On this week’s episode, I chatted with Brazilian illustrator and designer Niege Borges. Niege is currently based in Brooklyn, NY and has worked with an impressive roster of clients such as TikTok, Instagram, and Vogue Brazil. Her illustration work is colorful, features bold line work, and is filled with movement. In this episode we discuss growing up in Brazil, her path to illustration, and how she found her artistic style.
This week’s artist went from buying second-hand Vogue magazines to illustrating Vogue covers! Niege Borges is a Brooklyn-based, Brazilian-born illustrator and graphic designer who creates vivid, bold, and movement-driven illustrations of figures and faces.
She kicked off her creative career studying graphic design, but an ad agency internship revealed her knack for illustration. Niege eventually made the leap to freelance illustration after exploring her style and sharing it with the world through Instagram. She took a leap of faith and went to visit New York City for 3 months — which quickly turned to 5 months — eventually deciding to make New York home.
In this episode, we discuss the details of Niege's creative process including how she starts her illustrations, her favorite illustration tools, and how she discovered to her style. Niege also shares a few words of wisdom for artists who are still finding their voice and identifying the type of clients they want to work for.
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Guest Info
Check out Niege’s work on her website.
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00;00;10;03 - 00;00;26;01
Fabiola Lara
Hey, everyone. Welcome back to another episode of Draws in Spanish. Like I've said quite a few times. This is a podcast that showcases the creative journey of notable Latinx visual artists and designers. I'm your host, illustrator, podcaster, and newbie YouTuber Fabiola Lara.
00;00;26;09 - 00;00;41;29
Fabiola Lara
Thank you for being with me today for another episode. Today, I'm honored to chat with Brooklyn based artist Niege Borges. Yes, this, of course, Latine. But unlike our previous guest, she's Brazilian. So for today's episode, we'll tell. The show draws in Portuguese just in her honor.
00;00;42;11 - 00;00;57;14
Fabiola Lara
Niege is an acclaimed illustrator and designer who has worked with clients like TikTok, Instagram, and both her illustrations are dynamic, colorful, and feature bold line work that just makes every image so playful and full of movement. Let's get right into our chat with Niege today.
00;01;02;01 - 00;01;15;06
Fabiola Lara
Hey, yes. Welcome to draws in Portuguese just for you. I'm so excited to have you on the show. Before we get started, can you introduce yourself to any listeners who aren't familiar with your work?
00;01;15;10 - 00;01;23;20
Niege Borges
Hi, Fabiola. I am Niege Borges I am a visual artist and Brasilia, and I am based in Brooklyn, New York.
00;01;23;28 - 00;01;34;12
Fabiola Lara
I'm so happy. I was so excited when you agreed to be on the podcast. It was like a huge day for me. So thank you so much. I'm so happy to have you. So I know you said you grew up in Brazil.
00;01;34;13 - 00;01;42;00
Fabiola Lara
Can you tell us about your upbringing in Brazil and what that was like? Does anything notable from growing up there?
00;01;42;19 - 00;01;58;10
Niege Borges
I was always into art when I was a kid. Like, I would go to museums with my mom and I was always interested in cars, but I never thought exactly that I was going to study arts. I'm in Brazil right now because I'm visiting here in Brazil.
00;01;58;10 - 00;02;12;18
Niege Borges
People see our does something that maybe you can make a living out of it at least when I was a kid. That was what it was like. So so yeah, I was into art, but I never saw that as like a profession.
00;02;13;02 - 00;02;23;29
Niege Borges
And yeah, but I had a very cool childhood and I would just like I had a three house monthly child and I would play alone a lot. But also, I have friends.
00;02;24;20 - 00;02;26;16
Fabiola Lara
What part of Brazil did you grow up in?
00;02;26;23 - 00;02;33;01
Niege Borges
I'm from the south, from Brazil is home. My hometown was Porto Alegre, the last state down there in Brazil.
00;02;33;19 - 00;02;39;19
Fabiola Lara
Oh, amazing. That's beautiful. Would you consider that your family was really creative or do you think it was just you?
00;02;40;01 - 00;02;52;29
Niege Borges
I think it was mainly me, but my father, he was always like constructing stuff in the house. He was doing a lot of like woodwork, like build wood boxes and stuff like that for no reason.
00;02;53;08 - 00;02;54;08
Fabiola Lara
You're your tree house, right?
00;02;54;08 - 00;03;13;25
Niege Borges
In my tree houses. So I guess I was always inspired by that. I always liked that. He was always like building stuff. And my mom, she was a journalist. Now she's retired, so I guess I was inspired, but she was always making me laugh, making me a bit like introducing me to books and movies.
00;03;14;06 - 00;03;17;03
Niege Borges
But I was the creative one, I guess.
00;03;17;18 - 00;03;32;10
Fabiola Lara
Nice. Well, it still seems like maybe they just had different professions, but they still like writing, and journalism can still be very creative and same with construction. But I get what you're saying. It's not as like, you know, a musician or something like that.
00;03;32;23 - 00;03;45;19
Fabiola Lara
Now that you mention that you never saw art as a profession. How was it like for you to pursue art as a profession? Was your family on board with that? You know, what was that like?
