Meet the Artist

Written By Marina Yüzbasioglu

Hello!

I’m glad you found me in this little corner of the internet. Let me introduce myself. My name is Marina Yüzbasioglu. I’m an illustrator and artist, but I’m also
a storyteller, a dreamer, a woman, a sister, a wife—the list goes on… But most of all, I’m a creative person with a huge imagination.

To make this post a little more interesting, let me tell you my story in the shape of a tale. So, make yourself comfortable, and let the story begin!

Once upon a time…

There was a little girl who was born in a small town in the north of the Republic of Karelia, in a land of a thousand lakes and endless forests. She was a middle child in a large family and was very passionate about drawing and painting. These were her favorite activities, along with learning new things, reading, crafting, and spending time in nature.

Almost every Saturday, she went to a painting class, where she painted beautiful landscapes in gouache. Slowly but surely, painting and drawing became a part of her personality—but she didn’t know it yet. She could draw for hours, losing track of time and simply enjoying the process.

Although art was her true passion, she never thought she could make a career as an artist. So instead, she decided to become a fashion designer. After all, she was taking sewing classes along with painting classes. Oh, and at that time, she was inspired by all kinds of creative activities!

She was always enthusiastic and ambitious, and right after finishing high school, she got an amazing opportunity to move to Finland to study art and clothing design. (And find the love of her life—but that’s a story for another day.)

But life doesn’t always go as planned….

Soon after graduating, she found herself working in a store.

In her second year as a shop assistant, she decided to become an accountant.
“At least you can trust numbers,” she thought. And she had always liked numbers. So, she studied in the evenings and earned a degree in business administration.

As for creativity—painting, drawing, and crafting were always there for her, supporting her and bringing her happiness.

Following the dream

After four years of juggling numbers, she thought: Maybe now is the right time to follow my dreams?

She decided to go to university to study fashion. Finally, a dream was coming true. Or was it?

While she learned many inspiring and interesting things about the fashion industry, she also discovered another side of the coin. To her surprise, the fashion world wasn’t just about glamour and beauty—it also had a huge negative impact on the planet and the workers in the industry.

During her studies, she often found herself questioning: Is this path really for me?

In moments of doubt, once again, she found happiness and calm in painting with acrylics. Then, she discovered watercolor—a wonderful and delicate art medium. She took many online painting and sketching courses, and her happiest moments at university were during art classes.

After graduating, she tried to find a job with a sustainable fashion brand, but unsuccessfully.

Does the Story end here?

Is that how the story ends?

Is there any chance for a happy ending?

And where is that passionate and enthusiastic “little girl” now?

Well, I grew up—but I never lost my passion for art. In fact, it has become even more important and precious to me.

While my journey wasn’t a straight path, it was full of interesting experiences and learning opportunities that shaped me into the person I am today. Now, looking back, I can see that painting and drawing have always been part of my personality, part of my soul. And I believe my current art style has developed little by little over the years, shaped by all of those life experiences.

So, there isn’t a happy ending to this story—because the story isn’t finished yet.

There is still so much to learn, to feel, to discover, to create.

This is just the beginning of a new chapter in my life.

Taking My Art Seriously

In Spring 2024, I decided to get serious about my art.

Although I already had years of practice, I took a few illustration courses to refresh my knowledge and develop my skills. I actively sought out useful information about the art business, read art books and articles, and listened to art business podcasts to gain insights and inspiration from other creative people.

At the same time, I worked on my art business plan, exploring the possibilities of turning my passion into a career.

Honestly, there are so many ways to make a career as an artist, and many of them seemed exciting to me. But one path excited me the most: picture book illustration.

I felt (and still feel) deeply passionate about visual storytelling, character design, and learning everything about children’s books.

Along the way, I also developed my skills as a digital artist.

I believe that my years of experience with various traditional art mediums helped me develop my digital painting skills more quickly. I had already been using Photoshop for editing, so I was familiar with the software before I started using it for drawing. However, I watched countless tutorials and spent hours experimenting with different digital painting techniques to develop my own style.

By the end of 2024, I started using Adobe Fresco. It’s a very intuitive drawing app, and I absolutely love it.

When I draw digitally, I like to follow the same steps I would with traditional watercolors and colored pencils. I even scanned my watercolor palette and turned it into a digital version. While it takes time to get familiar with digital drawing software, at the end of the day, these programs are just another art medium—one that opens up incredible possibilities for artistic experimentation.

Where I Am Now

Right now, along with KidLit illustration services, I also offer Freelance illustration for creative projects and my artworks for licensing.

At the same time, I’m writing my own stories for children’s books. A have few of them in the “work in progress” stage. I plan to publish them through traditional publishing or self-publishing in the near future.

I hope you enjoyed getting to know me better.

Of course, this isn’t my whole story—there’s much more that has happened in my 35 years of life. But I thought it would be fun to highlight some of the events that have had a huge impact on my personality and art style.

Thanks for reading!

Best wishes,

Marina

P.S. If you have any questions, feel free to reach out to me!

Marina Yüzbasioglu
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