Illustrator Carla Latsky doesn't like to pigeonhole her craft

South African illustrator Carla Latsky is addicted to the details. Her work, which is infused with nostalgia, is created in a variety of mediums.

Image: Carla Latsky

Carla Latsky, 2015 Ruth Prowse School of Art graduate, considers being selected as a Design Indaba Emerging Creative this year an early milestone in her career. “I still pinch myself sometimes when I think of the exhibition. It’s been hard work but I experienced a lot and met so many other great creatives”.

Latsky’s diverse portfolio of art is inspired by her surroundings, interactions with others and lately, taking a closer look at seemingly mundane objects. Creating watercolour paintings, pencil drawings and graphic design Lastksy says she expands her mediums to stay relevant.

In my first year of art school I was convinced that to be a successful artist, you had to pick one or two mediums and limit yourself to a certain style.

However, Latsky has since decided that sticking to one approach isn’t enough as soon it will become redundant. For her, “experimentation is everything”.

Image: Carla Latsky For her, “experimentation is everything”.

I spend a lot of time keeping up with what is trending in design and pop culture.

She adds that the internet, which can be an immense source of inspiration, will often overwhelm her with the volume of art online. This relationship between art and technology is what inspires her to channel nostalgia into her work, particularly her illustration. She says this is done as a reaction to her habit of losing time in the digital word.

“My design work is quite trendy and contemporary, but my illustrations are always old-school” she adds.

Her style of work is focused on detail, accuracy and realistic depictions of her subject matter. “In school I spent hours replicating photographs on a large scale and I never really grew out of  working that way”. Recently, she says, she has started scaling things down. “I fell in love with miniature artworks. The process involves sketching from a reference image and then painting exactly what I see – I drive myself crazy trying to perfect proportions."

Image: Carla Latsky