00;03;45;28 - 00;04;02;13
Niege Borges
Yeah, no. They were fine with that, especially because I guess I I mean, I think they would be fine with whatever I decided to pursue, but I studied graphic design in college. So I think that's like more easy to convince anyone if I needed to do any convincing.
00;04;03;03 - 00;04;12;20
Niege Borges
But I know they were very chill about it. And now I just remember that I actually when I was a kid, I did a drawing class with my dad. We both went to the same class, which was cool.
00;04;12;22 - 00;04;14;14
Fabiola Lara
Oh, that is so cute.
00;04;14;25 - 00;04;26;25
Niege Borges
Yeah, we did it for a little while to like, learn to draw like human anatomy and stuff like that. And of course, his hair was way better than me because he was like, I don't know, 40 and I was like, seven.
00;04;27;08 - 00;04;31;16
Fabiola Lara
Do you have a drawing from that time that you remember? What do you remember from that class?
00;04;31;27 - 00;04;44;23
Niege Borges
I remember mostly, I don't think I have anything anymore, but I remember doing a lot of like black and white pencil drawings, and it was one of those classes that was just like, this is how a festival like this should look like.
00;04;45;00 - 00;04;49;16
Niege Borges
And then you're like, just the perfect face and a perfect body.
00;04;49;17 - 00;04;51;02
Fabiola Lara
Yeah, like figure drawing.
00;04;51;02 - 00;04;55;16
Niege Borges
Yeah. So yeah, I remember a lot of that, but it was fun. I really liked it.
00;04;55;23 - 00;04;57;24
Fabiola Lara
Oh, maybe that was the spark.
00;04;57;27 - 00;04;59;07
Niege Borges
Yeah, maybe it did help.
00;04;59;10 - 00;05;06;08
Fabiola Lara
So I know you mentioned that you attended university for graphic design. What made you choose graphic design at the time?
00;05;06;17 - 00;05;27;23
Niege Borges
To be honest, I was already interested in graphic design, but I wasn't super informed in all the possibilities in the graphic design field yet at the time. But I did a study like some softwares like Illustrator and Photoshop when I was in high school, so I already knew that I wanted something in that field, but I wasn't
00;05;27;23 - 00;05;48;12
Niege Borges
sure specifically what. And then here in Brazil, there was this scholarship program from the government, and then I managed to get a scholarship for graphic design at the time. It was cool because then I was like, Oh, here is some free college for like one of my options was graphic design within the options that I was looking
00;05;48;12 - 00;05;54;04
Niege Borges
into. So I was like, You know, I'm just going to study graphic design and see how that goes.
00;05;54;12 - 00;05;57;05
Fabiola Lara
What were the other degrees you were thinking about?
00;05;57;06 - 00;06;08;12
Niege Borges
Yeah, I was thinking of architecture with. I'm so glad I didn't choose that, because that's probably very complicated history, which is just random.
00;06;08;24 - 00;06;26;20
Fabiola Lara
OK, I could see architecture with your dad working in construction. Your artistic frame of mind, I could see architecture could have also worked, but I'm glad you chose graphic design because I love to see your work now. Did you end up working as a graphic designer before pursuing illustration?
00;06;27;06 - 00;06;44;24
Niege Borges
Yeah. My first job was an internship at a design agency in Brazil, and I was hired to be a graphic designer. But then they saw that I could draw, and then they were like, Well, can you draw something like, I was just making a lot of drawings for them also.
00;06;45;06 - 00;07;04;15
Niege Borges
But I also loved doing graphic design work. And then after that I was doing freelance work. I was doing a lot of graphic design work too, and I still do it. Sometimes I do both. I am focusing way more in illustration, but if I have spare time, sometimes it takes some graphic design projects.
00;07;04;27 - 00;07;16;28
Fabiola Lara
Oh, nice. What made you kind of want to? Push more towards illustration instead of kind of, you know, going further with graphic design.
00;07;17;18 - 00;07;40;13
Niege Borges
Yeah, I think it was just something that I was more interested for a long time when I was doing graphic design work. I noticed like. A big part of what the clients were enjoying on my designs, ward illustrations like that I would incorporate into the designs in clouds will come to me to do a very illustrative work
00;07;40;21 - 00;07;57;22
Niege Borges
when they would come just for illustrations. They were like, Oh, we need this design, but we also need to have like illustrations. So I guess I realized that my strongest assets was my ability to draw. And it is also what makes me happier.
00;07;57;23 - 00;08;19;29
Niege Borges
I guess it's like, what? I prefer doing it. So when I saw that I was getting more commissions for illustrations, then I was like, OK, now I, I should focus on this. And since this is working and I am happy doing it, I think I'll have like a happier work life if I focus on that song.
00;08;20;08 - 00;08;33;22
Fabiola Lara
And so you were working in graphic design, kind of doing a little bit more illustration while you were still in Brazil right after college and then at some point you decide to move to the U.S. to pursue illustration.
00;08;34;00 - 00;08;38;00
Fabiola Lara
So can you tell me about that time and why you were thinking that way?
