my area and go eat at Japantown Mall. We would shop at the Mall and eat rotating sushi at Izumi kaiten Sushi then get takoyaki for dessert and hit The Social Study For a chill spot for cocktails. Other place to check out is Jane The Bakery. Check out any place on 24th and mission shopping, food. My fav taqueria el farolito then you can check Dolores park to eat and drink. Marina District has some of the best brunch spots and coffee.

Rose’s cafe, cracked and battered, wrecking ball coffee. I personally stay away from tourist places like pier 39, Union Square because its not fun and not authentic I like to venture to different districts and only go one district per day to see whats there. Districts that always have good food, something fun is Japantown, Marina District, Haight, Mission, Sunset, Castro, Richmond.

Website: lilcroissant.com

Instagram: lilcroissant

Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@lilcroissant_

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