4. craft & create
Artist
Spotlight
Shyama Golden
Shyama Golden,1
known for her huge,
humorous paintings, has transitioned from
being a graphic designer to an illustrator and,
more recently, from oil paints to the iPad.
interview Elliot Jay Stocks
artwork courtesy of Shyama Golden
D
id you always want to be an illustrator?
Yes—I’ve been drawing ever since I was really
little, but I studied graphic design when I went to col-
lege, and pretty much worked solely on graphic design
for 10 years after that. However, the school I went to
was really focused on studio art; it was more traditional,
I think, than most schools. I did a lot of screen printing
too, which I love because it uses both the problem-
solving skills of a designer and the drawing skill of an
illustrator. I stuck with graphic design for a really long
time, but there was always a part of me that wanted to
draw more.
Recently I’ve transitioned into doing that: these days
I do branding and identity design as a part-time job, and
spend most of my time doing illustration. Even with
80
1. shyamagolden.com
5. craft & create
Artist
Spotlight
Shyama Golden
Shyama Golden,1
known for her huge,
humorous paintings, has transitioned from
being a graphic designer to an illustrator and,
more recently, from oil paints to the iPad.
interview Elliot Jay Stocks
artwork courtesy of Shyama Golden
D
id you always want to be an illustrator?
Yes—I’ve been drawing ever since I was really
little, but I studied graphic design when I went to col-
lege, and pretty much worked solely on graphic design
for 10 years after that. However, the school I went to
was really focused on studio art; it was more traditional,
I think, than most schools. I did a lot of screen printing
too, which I love because it uses both the problem-
solving skills of a designer and the drawing skill of an
illustrator. I stuck with graphic design for a really long
time, but there was always a part of me that wanted to
draw more.
Recently I’ve transitioned into doing that: these days
I do branding and identity design as a part-time job, and
spend most of my time doing illustration. Even with
80
1. shyamagolden.com