About this Illustrator

Who am I?

My name’s Sybille Bader, I’m 29 years old and live and work in Berlin. I’m proudly represented Lillian Mazeika at T2 Agency.

What is your relationship with art?

I drew since I could hold a pencil,art class was always my favorite and I never let go of this precious art making. I started being serious about watercolor and digital illustration when I wanted to make a present for my family members for christmas. I bought the cheapest watercolor set one could imagine and I kind of liked it. Soon I upgraded to better colors and better supplies in general and things really took off! I discovered, that I couldn’t be without a brush in my hands and the rest is history. Not long ago, I also discovered digital art and bought an Ipad to work with Procreate. This changed my whole process and style quite a bit, but it has pushed me to improve my skills and made my process more fun.

Can anyone be an artist?

I think so, yeah. I didn’t study art or illustration and I think, I’m doing well. So, it comes down to practice and will! But you have to keep in mind, that networking and finding work opportunities will be much easier if you have connections via your degree!

How did you find your style?

First, don’t stress about style! If you practice a lot and look at artists you admire (not copying them, obviously!), what you love about their style, you will slowly move towards ‘your own style’. You do you!
I think my style reflects what I wish my reality to be like: Textures, all the angles and a dusty, vintage aesthetic, albeit the motives being cheery and cute.

What will the future bring?

I try to visit a lot of craft fairs and markets, perhaps in fall there will be some opportunities. Also, I would love to start a Patreon and a Youtube channel, but that’s far of in the future!

What materials do I use?

Digital stuff: Apple Ipad (2019), Apple Pencil Gen.1, Procreate and my own brush sets.

Paper: Arches 300 GSM watercolor paper smooth

Watercolor paint: Schmincke Horadam, Winsor & Newton, Renesans

Gouache paint: Arteza

Brushes: Some synthetic angle shaders by Daler & Rowney, some synthetic soft brushes by DaVinci

Inks: Ecoline, Antiktusche by Rohrer & Klingner, Winsor & Newton Ink, Schmincke Acrylic Ink

Pencils: Some by Faber Castell Polychromos, some by Caran d’Ache, but most are Prismacolor

Sketchbooks: Some by Hahnemuehle, some cheap ones that don’t have particular names!