00;08;38;02 - 00;08;59;18
Niege Borges
Yeah. first, I wasn't necessarily thinking of staying in the U.S. I just went because I had clients that already. So I was getting paid in dollars and I could afford to stay in Iraq for a while. And I went there and I decided to take some classes at the School of Visual Arts just so I could not
00;08;59;18 - 00;09;04;10
Niege Borges
just be in York and I could just like, visit the city, but also do something.
00;09;04;12 - 00;09;06;27
Fabiola Lara
Although I take advantage of your time there.
00;09;06;28 - 00;09;25;10
Niege Borges
Yeah, and then see how I like that also. So I took these classes and I was supposed to stay three miles in New York. And then I said five months and then I had to go back to Brazil because of the visa, so I decided to go back.
00;09;25;18 - 00;09;27;23
Niege Borges
Then I got artist visa.
00;09;27;24 - 00;09;29;14
Fabiola Lara
Amazing. That's a big accomplishment.
00;09;29;18 - 00;09;38;16
Niege Borges
Yeah, thanks. So yeah, it is very annoying to get it and eventually ended up getting married to an American Idol.
00;09;38;16 - 00;09;42;05
Fabiola Lara
So congratulations. Even though I'm sure it's been a long.
00;09;42;05 - 00;09;58;09
Niege Borges
Time now, yeah, it's been. I mean, not that long, but it's been a little while. So and then I stayed because of him, but also because I really like New York and because it was like working for my career and everything was working out.
00;09;58;20 - 00;10;02;12
Fabiola Lara
What year was that that you decided to move to New York and kind of begin that chapter?
00;10;02;27 - 00;10;04;16
Niege Borges
It was 2015.
00;10;04;25 - 00;10;23;28
Fabiola Lara
Incredible. Well, I know that getting an artist visa is really hard, and I know the U.S. immigration system is horrendous. So congratulations for doing that, and that's really an accomplishment. Besides, like all of the client work and amazing work that you do, that alone is a really big deal.
00;10;23;28 - 00;10;38;02
Fabiola Lara
So anyway, that's cool. And I hope that anyone listening who's thinking, can I do that, you know, gives them a little bit of perspective and expands kind of the their possibilities like, Oh, it's possible people can get this visa.
00;10;38;21 - 00;10;53;11
Niege Borges
Yeah, the artist musician looked into the immigration website is like it sounds way more terrible than it is like. It sounds way harder to guess, but it is hard, but it's not as hard as they make it seem on the website.
00;10;54;04 - 00;11;08;20
Fabiola Lara
You also just have to get the right people to do the work for you before we move on to talk more about your work because I'm so excited to do that, but I want to make sure we talk about your culture and like your background because it's such a big part of who you are, right?
00;11;08;26 - 00;11;15;29
Fabiola Lara
Because you grew up there. Do you think that being Brazilian influences your illustration work?
00;11;16;06 - 00;11;35;05
Niege Borges
Yeah, I think it does somehow. I'm still like, I was asked that question before, and I'm still like, not completely sure what the answer is, but I think maybe the way that I am inspired by dance, maybe that has something to do with it.
00;11;35;06 - 00;11;47;13
Niege Borges
I mean, I think I always like to portray like a movement in general. So I don't know if that comes from the fact that I came from a place that really values the housing those values of the world, but.
00;11;47;13 - 00;11;48;19
Fabiola Lara
Prioritizes.
00;11;48;19 - 00;12;05;13
Niege Borges
Yeah, we are associated with a lot of dancing. I think also one thing that I think of when I think of my Brazilian heritage, I guess, is because it inspires me to draw people in different shapes. And I know that happens in every country.
00;12;05;13 - 00;12;17;26
Niege Borges
But like the Brazilian woman is like curvier, I guess. And like, you don't see like tons of very skinny people here. So I guess that inspires me in the way that I draw people.
00;12;18;11 - 00;12;37;13
Fabiola Lara
Yeah. Like, maybe you're not conscious of it every single day, but in your life, when you think of people and figures, you have a wider perspective. And so you naturally include them in your work. I know that if somebody asked me that question, I'd be like, I'm not sure, but I think all these little things that make
00;12;37;13 - 00;12;42;22
Fabiola Lara
you who you are. Filter into your work little by little and you don't even notice.
00;12;42;28 - 00;12;58;14
Niege Borges
Yeah, of course, because I think everything that we end up absorbing influences us in different ways. And I like if you watch a movie or if you go to an art exhibition, I think everything is an influence and societal way.
00;12;59;04 - 00;13;19;27
Niege Borges
And yeah, I think definitely there's stuff here from Brazil that influenced me, and I maybe don't even realize it, but I mostly think about stuff like my childhood that I was like going to a used magazine store and I would just buy like old magazines because I like how they look and stuff like that.
00;13;19;27 - 00;13;41;05
Niege Borges
And I would buy a bunch of fashion magazines because it was just cheaper to buy old ones. And I was always interested in looking at like the fashion editorials, so stuff like that. But the country itself may be like I said, it's something that influences me in the way that I don't even realize sometimes exactly how.
00;13;41;17 - 00;13;58;15
Fabiola Lara
The colors in your work are so vibrant. It could be many things, but I think it also has to be there from Brazil, and it's so colorful there, and it's so tropical and warm, and you can convey that very naturally and probably effortlessly into your drawings.
