Bored Panda reached out to Rita again to learn more about her creative process and herself. Firstly, we were curious about how her journey as an artist started. The illustrator shared that she has always enjoyed drawing and followed a lot of illustrators on DeviantArt when she was in her teens. However, she has never thought it could be more than a hobby. "Then I had a BA in Graphic Design, but it was still more about designing logos and webpages, and not drawings until I got a commission to make illustrations for a book—and then more similar projects came, and I knew this was my way. I still love these commissions, but after a while, I started missing making drawings for myself, drawings I am passionate about, as I did when I was younger. This is when I started making personal, sometimes funny, and relatable illustrations and webcomics and uploading them on Instagram."
As Rita's illustrations predominantly feature cats, we were curious to know what she finds most appealing about these furry companions. "As basic as it sounds, I love everything about them. I grew up with cats, and it's amazing how unique and different all of them are and how they all have their own individual personalities and quirks. I connect really well with their energy; I'm definitely 100% a cat person. They can give you so much love, and there's no better stress relief than cuddling with a purring, soft kitty. And one more important thing: they smell like vanilla cupcakes—at least my cat does!"
The most challenging part of the creative process for Rita is the "constant dissatisfaction" with her own work. "When I finish a new piece, all I see are the mistakes or what I should have done differently. Of course, it's a good thing too, because it pushes me to be better next time or learn something new that makes my art better. It's a never-ending learning process; I don't think I will ever feel fully satisfied with my art, but it's always fun to re-draw an old piece and see how much I developed. It makes me wonder, what will my art look like in 5 years...? But of course, the worst part is if there's no inspiration at all and it just doesn't come together. It happens, and it's part of the creative process."
The part the artist finds most enjoyable is when the finished illustration looks the way it did in her mind, or at least relatively close to it. "When I feel I made something I also like."
"I also enjoy sketching up new webcomic and illustration ideas in my sketchbook; it's always exciting to come up with something good that I know similar-minded people will enjoy too. But the best part is definitely the reaction from others—when I can make people feel emotions with my illustrations. If you had a bad day and saw one of my artworks about some silly cat shenanigans and it made you smile, then I have made the world a teeny-tiny bit better, and this is what counts."
