Berlin-based artist Ophélie Paris has some pretty lovely art to get lost in. She finds her inspiration from nature and European folk art, and doesn't shy away from introducing politics into her creative process, too. We recently had a chat with Ophélie about how she first developed her unique style, which you can take a read of down below.

Hi Ophélie! Tell us a bit about yourself. I’m an illustrator based in Berlin. I recently made a book with my drawings and poems in French, and I've also worked with textile design. 

What, or who, are the main inspirations behind your art? Honestly, inspirations come from anywhere. I usually come back to animals, flowers, nature and anything that's represents a slice of life. I'm also influenced by politics, history and some of my favourite books. But I'll always have a soft spot for European folk art. 

When did you discover a passion for art? I can’t remember exactly when it started. I loved crafting as a kid. Not only drawing things, but also making some small paper toys or paper furnitures, I even inked my own and detailed maps inspired by Tolkien’s books and drawings.

Talk to us about your creative process. To get started I set a timer (I follow the pomodoro technique) and after 20 minutes I get totally invested into my work, I just keep sketching until I’m happy with it. I’m honestly very bad at keeping a sketchbook so I mostly use blank sheets of paper. With colour, that's where I really shine and adding colours is always my favourite part of the process. 

Why do you primarily use coloured pencils opposed to other mediums? I was painting with gouache paint for a long time when eventually I just felt bored with the way I was representing my art. I then set my focus onto colour pencils for a few months and it was great! I learned a lot about my art and it offered me new perspectives. I love how coloured pencils can enhance details, give textures and give it a certain glow to a picture. I think I will one day come back to gouache though, because I really do miss painting. 

What has been your favourite work, so far? At the moment, my favourite work is Snail Tale, which is a small comic I made and published by the Budapest-based Hurrikan Press last spring. It’s a mini book about the history of my family. My grandmother was Hungarian and fled her country in 1956 in order to live in France. As a young adult I decided to learn Hungarian for myself and I met the sister of my grandmother, which helped me discover many new things that I didn’t know about my family. It’s quite different from my usual drawings but I like particularly because it’s very personal.

You’ve also used art to communicate heavy issues such as war. Why? I made some art for Le Courrier d’Europe Centrale about the realities of life in Central and Eastern Europe. They asked me to illustrate a series of testimonies about the war in Ukraine. It was a really meaningful project and I was interested in illustrating people's personal experience of this war. 

What do you hope people will get out of your art? I hope people will find my characters cute and silly and that my pictures will help feed their imagination. But in general, I hope to make things that touches people, give them a sense of inner peace, contemplation or just surprise them!