00;13;58;27 - 00;14;01;04
Niege Borges
Yeah, I think that makes sense for sure.
00;14;01;13 - 00;14;14;06
Fabiola Lara
So speaking of magazines and fashion illustration, I know that this is a really big kind of theme in your work. So how much of a big deal was it when you got to work with Vogue Brazil?
00;14;14;24 - 00;14;30;15
Niege Borges
Oh yeah. I was so excited. Yeah, I always loved Vogue, and I was always like buying old Volvos when I was a kid, so I was very excited when they reached out to me. I was like, Yeah, I was like, How and where did you find it?
00;14;31;19 - 00;14;59;09
Niege Borges
I made two covers for them. There was like for the special digital editions of Vogue, and the focus was like sustainability. And the other one, the most recent one was to bring awareness to breast cancer. So yeah, they were very different teams, but they're both like, great to Aurecon and the sustainability one they wanted to have, like
00;14;59;09 - 00;15;16;06
Niege Borges
a more nature. Look to it. They sent me some of my own illustrations that I had, like artworks of women in nature, and they wanted something similar to that. And it was super fun because of something that I realized to draw.
00;15;16;12 - 00;15;36;03
Niege Borges
It's just women and priests and women floating, which was when that a for them and the other one was like more specific to the breast cancer one they wanted to just have someone with their hand on their breast, like all this kind of hiding showing completely.
00;15;36;17 - 00;15;47;16
Niege Borges
And they want it to be a black woman because apparently here in Brazil, there is like the highest rate of breast cancer is within the black population.
00;15;47;23 - 00;15;49;12
Fabiola Lara
They turned out beautiful.
00;15;49;13 - 00;15;50;04
Niege Borges
Thank you.
00;15;50;13 - 00;15;53;11
Fabiola Lara
What was the timeline for that project?
00;15;53;16 - 00;16;06;06
Niege Borges
Oh, it was insane. It was like they they reached out to me, like, maybe like on a Friday and they needed for on Monday. So it was just like, you know, there and then I like, it's all.
00;16;06;22 - 00;16;25;22
Fabiola Lara
I have to do it. I can't say no. Amazing. And like, what a beautiful full circle moment for you. From buying magazines, used magazines to drawing the cover up. I love it. It's beautiful. It makes my heart warm on the topic of Brazil.
00;16;25;26 - 00;16;38;03
Fabiola Lara
Before we move on, are there any Brazilian stereotypes that you've encountered in the U.S. or in general that you're tired of and you want to mention, and we can talk about it?
00;16;38;10 - 00;16;59;22
Niege Borges
Yeah, I think I hear a lot that all Brazilian women are beautiful, and I guess some people take that as a compliment. But like when you hear a little smile and you're like answering your Uber and the Uber driver is like, Oh, Brazilian women are beautiful and you're like me and other Brazilian women like that I talk
00;16;59;22 - 00;17;15;02
Niege Borges
to like, we really don't like to listen to that because it's just like a whole population of women. Like, it's like beautiful. And it's like part of it may sound like a nice thing to them say, but like they also sexualizing Brazilian women.
00;17;15;02 - 00;17;16;02
Fabiola Lara
Constantly.
00;17;16;02 - 00;17;35;24
Niege Borges
Constantly, like they associate Brazilian women with sex and women that are easy or something like that, which is completely fine. And that's fine. But like, you can't assume that over women and over a woman is, you know, very sexual like that or, you know.
00;17;36;11 - 00;17;41;17
Niege Borges
So it is like 19, especially when you hear that from people that you don't have any intimacy with.
00;17;42;01 - 00;17;46;26
Fabiola Lara
Yeah, just like random people in your life, you're just like, Why are you telling me this?
00;17;47;15 - 00;17;53;29
Niege Borges
People ask all the time about if I follow soccer also, which I don't.
00;17;54;14 - 00;17;56;07
Fabiola Lara
Know really got me off guard. I did.
00;17;56;07 - 00;17;56;28
Niege Borges
Not expect.
00;17;57;14 - 00;18;13;10
Fabiola Lara
That's so funny. Going back to art and illustration and design, what was the first moment that you realized that you could have a creative career? Was there one drawing or one class one teacher that kind of inspired you?
00;18;13;26 - 00;18;38;06
Niege Borges
It was when I started maybe seeing other professional works from other artists that I was really inspired and especially like seeing Brazilian artists. There was this Brazilian magazine at the time. I think they maybe I still around as a website and it was cool because it was showing mostly Brazilian artists and I was like, Oh, that's cool
00;18;38;06 - 00;18;54;24
Niege Borges
. Like, they seem to maybe be making a career out of dance and they're like doing collaborations with brands and stuff like that. So that's when I realized that that was possible. I did that. I was going to be easier than anything, but I thought that like, Oh, maybe I can do this.
00;18;55;13 - 00;19;08;27
Niege Borges
And I guess when I first got my internship also like digitizing agency and I, they saw that I was drawing and then they're like, I wasn't even being hired to draw in the first place.
