In Conversation with: Nicola Vingirai

Nicola Vingirai

Meet Nicola Vingirai- a super talented Illustrator, artist- a creative soul with a heart of a philosopher. She describes her style of art as, “quirky with a comic elements, as I’m really into comics. It’s usually accompanied with some type of writing or a poetic title.” Her family are the rocks in her life and besides her family, she can’t live without her tablet because that is what she uses for her art.

The artist remarks, “I’ve always loved drawing and admiring other people’s drawings from a young age. I remember being in grade 1 and seeing a drawing of girl, it was on the floor- trampled on and dirty. I just loved the drawing so much and I thought it was the coolest thing I had ever seen. So, I picked it up and took it home and copied it over and over. I think I became obsessed with drawing from that point.”

Nicola’s first piece of real art was in grade 7, “when my art teacher noticed my work. She insisted I enter it into the Allied Arts, so it could be displayed in the National Art Gallery of Zimbabwe. It earned 2nd place in its category. Unfortunately, I don’t have the painting, but I remember it clearly. It was a boutique scene of women shopping and clothes on display.”

On what inspires her art Nicola said, “besides my genuine love for drawing, I’d say things that speak to me. I love cartoons and I always admire the work that goes into designing all the crazy, funny characters. I love tapping into that energy by challenging myself to recreate them using my own methods. Also, because of my writer side, I want my art to make people feel something. If my work can stir any emotion in someone or inspire others to pursue their passions in life, then that’s universal fuel for my art.”

Made by Pacts art

The artist’s favourite work of art is, the “Toy Story drawing. It was a huge challenge for me to bring out the 3D aspect of each character which is what I believe made the movie such a huge success. I love cartoons in any form, but 3D cartoons are amazing.”

Nicola’s favourite artists are, “Heather Rooney – she is a top inspiration for her dedicated approach to her art. Zindy Nielsen – whose work I have been following since I was about 16. Her pencil portraits of celebrities blew me away. I couldn’t believe the levels people could reach with their art. Her work was a huge factor in my relentless approach to sticking to what I love.

Locally, my friend James Magwenzi – who is a digital illustrator is another favourite. His work blew me away when we were younger. It’s great to meet people who are also relentless in their creativity. There are too many artists for me to name individually who have and continue to inspire me daily.”

On her future vision, “I don’t want to give away too much, but I will say, comic books, illustrating for poetry and literary works are a major part of my vision. I also want to work for Pixar Animation Studios.”

This is what the creative believes makes her art unique, “I think of it this way: there’s a whole mind behind the work with all its complexities, experiences, traumas and triumphs, ups and downs and it’s what I believe makes anyone’s art unique.”

Here’s the artist’s process when creating a new work of art:

“My process always involves picking out good music that puts me in a space to create and feel good while I do so. I usually have an idea in my mind of what I’d like to draw or at least an emotion I’d like to convey in my work. On my Instagram art page, you can tell the frame of mind I’m in each work. Sometimes I’m on a nostalgic tip, sometimes I’m in a poetic state of mind. I also try my best to share steps of my drawing process once I share a finished piece. I want people to feel inspired to go after what they love when they see my work. You’ll notice I have a very rough sketching style, but I tend to be extremely particular with details.”

The music that gets her in a good mood:

Professor – 9ice (It fuses story telling with music seamlessly. Great instrumentals too)

Body Riddim – Runtown (It’s just a beautiful tune)

Swaggelissimo – B4 (Uhuru mix) (The beat)

Wahala Dey – Ycee (It just gives me the feels)

Mwana Ndakubirai – Holy 10 (That opening line lol! I’m kind of obsessed with this song)

Nicola is proud of her Zimbabwean and Ghanaian heritage, “It’s given me an open-minded approach to life.”

The young artist wants to be remembered, “as someone who truly stuck to what I believed in and loved – an inspiration and someone who made people happy at some point.”

You can contact Nicola on Instagram – @pacts_art where she shares some of her work. She also has a makeup page on Instagram – @beatzbynicky.

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