Watercolor - Naturalism - Gnomes
T: Hey Alex!
A: Hey! How’s it going?
T: It’s going well! How are you?
A: Good!
T: Good! Thank you for sitting with me today. I’m really excited to talk with you so I’m going to dive right in!
Style Blending: Gestural Sketches Meet Watercolor![]()
Landscape
T: First off, how did you get your start in art and design?
A: I am one of those people who started when I was little. I was always drawing. Back then it was always like cats and like, you know, like fuzzy animals and stuff like that, but as I got older, just nature in general and natural around me. But then, yeah, through high school and whatnot, I got into drawing, and watercolors later, but I think drawing has always been the place I'm most comfortable with.
T: I mean, people may be familiar with your work, as far as we had a GIF on an email that I can tell you statistically was like the most viewed section on our emails ever of you doing watercolor for that Watercolor Quilling Ed email. So, people are very familiar with your work and really enjoy watching you work. What about watercolor specifically caught your attention?
A: I feel like it's very in the moment. I would try things like oil and it's just, there's so much planning involved. Anything that's more gestural like figure drawing was originally what I really loved growing up, but I got a little bit pigeonholed. I do love watercolor. It's actually considered a little bit more of drawing. You get to layer and you get to add more detail to one subject. It's very classic. And one of the things I like the most about it is that it just has a lot of personality, because it's just so in the moment.
T: So you said pigeonholed, and this is something that sticks with me, because I play instruments, I play jazz trombone, and if I'm playing a tune, I will find myself playing the same sequence of notes in the same exact way across multiple songs. So when you get into those pigeonholes, how do you break out?
A: That's actually a really good, cool thing to touch on. For a couple of years I did a lot of bird art and it was always the same pose, and we needed to make the background light enough to stand beside the quilling so it paired together well. I feel like my style has really shaped itself around having quilling as the main focus, but separating lights and darks is kind of tricky. I think something that has helped is having such a range of subjects to work on., As I worked on Japan, I was really allowed to dive deep into drawing. If you look at Sumo Wrestler, for instance, it's really gestural, but typically it's not something that we do here. And then, more recently, we're interested in using dark backgrounds, so I can really use a light subject in the foreground. I think the past couple years, I've really branched out from doing those, like, one subject drawings, so that's helped me a lot, but it is difficult. It's the same type of subject a lot of the times.
Seven Years of Quilling Designs
T: And how long have you worked here?
A: I think it's going to be about seven years now.
T: Seven years, and we've been a company for 12?
A: Yeah, so I’ve been here for over half of it.
T: Okay, wow.
A: It's a long time!
T: If you had to estimate how many designs you have contributed to, what would you guess?
A: I don't think I can count it up, but it's going to be over, maybe even over 500, I'm not sure what I've just had my hands on, probably way more than that. Almost, I mean, I wouldn't be surprised if it's up to 600.
T: We did some math, and we ballpark around 300 a year for the company, so I would say probably more than 500 if you've been here for that long...
A: I think when it comes to multiple drafts, it's going to be almost a thousand.
T: How many drafts per design do you usually go for?
A: Usually, I think it's about two. I think any more than that and we're nitpicking small little edits. Luckily, it usually doesn't surpass the second edit once I do the whole new artwork. I don't think we like to dwell on it too much because we have so much going on all the time.
T: We always have a backlog of designs that we'd like to do. When you're going through and doing the design selection process, what are the main things you're looking at in a design concept where you're like, this would be something we want to go forward with?
A: I think it’s tricky because we need a certain amount of designs for each category. There’s a lot of nature designs, but we already have so many. We have to think about which areas are selling really well, but maybe have a gap in the designs. So, we'll try to pick a couple from each, and it's difficult because everyone has really good ideas, and some are really niche. So, that's something you have to think about, like how many people would want this sport or this specific bird. I noticed more generalized content that we put on there will make it through. Like a more generalized nature scene, like a watering can, or a more generalized bird to be done.