00;19;09;05 - 00;19;12;10
Fabiola Lara
They kind of took advantage of that. You could draw.
00;19;12;10 - 00;19;25;22
Niege Borges
Yeah, they they said, take advantage of that. And then I was very successful there. So yeah, I think that showed me that, oh, you can actually make a living off, illustrate the illustration and not just design.
00;19;26;02 - 00;19;31;13
Fabiola Lara
Do you remember your first illustration project? That was just you? Not for an agency or anything.
00;19;31;21 - 00;19;53;22
Niege Borges
Oh, I don't even remember because it was a long time ago and I was getting hired of Pacific. The most meaningful one that I can remember off was like some illustrations for this magazine here from Brazil. That was like they still make it onto this day and they are like this beautiful magazines that have like a lot
00;19;53;23 - 00;20;10;00
Niege Borges
of illustration like infographics and stuff like that. And they were hiring me to make some illustrations for that magazine. And it was like super excited about because it was like a big magazine at the time, but I can't remember what I was drawing, actually.
00;20;10;26 - 00;20;16;15
Fabiola Lara
But do you remember that was one of the first times that you were excited about getting hired and it was a big deal to you?
00;20;16;16 - 00;20;24;15
Niege Borges
Yeah, exactly. Because like, they found me online and it was just like there was an Instagram where everything was like Flickr times.
00;20;24;21 - 00;20;36;03
Fabiola Lara
How did you land on this kind of vibrant illustration style that you have today? Do you feel like you went through a lot of versions or do you think it came? It was like instant for you?
00;20;36;12 - 00;20;54;14
Niege Borges
No, I think definitely went through a lot of different phases. When I first started, I think I was doing, yeah, when I first started, I was doing something completely different than that. I was doing like more outlined drawings with some coloring here and there.
00;20;54;25 - 00;21;15;13
Niege Borges
And then I was doing more like vector illustration because I was getting a lot of commissions for like clients that were like more corporate or even like. I would even like this magazine, I remember it was something factor because it worked well for publications like and as I was doing more like geometric vector illustrations because I was
00;21;15;13 - 00;21;34;22
Niege Borges
having fun doing that because I saw other illustrators doing that and I was like, Oh, this is really cool. And then I was like, trying to find my own language. And I sat through that. So I was in there for a while and I was getting commissions for the and then eventually I was just bored of doing
00;21;34;22 - 00;21;54;07
Niege Borges
that type of job. And it's still there's a bunch of people that do it beautifully, of course. But like for me, it wasn't working anymore. So I started to just draw like people and having fun of like making up some people and drawing them and drawing like people that would like that.
00;21;54;07 - 00;22;11;23
Niege Borges
I was like getting causes like inspired by like fashion editorials and stuff like that. So the esthetic that you see today started showing up on that time, and I was, of course, I was just going back to school, but like, not as geometric anymore, and I was like more organic.
00;22;12;13 - 00;22;21;16
Niege Borges
And then I was like, You know, I'm not going back to what I'm doing this, but on Photoshop. And then I started to like adding brush strokes and stuff like that.
00;22;21;26 - 00;22;35;24
Fabiola Lara
I love to hear that because I feel like everyone when they first start out doesn't know which way to go. And they kind of go with the trends like you're saying, like vectors. And it's also you start getting that work kind of fast because it's in demand.
00;22;36;02 - 00;22;55;04
Fabiola Lara
And then you have if you decide to do something else, it's really hard to figure out what that is. And to hear your experience and how you slowly kind of started to develop your own voice and style. I just love to hear that because I think personally, it happens to me like I'm in the middle of trying
00;22;55;04 - 00;23;06;19
Fabiola Lara
to figure that out. But it's really hard because what's trendy that you did before is always kind of in demand, right? It's like people keep coming to me for old stuff, and I'm just like, I have to delete this.
00;23;06;19 - 00;23;20;19
Fabiola Lara
I don't want to do it anymore. But it's really hard to then be like, What's next? You know what? What does that look for me? And so whenever I hear someone did it and I love how your stuff looks like now, it's very exciting and inspiring and like, gives me like hope.
00;23;20;23 - 00;23;36;10
Niege Borges
Yeah, I think like a lot of people, I really struggle to find their esthetic and I did it. I mean, I can't even say struggle, but you're like, still like trying to find what you like doing. And at some point, like, I was really enjoying making vectors.
00;23;36;10 - 00;23;53;04
Niege Borges
I thought that was it and all but, but then eventually said, No, that wasn't it. So I think there's always like a role for change just because you did like something in a certain style in the past. It doesn't mean you can just completely change, though you can say you can delete everything.
00;23;53;11 - 00;24;16;21
Niege Borges
Well, yeah, but I understand I keep coming back to us for for me. Eventually, when I started posting, I decided that I wasn't going to post any of this more like geometric vector style on Instagram. Then I was just posting this new esthetic I was working on, and then I started to get commissions with that static, so
00;24;16;24 - 00;24;18;01
Niege Borges
that was really cool.
00;24;18;23 - 00;24;27;20
Fabiola Lara
What advice would you have for me? Let's say, because I'm in the middle of them like I want to change, but also I'm still trying to figure out what that change is.
