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Decadent Cosmos had the pleasure of speaking with digital artist and tattoo apprentice Aylee Delenn (she/they)
Aylee begins our conversation by sharing a bit about her timeline as a creative. During the lockdown period of the COVID-19 pandemic, she found herself getting back into art after a long hiatus. She shares with me how, during this time, she felt very lost and was able to reignite a flame within herself when she found art again.
How did you discover this passion?
After getting an iPad during lockdown Aylee was able to explore with Procreate and discovered her true passion for drawing. She began by exploring basic tools and techniques until she was gradually able to develop a unique style within her craft. She stopped doing digital art for a while, but it has always found its way back to her.
"Art is my life now. It wasn't always at the front of my mind, but now it consumes me."
Explain to me what this medium means to you.
Aylee shares with me how she has always gravitated toward drawing. She painted and drew as an adolescent but didn’t continue after an eighth-grade art class. Art always stayed on her mind, even if just on the back burner.
She always knew art was important to her, and there was a special connection between her and the act of creating, especially drawing, although she does paint on occasion. As her passion grew, she quickly became inspired by digital artists online and began her journey drawing cartoon-like people on her iPad.
Are there any art trends that inspire your work?
A monthly challenge for plein air painting recently inspired Aylee during the month of April. The French term plein air meaning "outdoors", is exactly what it sounds like: the practice of creating art while outside, or “in the open world” as Aylee describes it.
Plein air painting allowed Aylee to explore different settings through drawing. She explains that digital drawing makes this easier since it doesn’t require her to lug supplies around. She also finds inspiration from photo studies but explains she doesn’t feel consistently inspired by the same things.
What are your favorite things to draw?
Aylee explores many different subjects in her art. She enjoys drawing people she knows as well as herself.
What Aylee enjoys about self-portraits is that she doesn’t feel the need to make them look exactly like herself, since those portraits are only for her. It allows her to use a physical subject but provides the leeway to play around with different techniques to see what’s best for her vision.
Aylee also really enjoys drawing and painting nature scenes. Currently, she is exploring a new love for drawing outer space and cosmic themes.
What is your creative process?
Aylee explains to me how many of her ideas arise as she works on other projects. She’ll be working on something and see a clear visual in her head of a new idea she wants to implement. She is currently exploring better ways to more accurately create what she sees in her head during these times.
You recently received the opportunity to be a tattoo apprentice, can you tell me more about what made you decide you wanted to be a tattoo artist?
Years ago, in her home state of Oregon, Aylee was getting a tattoo touched up and joked with the artist about pursuing a career as a tattoo artist herself. Soon after, she was chatting with a friend about the topic and they asked her “Why don’t you do it?”, which made her wonder. She tells me about how she had always thought about it but never felt quite ready to pursue the career.
Eventually, Aylee began to think to herself, “What if I did do that?”, and questioned moving forward with this new idea for many months. She then began drawing stencils, exploring different processes and new techniques that would reflect well as tattoo designs. Around this time she found herself at a job where she could sit most of the day and was able to complete almost her entire tattoo portfolio there. She explored designs she thought other people would enjoy while also staying true to creating things that felt fulfilling to her as an artist. She tells me about how pen and paper are much different than digital drawing, and how it was a learning curve when she began. She taught herself about low and high-contrast designs, built up her portfolio, and eventually secured a tattooing apprenticeship that she will soon be starting at Hidden Vibes Tattoo in Cambridge, MA.
Where can people find your work?
You can find Aylee on Instagram
You can follow Aylee’s tattoo apprentice journey here:
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