Shiane Salabie

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Animals

Character Design

Children & Family

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Nature

Magical pink potion bottle with heart seal and glowing sparkles by Shiane Salabie

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Art from the Children's chapter book series Jalen's Big City Life

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Mice serving apple pie with ice cream on plates, autumn leaves around by Shiane Salabie

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Cartoon panda family hugging in bamboo forest by Shiane Salabie

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As if she paints with sunbeams

Childrens best and also for adults

Born in Jamaica and raised in New Jersey, Shiane graduated from the prestigious Ringling College of Art and Design in Sarasota, Florida. Clients love the clean line work of her drawings, the vibrant palettes she applies and the intelligent questions she asks to understand the vision behind each brief. “I’m an island girl at heart so I draw a lot of inspiration from the ocean, fish and tropical flora. I’m also inspired by fairytales, folklore and nursery rhymes because I read so many of them as a child who practically lived at the library,” she says.

Approach

Illustrations begin with multiple sketches as Shiane plans the poses, props and shape language of the composition to fit the overall mood of the brief. Then she adds colour and finishes the work digitally with textures and gradients.

Styles

Shiane has an appealing cartoony style. Her children’s illustrations use coloured linework which she paints over bringing depth and physicality to the image. Her character design work deploys linework and flat colours, while line illustrations often remain black and white for impact.

Impressions

Interview

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Interview

What led you to become an illustrator? I fell in love with writing first and got into drawing around middle school. My friends told me I was good at it but I did not really take an interest until I realized I could use it to tell stories. I never really grew out of the cartoon phase and I think it was because I was so fascinated by them. It was then I realized I wanted to be a part of that world and tell stories visually whether it is through a book or an animated tv show or movie. Did you study illustration in college? I studied Illustration at Ringling College of Art and Design in Sarasota, Florida. I also have two minors; one is in Visual Development and the other is in Photography. Where did you grow up? I was born in Jamaica and moved to the United States when I was 4. I spent the majority of my years in South Jersey. Who or What is your biggest inspiration? My biggest inspiration is my mother. She went to school after having three kids, worked two jobs, and when I was enrolled in college, she picked up a third job. She is one of the most hardworking people I know. What do you listen to when you work? It depends on the mood of the peace I’m working on. If I am working on something that is meant to be sad, I’ll listen to sad songs. I am mostly into oldies playlists. The 90s to the early 2000s is what I will mostly listen to on a daily basis and the occasional song from today’s era. My go-to genres to listen to are R & B, Reggae, Reggaeton, Dancehall, Pop, Soft Rock, K-Pop, and occasionally Country Pop. What are your interests outside of illustration? I love to dance, write stories/poems, bake pastries, and I recently got into soap and candle making during the pandemic. Who is your art hero? My art hero is Carter Goodrich who is known primarily for his expressive character design. I fell in love with his work when he worked on The Prince of Egypt. What was your favourite assignment ever?My favorite assignment in art school was to recreate a game. I chose to take a mobile app I found in the app store that did not look the best and make an illustration for it as if I was advertising it. The game is called Coral crush and it was really fun to figure out the assets that would be involved in the match 3 game, the logo, and of course how I could show all of it in an illustration. I spent hours researching trends amongst the match 3 games and did my best to emulate a much cleaner style of illustration that is best for this sort of game. I am still pretty proud of it. It was really fun to work on! What would be your dream commission?My dream commission would be to design Characters and Props for a 3D animated film or tv show. How do you envisage illustration evolving? Despite Procreate’s popularity, I believe Photoshop and Illustrator will still be the industry standard for most projects. I do believe that soon the industry will become more crowded with procreate artists since it is more affordable than the Adobe Suites and there will also be an increase in self-published authors seeking illustrators for their services and product design projects for Amazon brands. If you could visit anywhere in the world, where would you go? I always wanted to go to Italy for the amazing food. If you could live anywhere, where would it be?I would love to live in a beach house somewhere. I love the ocean so much. If you could travel back in time, who would be the one person you would want to meet and why? I would want to meet Martin Luther King Jr. or any Civil Rights Activist and thank them for all that they have done for African Americans. If it were not for them, the transition from Jamaica to America would not have gone smoothly and I would not have as many friends of different races that I do now. What is your go-to comfort food?My go-to comfort food is a slice of vanilla cake with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. What is the last show you binged?The last show I binged was a Korean drama on Netflix called Oh My Ghost.What was the last exhibition you saw and loved?While attending Ringling, I had to chance to see many exhibits but the one that stuck out to me was the last exhibit at Ringling’s Selby Gallery before it was demolished. They showcased Cuban Art. The atmosphere right off the bat was amazing. I felt like I was in Cuba as they had musical performers and traditional Cuban food to snack on and beverages. The art was breathtaking and unique – a much different feel than say Da Vinci’s Mona Lisa. The art was also full of life and so much color. It was very inspiring. What is your favourite book?Picking a favorite book is a hard one but if I had to pick, it would be My Sister’s Keeper by Jodi Picoult. I love that book because very seldom does a book make me cry. I have an older sister and a younger sister so this book really hit home about how far a loving sister would go to keep a sick sister alive. What is your go-to karaoke song? “Colors of the Wind” from the movie Pochahontas.What is your favourite quote?"Two roads diverged in a wood, and I— I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference." Robert Frost.