00;24;28;03 - 00;24;45;03
Niege Borges
I guess I would say for you to just keep really practicing and just creating a lot of stuff like whenever you have time, you know, like to just try to or I'm going to create a series of like three illustrations that will look like this.
00;24;45;03 - 00;25;04;15
Niege Borges
And then you try those and then you create another three illustrations that will look like something else. Maybe, you know, and then maybe you're going to start mixing up the different styles and mixing everything together into like a new style and all like, I think doing it is like the best way to do it.
00;25;04;17 - 00;25;27;14
Niege Borges
And know, like when I'm playing with some new texture for my illustrations and all, like, I'm just seeing what works and I'll like and maybe I'll start using that. So I think it's just like really testing and put it out there, but also without caring too much about likes and stuff like that, because that doesn't really measure
00;25;27;14 - 00;25;28;20
Niege Borges
it. What's important?
00;25;28;25 - 00;25;42;17
Fabiola Lara
No, it doesn't. It doesn't. All right, everybody. We have to just keep making stuff. If you're on the same boat like me, we just have to keep trying, keep making stuff. Speaking of different tools like you were saying, you're testing out some new brushes.
00;25;42;27 - 00;25;45;18
Fabiola Lara
What tools are your favorite to create your work in?
00;25;46;15 - 00;26;04;25
Niege Borges
So I like to start sketching on Illustrator, which I know is not super common because a lot of people was catching Photoshop and like I recently did a tutorial for Adobe. And like people or in the comments like I was catching on, it was cheap.
00;26;05;15 - 00;26;27;24
Niege Borges
And then I was like, I don't apologize. I mean, I explained, I like I like discussion illustrator because I can play better with the shapes, like if I draw someone's face and then I want to, like, pull their eyes in a certain way, using the the parts and illustrator, I can do that more easily than on Photoshop
00;26;27;24 - 00;26;35;23
Niege Borges
. Of course, we can do all that on Photoshop, but I like to just play with proportions on Illustrator because then you have the flexibility of the vector.
00;26;35;24 - 00;26;38;26
Fabiola Lara
And do you use mouse or Wacom or what are you using for that?
00;26;38;27 - 00;26;50;09
Niege Borges
I walk on. Yes, I have. I have chalk on, but I the one that I use the most is one of those like super basic ones that doesn't even have a screen, you know, those that you just plug.
00;26;50;19 - 00;27;04;23
Niege Borges
I have a son chip also that has a spring, but it is very big. So I don't use dial as often. But that is special because nowadays some clients want to see like your process also to post on their social media.
00;27;05;01 - 00;27;13;28
Niege Borges
So it is cool to have like a big screen to like show you actually drawing instead of like the boring walk on that is just black. That's very.
00;27;13;28 - 00;27;16;22
Fabiola Lara
Funny. Yeah, for the photo op, just like for the set up.
00;27;16;28 - 00;27;32;25
Niege Borges
Yes, I was like, Oh, here's my drawing. Yeah. But I mean, sometimes I do use it without, you know, filming because it is fun. Sometimes is because it feels like a drawing. Not on paper, but the closer you can get, I guess, to paper.
00;27;33;19 - 00;27;51;28
Niege Borges
But yeah, my favorite because I'm used to and I use since college is the little walk home without scoring. Then I transferred those catches to Photoshop and I call her every single time I call it an illustrator event just to change the colors and pass colors.
00;27;51;28 - 00;28;09;25
Niege Borges
Just like a very rough version of the illustration in Illustrator, just to like test the colors and change colors more easily and like faster. But sometimes the color on Photoshop and then the textures and shadows and everything that is also an Photoshop.
00;28;09;25 - 00;28;13;03
Fabiola Lara
So amazing. So you're not using an iPad for your work?
00;28;13;09 - 00;28;29;22
Niege Borges
No, no. I have one, and I will eventually touch on that when I am like in the subway or like traveling, but I get very distracted outside also. So I don't use that as much as I thought I would when I bought it, to be honest.
00;28;29;22 - 00;28;39;11
Niege Borges
But I did make some small animations on Procreate for personal projects because it is really fun. Also appropriate is really fun.
00;28;39;25 - 00;28;51;17
Fabiola Lara
Yeah, I was going to ask you if you had any plans for incorporating any sort of animation because your work has so much like movement in the poses that I'm like, is the next frontier for you animation?
00;28;51;22 - 00;29;06;20
Niege Borges
Yeah, I thought about that was in like one of the classes I did as survey in New York was animation. So I know very basic animation, but I don't think I'm going to learn that because it is a lot of things to learn.
00;29;06;20 - 00;29;07;02
Niege Borges
And like.
00;29;07;12 - 00;29;10;29
Fabiola Lara
A lot. Yeah, yeah, it's not like one little thing. It's a huge thing.
00;29;10;29 - 00;29;29;22
Niege Borges
If I can make like a frame to frame animations, I think anyone can do if you have patience. I like to just be drawing like the same thing with full time. I don't have interest that have become an animator because so far when I had my own stations animated for some projects like the company, the clients, they
00;29;29;22 - 00;29;42;19
Niege Borges
usually hire animators to do it. Usually, the deadline is kind of crazy. And then they prefer to have me illustrated and then just having someone else animator. So I don't think.
