In Conversation: Irina Selaru on mental health, calmness and challenges faced.

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We’re talking to Irina Selaru today! Irina is a London-based illustrator with a “passion for animation, typography and all things creative” with illustrations that are bold, calming and full of texture, balancing between digital and traditional drawing styles. Irina’s worked with Google Doodle, The Stylist Magazine and more. Our chat bounces between the struggles Irina’s faced, the stories she tries to tell within her work and just how important it is to make viewers feel something genuine. Read on to see the feature in full!

Find and connect with Irina:
Email: hello@irinaselaru.com
Website: irinaselaru.com
Instagram: @irina.selaru
Twitter: @irinaselaru
Behance: Irina Selaru
LinkedIn: Irina Selaru

Hello! Introduce yourself, who are you? What do you do?

Hello! My name is Irina, and I am a Romanian illustrator currently based in London. I am a creative person who likes to laugh, drink coffee, connect with people, learn, and smile at nice strangers – especially if they are walking their dog. Right now, I am a full-time self-employed illustrator, mainly taking editorial commissions but working on expanding my clientele so I can get more commissions for publishing and advertising projects as well.

Tell us more about your illustration practice and style? How did it evolve?

My journey of becoming an illustrator was quite awry, and I am pretty proud of that. I studied fine art in high school and for my BA, which hardly influenced my earliest illustration stages. I remember I wasn’t happy about where this was going, and I wanted to find a much more simplified style that would allow me complete freedom to create on my terms.

Following illustrators who had a similar style to the one I wanted to get to helped me a lot, and with time and plenty of practice, I came closer to that freedom I was craving. I switched from realistic, real-life subjects to something more creative, simplified, and further away from what I previously knew.

Ever since I left my hometown, I have moved a lot from one city to another, making it too difficult to carry all my art supplies with me. That is how I decided to take on digital art and it was one of the best decisions I have ever made. I started drawing in Photoshop at first but immediately discovered Procreate and fell in love with what it offers and how easy it is to use. I still draw on paper and always carry a sketchbook everywhere I go in case I get any spontaneous ideas. My sketchbooks are the starting point for all my projects.

Your digital work heavily features characters and faces that feel familiar when viewing your work, are they depictions of people you know or inspired by anything specific?

It depends on the situation and the story behind each illustration. Sometimes I draw nobody at all, sometimes it is me or someone I know, and even though their features don’t resemble reality, I know it’s them. If I need more than one character, I will sometimes draw people who remind me of my brother and sisters or other people I have met. However, I never get their features right and only think of them while drawing.

Regardless of the character, there is always a story I am telling through my work, a real story with real characters. When the story becomes more difficult to talk about, the characters become even less recognizable

A recurring theme in your work is mental health and a sense of calmness, why is that? How important are those topics for you?

These topics have been massively important for me lately as I recently realised that I should always put my mental health first, and nothing is worth bringing it down. I have been struggling a lot with harsh thoughts and not feeling good about myself as a person, and it comes a time when you want to change that. I used to be very anxious and have multiple panic attacks in a day, had trouble sleeping, dissociating, and felt hopeless all the time. I tried to reach out for help a few times, but nothing worked, at least not in the long run. I just learned that you could only get advice from external resources, but nobody can make a change on your end. It is a bumpy road, but it is always worth coming at peace with who you are.

I am still struggling sometimes, but I am aware that I made some progress and will keep doing it. I know people around me who face similar issues, and I am trying to raise awareness of how important it is to take care of yourself because nobody else will. These were the times when all I needed was calmness, and that is what I wanted people to find in my work.

If you were to name a few people who have inspired you throughout your career so far, who are they?

Firstly, I would mention one of the greatest teachers and artists I have ever met, Sergio García Sánchez, who inspired me to follow a career in illustration. A few years ago, I had the opportunity to study abroad with an Erasmus project and went to Granada, Spain. Sergio was teaching a class about illustration and comics, and I will always be grateful for how supportive and creative he was with his teaching and for discovering how brilliant his drawings are. Who knows if I would have still followed this career path if it wasn’t for him?

Other than that, my brother and two sisters have always inspired and supported me with their love and creativity, and I couldn’t be happier to have them in my life. They also work in creative industries, and it is always reassuring when someone understands your struggles and joys.

I am following so many illustrators on social media because they are incredibly creative, and it always makes me happy to see their inspiring work. Some of them are Tess Smith-Roberts, Aysha Tengiz, Luna Pan, Domonkos Erhardt and Ibrahim Rayintakath.

What's next for you? Where can people find your work?

I just moved to London, so I am excited about all the opportunities here. It’s a city full of art and that is exactly where I wanted to be. I don’t know what will happen next, but what I know is that I would like to take on an animation class, maybe work with an illustration agency, find an art studio, get as many people as possible to know my work, and just keep learning and drawing. There are so many things to do, and I am thrilled to discover them all!

I always keep my website up to date with my latest illustrations, but you can also find me on Instagram, Twitter, Behance, and LinkedIn. Also, feel free to contact me by email with any work inquiries, and if you are in London, let’s grab a coffee and discuss art.

Make sure you check out Irina‘s work here: irinaselaru.com

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Image credits: Irina Selaru