Lauren Close

Telling stories one sketch at a time

artist, painter and illustrator

Meet The Artist

Howdy!I’m Lauren, a digital and traditional artist and an aspiring animator! I specialize in character design and paintingWhen I create my art, I often look to other artists I know, or animated films for inspiration. I love admiring the artistry of each creation and it motivates me to continue my work as an artist.I think art is one of the most impactful and meaningful things we can make. I don’t think there’s such a thing as being born with talent, but being born with a passion. I believe anyone can learn to create and love art, all it takes is the right mindset and love for the work.

Becoming an artist

I’ve always been “right-brained”, even as a kid I remember drawing and creating small stories in random notebooks and the corners of my homework. But my passion began in 2017, in 5th grade. With my exposure to the internet growing with my age, I was able to explore new forms of art styles and artists that’s I could inspire from.I started digital art in 6th grade, sneaking on the school computers to explore more. But with comes adolescence, comes confidence issues. I started to lose confidence in my abilities, and began questioning if I should draw at all. But every time I attempted to pick up a new hobby or leave my art behind, I always found myself imagining my characters while listening to music, or doodling on the corner of my assignments. It seemed like no matter what, I was always creating, whether I liked it or not.My mother enrolled me into art classes around 7th grade. I remember not wanting to go because it seemed like a realism-only class. But I went anyway, and after a year of curriculum and expanding my mediums other than pencil and printer paper, I was able to choose what I wanted to learn. For a few years I stuck to Impressionism, staring at social media and attempting to recreate what others had done, just with my own character designs. It was only until 11th grade, I knew that if I wanted to animate, I had to expand my skills beyond referenced sketches. So I began studying anatomy, spending hours on each body part over and over, and eventually line of action, then composition. This art class grew me from a wanna be art influencer, to someone I felt comfortable with being. I take pride in my art even if there’s a miss every now and then.My passion for art and animation has changed me as a person and how I view the world. I never started off with natural talent or immediate success, but countless hours of practice, thousands of papers and hundreds old drawings to show for what I do. I believe passion is what drives us to create and succeed in what we love, not talent.

Characters

sketches

paintings

extra

Say hi!

You can email or text me directly, I hope to hear from you!