00;29;42;26 - 00;29;49;02
Fabiola Lara
They can probably handle it faster. Yeah. I think it's important to acknowledge when you're just like somebody.
00;29;49;02 - 00;29;56;18
Niege Borges
Else can do that. Yeah, yeah. I think it would be too much for me, and I think I have other stuff that I would be more interested in learning than they're.
00;29;56;20 - 00;29;57;12
Fabiola Lara
Like, what.
00;29;57;22 - 00;30;10;24
Niege Borges
I really like. I know nothing. Yeah, I'll start. And then also, there is a lot to learn, like animation. But if I were to choose something that is more complex to learn, I would take 20 classes.
00;30;10;29 - 00;30;18;28
Fabiola Lara
Can you tell me about your recent project with Ticktock? And like how that was like since Tick-Tock is huge right now? I love TikTok.
00;30;19;04 - 00;30;38;10
Niege Borges
Yeah, that was amazing. It was one of my favorite projects so far. I guess it was like his agency. That is, I think everyone or almost everyone does with Latino, and they invited me to do this big campaign for Jake talk for Hispanic Heritage Month.
00;30;38;29 - 00;31;00;02
Niege Borges
And at first, I was just hired to make illustrations like portraits full body. Illustrations of influencers, TikTok influencers, but then TikTok really loved the illustrations that I created, that they decided that they wanted to also make murals, so I was like, super happy about it.
00;31;00;14 - 00;31;13;22
Niege Borges
They were like, Oh, we're going to make murals too. But that also means that I have to draw more people, right? Because at that point, I did like, I think, maybe twelve or 15 influencers like real life people.
00;31;13;22 - 00;31;31;21
Niege Borges
And then the mural was supposed to show how many left max people are like on Tik Tok and like they have a bunch of followers and stuff like that. So the mural, the idea was to have, like a lot of people, to show that it's like this whole diverse group of people.
00;31;32;01 - 00;31;45;22
Niege Borges
But then I could just make made make this people up like doesn't have to be real life people because there will be a lot of work and the deadline was quite sharp. So then I was just like making fun of people and drawing some friends.
00;31;45;22 - 00;31;50;08
Niege Borges
Also before, like there are some friends of mine had them. I love it.
00;31;50;09 - 00;31;53;14
Fabiola Lara
Do you usually use photo reference for your figures?
00;31;53;22 - 00;32;00;25
Niege Borges
Yes, I do. I do use references. I'm super careful, of course, to like copy because with on there.
00;32;01;01 - 00;32;08;27
Fabiola Lara
Yeah, but your style is so stylistic, I suppose that it's like will be hard to make it look like the exact photo.
00;32;08;27 - 00;32;23;12
Niege Borges
Yeah, exactly. Yeah. And you can even like take like the stock photos just to know how our clothes looks like. We're going to have to be like, Oh, I'm going to take this picture for like Vogue, you know, like I can just like take a picture that is a stock anyway.
00;32;23;12 - 00;32;32;22
Niege Borges
And then just like, so you know how to draw in. Because I mean, some people can draw from memory very well. But like I accounts like I need references.
00;32;33;21 - 00;32;49;16
Fabiola Lara
Also because with the movement, it's like kind of to capture the exact movement that you want to capture. If you get it wrong a little bit, it might not look like they're actually doing the expression, you know? Do you ever draw from from life or sketch from life?
00;32;50;04 - 00;33;03;20
Niege Borges
I used to. I did like a very small series of people that I saw on the subway in New York. So I would draw a very fast paper and then I would just do it in the computer at home and finish it.
00;33;04;04 - 00;33;22;08
Niege Borges
But besides then? Not really. Sometimes I go to some of those drink and draw lights, but those are very like, I'm not turning that into any projects and just for like sketching and having fun with friends. Sometimes I take pictures of myself to make it easier, like if I want to make like a very specific goals that
00;33;22;08 - 00;33;34;23
Niege Borges
just say things just like that. The the vogue ones and the breast cancer was just like, I was like, No, I'm not going to find this puzzle. I am this way, so I'm just going to deposit and put someone else's face on it.
00;33;34;27 - 00;33;42;18
Fabiola Lara
OK, back to the Ticktalk mural, so you had to fill it up with a bunch of people. And what was, yeah, the overall timeline for that.
00;33;42;23 - 00;34;04;18
Niege Borges
The overall project lasted like a while, maybe a month, then I don't know. But for the mural itself I had, I think was in the week. I think it was like crazy. I was drawing a lot. And I mean, at that point, I had already like the main influencers ready for dolls.
00;34;04;18 - 00;34;19;06
Niege Borges
I also did. I did like, probably in a way, council. And then they were like taking a while to figure out the dimensions of the walls. And I really needed that and that I was like, It doesn't even have to be the measure, exactly.
00;34;19;06 - 00;34;36;28
Niege Borges
Just I'm like hands so I can start sketching. Like I said, it's catching and I'll like the people and everything, but. And then I was going to put everything together, but I needed to know the dimensions and then eventually like they had it and then also making it like super fast.
