So some of you might be thinking “I thought it was Cosplay Sunday?” So I want to clear this up. I decided to change it from Cosplay Sunday to Lifestyle Sunday because it’s just too hard to locate cosplayers every week for an interview and photoshoot. So I’ve decided the name change “Lifestyle Sundays” simply because anime lovers come from all different kinds of backgrounds and we all have different stories waiting to be shared so why not make it more versatile?
This week is featuring a local Seattle artist who has LOADS of talent! Her name is Vanida Long and if you can imagine it she can draw it. You may remember my shoot with Sarah Chac , if you haven’t feel free to check it out! But when I was doing the photoshoot with Sarah she had always mentioned her friend Vanida. Sarah showed me Vanida’s work and I thought “I’ve got to make a feature with her”. So I reached out to Vanida and with some time and patience, I was able to get some time to talk with Vanida and check out some more of her art work. Keep in mind that these are all raw images and have not been edited in any program.
I remember messaging Vanida on Facebook and prior to visiting her house I remember telling her that I was really looking forward to seeing more of her artwork in person and she replied “The apartment is almost like a gallery” and she definitely wasn’t kidding. Upon entering we were greeted with a wall full of her work. It seemed like every corner we turned there was a wall with her art work on it. It was very pleasing to see these pieces first hand. These pictures don’t do much justice for the amount of detail she puts forth in each of her pieces.
Vanida’s love for art dates all the way back to the first grade. x1999 is the anime that started her inspiration for her journey through her artistic side of life. Vanida was happy to go over what pieces meant what but there were a few ones that she wanted the viewer to find their own perception on, which I didn’t mind since that is what art is about right? Her piece(s) that she’s most proud of is the “Ib” series that she created. I really wished I could’ve gotten better pictures of them but my flash was acting up that day.
This is Vanidas most proudest piece.
As she gave me more of a look into her past and told me what each piece in her apartment meant we eventually worked our way to her sketchbook. As of any artist this was filled with “doodles” some were concept art before she decided to take it to canvas but to me they were masterpieces.
Of course this amount of sketches were accumulated over the years.
Most of the rest of the visit was spent looking through her sketchbooks and I was quite thrilled with the amount of creativity that went into each page of the sketchbook. Vanida is a really humble artist and as Sarah praised Vanida’s artwork all Vanida would respond with was “just keep practicing and you’ll get there” which is a trait that I really admire in anybody who can practice their humility.
As we searched through her old sketchbooks she told me a story of when one of her old pieces got stolen when it was on display at “Black Cantina” in Burien, WA. The piece that got stolen was called “Empty” and some people had though it was just some kind of practical joke as they viewed the “Empty” space. Haha.
If you would like to follow Vanida and check out some more of her more recent work I’ll post her social media:
Feel free to click on the thumbnails below to enjoy her sketches and fullscreen view! Until next time!
-Aniplays
Aniplays 