There’s a sense of cheekiness when it comes to Ari Liloan’s art. “I like bright colors telling me terrible things,” she writes on her website, adding that her favorite subjects to draw center around timeless topics such as power, money, science, death, love, and fried chicken (who could say no to that!).
Currently based in Berlin, the Filipino-Italian illustrator admits that she tries to avoid inspiration, at least in terms of visual influence. “Not hopping on Pinterest reduces the chance to use arbitrary metaphors and color schemes that have little to do with the commission,” she told Ballpitmag. “Reading the client brief carefully is enough and should be the main source of inspiration. However, when I feel stuck, I religiously nap or take long walks. (There’s no religion dedicated to that, but I think there should be.)”
Much like her creative process, her journey to becoming an artist could be described as a long walk, though Liloan uses different terminology to explain it. “It’s a pinball in a pinball machine kind of tale,” she says. “I never landed on one thing and stuck to it. Failed here, got rejected there, lost interest in that – the common odyssey of people with no passion but way too many interests.”
But after a lot of moving around, she found her calling through illustration. A good fit, judging by her collaborative efforts, among which are brands as big as BMW Austria, Mercedes Austria, and T-Mobile.
Here are some highlights from her Instagram page.
