Antónia Figueiredo aka AF Illustrations, is a 24 years old artist born in São Paulo, Brazil. Self-taught artist and illustrator, currently living in Tallinn, Estonia with her husband Gregor and the cutest two-colored eyes dog internet has ever seen.

Antonia’s works go from digital to watercolors. Both are full of colors and playful elements that conquer the eyes and switch the mood of those who see it. Lover of coffee, pajamas, and cocktails, she is always inspired by her surroundings. Books, mugs, music, colors, plants and flowers, her beautiful living room round window, and of course – her coffee.

Antónia work is available all over the internet, prints, tote bags, postcards, or watercolor posters you can find on aimfy or the most recent collaboration with Casetify, Antonia develop iPhone and AirPods cases, MacBook cases and so many others.
As true fas of Antónia work, we decide to inspire you by questioning her about her journey and daily life. So scroll down to know more about this talented artist.

DG: We have been following you for quite some time on your Instagram Account… with almost 37K followers do you feel any pressure to keep up?
AF: Abso *fucking* lutely hahaha The pressure is what brought me to where I am now, I am very grateful for the regime I followed, with intense consistency, and lots of hard work! It’s a formula that definitely works, especially for people like me who were starting out! With all of that said, that’s a formula, and the relationship with work is not sustainable. Pressure is always good, but in moderate amounts haha I am now in the process of rebuilding my relationship with social media, and trying to look at it in a more creative and “relaxed” way, I want to think more about the quality of the content I’m putting out rather than the quantity.

DG: How and when did you know you wanted to become an artist?
AF: I didn’t have one of those moments where a light bulb appears, and I knew for certain that that was the future for me. Everything happened in a very natural way. I decided I would give this a try, and things rolled from there like as if it was meant to happen I guess haha As I mentioned, now I’m trying to reinvent my relationship with my work, and that also involves looking at my future with more intent.

DG: How did you become with your own style?
AF: A lot of practice, and a lot of trials and errors. I believe that you have to know what you like so you understand what you would like to create for yourself. It involves a lot of searching for references and artworks that you want to burn after making hahah The important thing is to keep trying to find what works for you. I also like to believe that our styles are always in constant change! We are always evolving, and I like to think that my art evolves with me.

DG: We know that your mother is also an artist. Did that had any influence?  Which artists influence you?
AF: Of course, it did! Not only she is the absolute biggest supporter of my work, I knew from the beginning that this was a career, a profession that is worth pursuing. She helped me see that this is real, and I’m very thankful for that!
I have a lot of artists that influence me, If I were to give you the list here, we would run out of characters available to post. To me, artists are not only painters or illustrators… They are bakers, and drivers, and shop owners. Art is all around us, omg that is such a cliche, but IT’S TRUE! if you are actively looking to be inspired you will learn to see how much there is around you that you can take and apply to your art, your life! Life is beautiful!

DG: How do you manage to always stay motivated? Besides coffee! 🙂
AF: I’m not gonna lie, coffee really helps hahaha But I also really like doing what I do, I’m very grateful to be here, and that to me is super motivating. I love to see my creations out in the world, I love creating with other people, I love seeing people react to my art! I love this! And they are right when they say love is the biggest motivator of all haha

DG: What advice would you give to young artists who don’t believe in themselves?
AF: JUST DO IT!!!!! believing in ourselves is very important, but that is something that takes a lot of work, and time. you don’t just wake up one day and you believe in yourself 100% forever. That’s not how it works, at least not for me. I believe you have to take small steps and preventing yourself from doing something you love is like shooting yourself in the foot before you step out the door. Being an artist takes a lot of work, and you will work through it all as life goes on, you don’t have to have it all figured out now! Just get started, and go from there! ❤

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