A New Design With Classic Appeal
T: Speaking of designs, let's take a look at some of the ones that you selected. What do you have? Wait, this card, correct me if I'm wrong, has this been released?
A: I think it's just got released, yes!
T: Okay. So, we're looking at the Ice Skating Scene card. Can you tell me about, from beginning to end what the process for this card looks like, even if we were to zoom in on your design process?
A: I would say when it comes to having, like, this kind of a layers design is usually foreground in a background, but with ours, with something like this, it's really interesting because you think about the background, where in the distance, where are the shadows, and then there's like a middle ground, and then there's what gets quilled. So, that really has to be separated as the very first layer. And then on top of that, there's also foil to think about. So, sometimes something like this will take a few pages of drawings. I'll just let my imagination run free and throw in a few pages until I get something I really like. But, typically, if it's just a one-subject design, it doesn't take too long. And then, they'll really be a drawing I really, really like, so I'll photograph it and trace it on my computer to get it onto the canvas perfectly. After that, once the drawings where I want it to be. I lightly go over it with watercolor and I work background to foreground, which is how you have to work with watercolor. And it slowly, slowly gets there.
T: Yeah. So, I guess then, visually, when you're working on that background, all of the other elements then kind of take shape based off of what you've already introduced. Yeah? Or do you have that complete image in your head already when you're going in to have those elements?
A: I would say I have it in my head pretty much completed. I think after the artwork is done, I put it into Photoshop, and there is a little bit more deciding on how the quilling turns out. So, the snow, for instance, I decide where the snow is going to be quilled. I'll add in those shapes, and then I'll kind of assume Vietnam will know what I'm talking about, but I also let them have some creativity, too, because they have good ideas that we don't think of. And then, I think that the foreground is really what we focus on for deciding what quilling is going to be focused on. That in Photoshop is also a little bit refined, so that the quill shapes more easily.
T: And I've definitely noticed a pattern. Whenever there's a figure, or person, it's typically clothing that gets quilled. I've been looking at this sumo wrestler card, and it's their sarongs and their hair that have been quilled, and the rest is very, like, characteristic. I guess, is there a reason we don't tend to quill people?
A: People have always been a little bit of an issue because the printing can come out a little bit strange. We have to think about what will get printed next to quilling very well, and the combination with skin color and not being able to detail a face properly with paper strips, we just, we always try to print that part instead. The face in particular, but there's so much movement when you put a gestural image behind such stationary paper strips. We can add a lot of movement that can be really cool, so it's a good opportunity to marry the two within a subject.
T: Yeah, absolutely. And I think we get a lot of that movement on... what is this card called?
It's Duck Migration.
A: It's Duck Migration.
T: Duck Migration. I love it. I'm originally from Colorado, and looking at this feels like I'm looking at a still frame from this park I used to go to as a kid. The beautiful fall trees in the background with a very calm pond...
A: They’re big on Fall there? I didn’t know that.
T: Yeah, we love Fall! We get a lot of leaf peepers with the Aspen trees! Colorado turns gold in the Fall, whereas here in New England we get the reds and oranges. Anyway, talk to me about this card.
A: Even just a couple of quills add movement to something like this. This card had a similar process to what we already talked about. I work background to foreground. It's a little bit easier because there isn't sentiment to think about, or foil embellishment. But with something like this, I like to take the background and make a detailed scene on its own and then worry about adding the ducks later. I sometimes separate the background and the foreground. I'll focus on getting the ducks exactly how I want them and then Photoshop them in later.
T: It definitely feels like every element in these three designs that you've picked are very intentionally placed. I'm looking at the flying V of geese in the top of this card… this wave patterning behind the Sumo. There are so many little elements that the quilling doesn't draw your eye away from— It really functions to pull your eye to the details of each card.
