Watercolor Artist Ashba Zulfiqar | Inspire Me Monday

Meet Ashba Zulfiqar
ashbazulfiqar.weebly.com 
ashbazulfiqar.deviantart.com

I found contemporary artist Ashba Zulfiqar on Instagram (@ashba26) and fell immediately in love with her work. Her drawing skills are impeccable, and execution of concepts is stunning. I could spend hours scrolling through her website drooling in awe. She knows her medium well and her artistic voice is screaming with intrigue and beauty. 

Welcome to another week with a truly inspiring artist on:

"I have always enjoyed experimenting with different mediums, but the one medium I enjoy using the most are watercolors. I like to use them loosely with more water and less control of the pigment when making art pieces that are more personal and emotionally expressive.  I am also comfortable using them to create tighter images with more detail work.

 My favorite subject matter is definitely painting and drawing human faces and the human form. Some pieces are complete portraits of people, and some are the general idea of the human face, with some features emphasized or entirely missing.

 There are multiple artists that inspire me in many different ways, but currently I am in love with the work of Agnes Cecile and her talent in using watercolors to express human emotions. Her work is simplistic but skillful. Her use of the medium is inspirational not only for its’ technically aspects but for the powerful use of color against the white space.  http://agnes-cecile.deviantart.com/

The most exciting part of the creative process are the beginning stages. When I think of an idea to depict my emotions or my thoughts. Making art that has a deeper and personal meaning are the works that seem more rewarding in comparison to ones that I create that are made to showcase technical skill i.e. Conceptual vs. Photorealistic. When I paint with no strict guidelines and just go with the flow, is when I believe I create the most powerful and meaningful art. It may not be the most technically impressive or correct, but I do literally put my heart into the work. It’s my way of expressing my emotions.  I do use art as a therapeutic exercise to clear my mind. When that ‘therapy’ turns into a strong concept or idea, it is most rewarding for me as an artist.

Using my art, I hope to inspire others to create art that is meaningful to them personally. I hope that my artwork helps people gain interest in the creative process and how it can be used to visually communicate anything with anyone and everyone in the world. That there are no limits to recreating and reinventing ideas and concepts that have been studied and portrayed by others. 

I like to make art that is driven by emotions and depicted through symbolism. My strongest ways of accomplishing meaningful art is by sketching in my sketchbook. I like to think of my sketchbook as a diary. Where I can do more personal art. Whenever I work in it, I never restrain myself from writing in it, and what I may write at times I also represent through symbols, colors, and figures in my sketches. Sometimes these small personal doodles inspire me to make a separate art piece focusing on a concept developed during the sketching process.

As an artist I have evolved by shifting my focus in creating art that not only shows technical skill and growth but to use my skills to best create images that represent an idea, emotion or concept of some sort. I know the process of evolving as an artist never really ends, it is interesting to always look back and see how/what I used to draw compared to the work I am currently focusing on and creating. It is motivational and inspirational to see this growth and evolution. Always helping me push myself further in creating more fulfilling art, both in meaning and skill."