Illustrator Lida Motamed Under The Spotlight

Lida Motamed is an Illustrator. And she lives in Tehran, Iran. Her illustrations are published weekly on local newspapers and she loves to illustrate for kids. Let's have a chat with her!

1. Welcome to Think Smart Blog. Introduce yourself and tell us more about your art and what made you become an Illustrator?

I was born in 1980 and I'm a single woman who loves illustration and arts. I loved art since I was a child, my parents and all my teachers told me I was good at arts and painting. With that in mind, I started studying it in high school, then I went to art school for 4 years. After that I went to university and studied graphic design. Then I started working with children's books, magazines and local newspapers. I have 11 years experience and I've done lots of llustrative books throughout these years for a lot of different places.

I've recently became a member of a cultural and artistic society of
Iranian illustrators. I also have a group called "Wonderland Group of Illustrators" And every year there's an exhibition of this group in different galleries in Iran (Tehran ) where I'm responsible to introduce new illustrators and their works. I'm very inspired by children as well. I love their simplicity, their world is just fascinating to me. That's basically why I decided to become an illustrator. I enjoyed the simplicity in my childhood and I didn't want lose that.

2. Your illustrations have great color combination. The colors are powerful without being overwhelming, Where do you get that balance?

I get the color balance and harmony from the nature and natural elements.

3. Is there anything you are currently working on? Can you tell us about it?

Yes , I'm currently working on and for one of the most famous
newspaper for children in Iran ( Hamshahri - bicycle ) and every week
they publish one of my illustrations.



4. What do you consider to be the biggest improvements and pitfalls in your career as an artist?

I consider my improvements being the dedication I have with my art and keeping the essence, the simplicity and the visual communication of my illustrations alive.

Pitfalls? Nothing that I could really remember of.

5. What do you feel are the most important skills for a Illustrator to have/develop?

I think as an illustrator, you need to explore and experiment different
techniques. So this way you can differ yourself as an artist and improve your
art. I like to read illustration magazines and books and also go to art galleries,
go to exhibitions and see what other illustrators are doing is great too. Illustrators must know how to use colors, shadows and perspective. And they must know how to draw figures in general. If they have children as a target audience they should also know about children's psychology and last but not least they have to put a lot of passion on their work!

6. Do you have any favorite websites for interacting with
others in the Illustration community?

My favorites are:
http://www.pict-web.com/eg/
http://www.illustrationfriday.com/
they are very inspirational to me.

7. What is the one lesson that you learned the hard way that you
wish someone had told you about when you got started doing Illustrations?

Well, I think that finding your own tune as an artist and be respected and recognized as one, is a hard lesson learned for me.I wish I was told that
as an artist you have a long path to walk through until you get respect and recognition. But luckily I'm getting there!

8. Who would you consider to be the biggest influences on your career?

My biggest influence would be from my teacher who is one of the most famous illustrators in Iran Mr. Mohammad Ali Baniasadi and his official site is:
http://www.mbaniasadi.com/

9. What are the tools you couldn’t live without?

I could not live without painting ... drawing .... illustrations in general.

10. Where can we find you online?

I have one official Iranian weblog : http://lidamotamed.blogfa.com/
and one blogspot also : http://lidamotamed1980.blogspot.com/