A: Your eyes bounce around. To make a really well-placed design like that it does take more time, but there's also a lot of magic in, I'd say, just feeling the art as you do it. It's the best way to make art, and then we let the Vietnam team take the lead on how it should be quilled. I know where they'll do a good job using their intuition on certain subjects and I know certain subjects. I know where to place figures so that there's a lot of personality in the outcome. It's cool to learn about that as you design for quilling. It's a whole different medium.
T: That's something. I have always viewed art as a very individualistic pursuit. You think an artist and you picture some Leonardo DiCaprio, or — not DiCaprio. Oh gosh, Leonardo Da Vinci. I'm going to have to leave this in. Last time I had to learn what leaves are, this time I'm learning the different Leonardo's.
A: You're fine! I've totally done that.
T: But you just picture this, like... Michelangelo style person standing alone in a studio somewhere painting and it's very interesting to me to see what the collaboration of the two styles does for the work overall. How long do you typically spend on one design?
A: That varies. I know art used to be, like, really pretentious and it's gotten so much relaxed. It’s really nice as an illustrator, because I did learn somewhat classically, to be able to work on so many other styles. It takes a while to design a background with a foreground. You have corner to corner detail. Sometimes it can take more than a day, a couple days, versus if someone wanted me to do, like, the Teacher card we used to have. It was like an apple and a pencil. Obviously that can take a few hours. It depends on realism and then how much of the canvas I'm using. Usually a few hours to a few days. I'd say.
T: You’ve mentioned that you were classically trained. Did you study art in school?
A: I did. In high school I was always more interested in, like, the more fantasy stuff. I always will be. I felt that my teachers would just tell me the fundamentals and give me assignments. They didn't really, like, teach teach. So I would try to learn my own and then, at one point, I took a couple classes at the Worcester Museum. So trying to find someone that's a little bit more seasoned is really good to do when you're starting out, because then you don't learn poor technique. You can learn wrong and go back and try to fix, like, having too much of an emphasis in line work, for instance. There are issues with that. So I'm glad that I had mentors that taught me, or even just artists I followed and wanted to be like, you know, everyone has a few, but they were really helpful.
T: That's interesting. I've never really heard someone say that you can learn art incorrectly, but then again, you can absolutely learn how to play an instrument wrong.
A: There's a lot of, like, nice ways to compare music and art, because there's a lot of things that are similar. I'm sure you understand that.
A Gnome Playing the Violin
T: Yeah! So, for seven years, you've been designing on a six-by-six canvas. If you do art outside of here, or if you don't, what kind of designs do you think you would be doing on your own time outside of Quilling Card?
A: That's such an exciting question! Yeah, I definitely feel like there's art that I'd like to do for me, but there was a lot of creative energy that gets used here. So, in little bits, I get to go out and what I like to focus on is sketching. So, like landscape sketching, planar, like I said, in the moment art, definitely very imaginative stuff. Art that tells a story between, you know, the animals I'm drawing and the people in the scene is usually like a lot going on by the end, but I try not to over plan at the same time. So, it changes a lot, but something that is, like, travel friendly, like, travel, and like a little watercolor kit. That's probably where I shine.
T: Very Tolkien-esque of you.
A: I love that! Is that what he did?
T: I’m not sure, but I do know that his experience painting landscapes helped him to visualize what Middle-Earth would look like.
A: I love his sketches.
T: They’re stunning.
A: Absolutely insane. There's someone that is, like, one of the best artists I've ever seen. He’s a fantasy artist. His name is Jean-Baptiste Monge. I think it was like the, it was like a gnome playing the violin, you know? That's just someone an interviewer was trying to figure out how he did that, because no one can figure it out. And he said just charcoal from the fire and, like, two colors. Like, you're not supposed to do that! But there's a lot you can do that breaks away from what everyone else is doing and makes you look different because you figure it out yourself.
T: Well, I'm so grateful to you for taking the time to sit down with me and talk through some stuff. Hopefully we will get the chance to do it again. And yeah, thank you so much for having me!
A: Thank you!
