This week in the Bluestocking Salon, artist Danielle Gross took a break from drawing visceral and surrealist pieces to answer our questions. Danielle designed two of our Bas Bleu exclusive products for our Spring 2022 catalog: our adorable Giraffe with Books Night Shirt and Butterfly Books Tote. Here, she shares her desire to provide peace and escapism through her art, the challenges she faces as a new full-time artist in the pandemic world, and her shift in approach to apparel design.
BB: What is your educational/professional background? Did you receive any formal training as an artist, or are you self-taught?
DG: I have a Bachelor’s of Arts Degree from the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee in Journalism, Advertising, and Media studies. I took a Drawing 101 and a Painting 101 class in college for elective’s sake, but ended up dropping both of them because I slowly felt like it was ruining my creativity with grades and impending due dates looming. I consider myself a self-taught artist because I really didn’t get formal training, but I refer back to a lot of lessons and techniques from my middle and high school art teachers whom I adore. I worked a lot of customer service jobs through high school and college, and became a floral designer after I graduated. In August 2021 I decided to become an Illustration Artist full time.
BB: You recently designed the artwork for our Giraffe with Books Night Shirt and our Butterfly Books Tote. Can you tell us about your inspiration for the designs and your step-by-step process for creating them?
DG: I approached the designs for Bas Bleu like I do most of my compositions: What is going to evoke happiness within the audience? What is going to make them crack a smile? I knew I needed to include books in the designs so I tried to keep it simple with an open book on a table with a mug and a stack of books. From there I expanded on the idea with whatever playfulness and whatever whimsy I could think of that was not just fun for me to draw, but for everyone to look at. My process is kind of all over the place. Most of the time I just have to start drawing lines and shapes and squiggles until an idea emerges in my head. I always draw the linework first, and then once I have the “map” laid out for what the design will be, I add color, shading, and highlights.
BB: Beyond Bas Bleu, what is your artistic focus? What themes or ideas are inspiring you lately and why?
DG: I really want to focus on putting out artwork that is both visually and cerebrally calming. Anywhere you look you’ll see so many ads, terrible news stories, and constant media content, and it’s all a bit abrasive and overwhelming. I don’t want to add to that chaos when I post my work online, I want it to be a brief reprieve for the eyes and the soul. Creating peaceful images has become my main artistic focus and I find that it can take on many forms. Sometimes it’s a delicious meal that I recreate illustratively, sometimes it’s a portrait bubbling over with whatever emotion I’m trying to convey. Sometimes it's an entire fantastical and whimsical scene of a dream world I wish to run off to. Regardless, I’m really only interested in drawing images that bring a sense of calm to an otherwise chaotic world and evoke a feeling of escapism. If I’m not enjoying or inspired by what I’m drawing I think the viewers can tell, so I only like to draw what I truly love.
BB: What mediums do you prefer? Were apparel designs new to you, and do they present any unique challenges?
DG: I was a mechanical pencil on printer paper girl for a majority of my life because I loved the precision and control I had over the medium. I started getting commissions for acrylic paintings, which I enjoyed because of the addition of color to my work, rather than just shading, but I’m not a huge fan of painting, getting messy, or waiting for the paint to dry. I was really against digital art initially because I didn’t think I could really draw with it, but after I got Procreate for the iPad my entire artistic journey shifted. Using Procreate combined my love of precise linework from my mechanical pencil days, with an endless color palette that I don’t have to wait to dry. This was my first foray into the apparel world and the translation of design to print is definitely something I am still learning. I like to use somewhat “messy” shading in my work to mimic that of blended graphite, but I think keeping lines and colors simple and clean work when being printed on apparel best. It was a great first experience, and a great learning experience.
BB: How (if at all) has the pandemic affected your work, either in content or in practice?
DG: This past August when I decided to go full time, the pandemic added a whole new layer of uncertainty to the already fairly unstable career that is Freelance Artistry. The face to face aspects of the job and the buying trends of the general public became completely unpredictable. Will people still want/have the means to buy artwork which, in essence, is a luxury? Showcasing work, exhibitions, artist meet-and-greets, pop up booths, etc., are some really critical in-person parts to gaining a following and selling artwork, which at some parts of the pandemic completely shut down and other parts felt irresponsible to be promoting large group gatherings. The pandemic has definitely pushed me to the direction of wanting to create calming work. It's really anxiety-inducing being now a couple years into it and experiencing the news, the death toll, the new variants, and the political unrest, so I’ve doubled down on creating escapism realities because I think we can all agree we’d like to escape this current crisis. So far in practice I haven’t felt like my sales or remote opportunities have been impacted too heavily, luckily, but the longer it goes on the larger that becomes a possibility.
BB: Where else can fans of your exclusive designs find your artwork? What are your plans for your steadily-growing art business?
DG: I post all of my artwork on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest (@danigdoodle) and I sell my prints, posters, stickers, and jewelry through my Etsy (danigdoodle.etsy.com). My plan is to keep drawing and creating. My business can’t grow if I’m not continuing to draw. My main goal is to reach as many new people as possible through different opportunities like this one with Bas Bleu! I have several showcases coming up. I’m hoping to be at farmers markets in the summer, and expand to different local stores where my artwork isn’t already sold. I have some exciting bigger longer-term projects that are currently in the works and I just hope to keep saying yes to opportunities and seeking out new ones. It’s very uncertain and nerve wracking everyday, but when I take a step back and see what I’ve done since August 2021 I’m happy with my businesses growth and excited for the future.
BB: When you’re not creating new art, how do you enjoy spending your time?
DG: When I’m not making new artwork I have really enjoyed cooking new recipes, trying to perfect the perfect at-home matcha latte recipe, and delving deeper into my understanding of astrology. Long walks are also among my favorite ways to spend time (when it's nice out), gathering inspiration for my drawings, and getting some fresh air.
BB: What are you currently reading? What books can you recommend to our readers and why?
DG: I recently read The Midnight Library by Matt Haig and really enjoyed it! My all time favorite book that I would recommend to anyone is Self Help by Lorrie Moore. It’s a collection of powerful short stories that provide crooked guidance for life’s painful and often unspoken experiences.
BB: Thank you so much for your time! We can’t wait to see what you do next.