ILLUSTRATION NOW!
AMBER VITTORIA
OVERALL PROFESSIONAL WINNER, WORLD ILLUSTRATION AWARDS 2020
What do you see is your role as an illustrator today?
To ideally bring moments for people to pause, digest, and ponder the situations and people that my work depicts, in hopes of encouraging them to be more accepting of those who are not like them.
How did you develop your style initially?
I went to Boston University’s College of Fine Arts to study graphic design, so even though my education was heavily rooted in fine art and design practices, I never actually studied as an illustrator. My love for thinking as a designer and creating like a fine artist naturally led me to the path of being a more abstracted figurative illustrator.
You’ve challenged stereotypes with your work, particularly ideas of the female form. Who or what first inspired you in that respect?
Having gone to art school, museums, galleries, shows – and having worked in advertising prior to full-time freelance life – I never found myself able to relate to the women depicted within artworks prominently shown.
Moreover, it was difficult to envision myself or look up to too many living female artists, as most world-known artists were men. Because of this, I wanted to depict women in a way that I saw myself – more honest and deep than the trope religious, maternal or sexual depictions I was
