Marissa Falco's piece shown below, Crush, made us all smiley over here at Six by Six Gallery HQ. So, we asked a few questions to find out a little more about this adorable, girly piece of art and the artist behind it.
CW: Can you describe the process of how this piece came to be?
MF: I knew I wanted to play around with layers, with one of those layers incorporating a flat, cartoony drawing. I had drawn a little sketch of myself looking completely delighted with a taxidermy unicorn I'd seen at Paxton Gate in San Francisco. I loved the adoring expression I'd captured in that sketch, and wanted to see what else I could do with it.
CW: Do you always work in this collagey, painty medium?
MF: This is a first! Most of my work is black and white, pen and ink comics, but I've made a few bright, colorful paintings recently and really enjoyed the process. This is the first piece that has combined the two.
MF: My day job is designing book covers at a textbook publisher, which is creative in its own way. After hours is when I make my comics, paintings, and other fun stuff. It's a bit strange to switch from designing for corporate to designing for myself, but the need to be versatile has definitely helped me be more creative in both worlds.
CW: What kind of music do you listen to while making art?
MF: The Decemberists and Stevie Wonder end up on my stereo often. I love listening to NPR all day on a Saturday or Sunday, just zoning out and making stuff.
CW: Do you have any other projects you are working on?
MF: I'm working on a zine full of comics about what I did every day in September. After that, I'm going to start working on a zine about my travels over the past 10 years or so, all drawn as comics.
CW: What's your favorite sea creature?
MF: I like Whale Sharks, because they're fun to draw.
CW: Where else can we find your work?
Check out my blog!
Marissa's piece will be available in the Six by Six Gallery and online! Grab it quick! It's too cute to last long.