00;34;38;02 - 00;34;51;27
Niege Borges
And then and it was really cool, and the murals were hand-painted by some companies that do that. So yeah, it was really cool to see people and painting my illustrations in like a super large scale.
00;34;52;08 - 00;35;06;08
Fabiola Lara
Yes, they look amazing. I love the color and the composite. I love everything about those murals. They look really cool. I'm like, Congratulations again for that project. Thank you. Now that you worked with Ticktalk. Are you on Ticktalk?
00;35;06;08 - 00;35;08;01
Fabiola Lara
Do you plan on joining tick tock?
00;35;08;13 - 00;35;25;29
Niege Borges
I don't think so. To be honest, I didn't have a tick tock before I worked for tick tock like I downloaded because of the project, because I know that is great. I know that it's so much fun. Like, I see the the best thoughts like on Twitter and on Instagram and stuff like that.
00;35;26;10 - 00;35;43;01
Niege Borges
So like, if I don't know, I'm just going to be addicted. So I downloaded for the project to take a look on everything and on the glasses profiles and then to see how the campaign was looking like. But I didn't create like a profile, like I didn't post anything.
00;35;43;01 - 00;35;58;07
Fabiola Lara
And you know, we talked about your your campaign for tick tock and your covers for Vogue Brazil. What types of projects do you like taking on in general? Is it mostly editorial? Is it mostly commercial? Are there other types of projects that you like to take on?
00;35;58;20 - 00;36;17;01
Niege Borges
Yeah, I think my favorites are the commercial ones. This one is a great example because I had a lot of creative freedom which usually got with editorial work and got a good amount of creative freedom. But then you get to have it live in a bunch of places.
00;36;17;08 - 00;36;31;04
Niege Borges
While an editorial is just that one publication like with talk project, for example, you have it like on a bunch of people, social media and you have it on the streets and stuff like that. So commercials are definitely my favorite.
00;36;31;20 - 00;36;51;17
Niege Borges
I love which I haven't done this yet, and I love it. I would love to do it as packaging. I've been getting so inquires. So maybe so. But I also like to make illustrations for books. I only made one that is out already for a while, but it's not really my illustration style as something that I did
00;36;51;17 - 00;37;01;11
Niege Borges
a while ago and I did it whatever the client wanted, but also putting some of my esthetic there. But nowadays I would do something completely different.
00;37;02;04 - 00;37;06;15
Fabiola Lara
I could totally see some books with your work on it as the cover publishing.
00;37;06;21 - 00;37;09;25
Niege Borges
There's actually one coming out in December.
00;37;10;01 - 00;37;11;16
Fabiola Lara
What is it with the book called.
00;37;12;06 - 00;37;35;13
Niege Borges
The name of the book is the residency Book of Drinks and is going to be published by Abrams Books is the name of the publisher. Yeah, so it's like a cocktail book, and I just have like a bunch of recipes of cocktails from the Regency era, you know, like they were inspired by the series on Bridgerton.
00;37;35;24 - 00;37;53;05
Niege Borges
Very colorful, and I took a bunch of inspiration of the inspiration for the color palette was from the costumes and the set design. So, yeah, the book is all the Bridgerton vibe, you know, like flowers and fancy things.
00;37;53;05 - 00;37;56;18
Niege Borges
And yeah, a lot of cocktails is amazing.
00;37;56;18 - 00;38;05;26
Fabiola Lara
I can't wait to see it. Hopefully, I see you across more books. I'm assuming you did the cover or the interior illustrations for the book or both.
00;38;06;04 - 00;38;14;09
Niege Borges
Yeah, both. I did the illustration for the cover. Someone else did the graphic design, but I did the illustrations and the interior also.
00;38;14;25 - 00;38;20;26
Fabiola Lara
What's a personal project that you would like to work on just on your own time when you have time?
00;38;21;23 - 00;38;30;11
Niege Borges
I want to make more oil paintings because that's something that I really enjoy doing, but I often don't have time.
00;38;30;16 - 00;38;40;08
Fabiola Lara
Yeah, I was going to say everything that you've been mentioning is very digital, which is amazing and makes sense for everything. But I was going to say, if you worked in anything traditional.
00;38;40;21 - 00;38;56;29
Niege Borges
Yeah, I do make some oil paintings and I will have a lot of fun making out and I am trying to go back to it because I had so much client work the last months that I, when I was, I was having free time.
00;38;56;29 - 00;39;10;06
Niege Borges
I was just like an item just with Relax, I'm not going to paint or I'm going to see people. So I kind of stopped oil painting. But in January, I'm in Brazil and I don't have any oil paintings here anymore.
00;39;10;21 - 00;39;15;10
Niege Borges
But when I go back to New York, I'm going to get into yes.
00;39;15;10 - 00;39;28;03
Fabiola Lara
And oil painting is digital is so fast because you can make changes and everything. Oil painting is so slow. How do you have the patience for that? Do you like is that? Do you like that part of oil painting?
00;39;28;10 - 00;39;51;06
Niege Borges
Yes, I like it because I can. Well, I like that it. It takes a long time to dry because you get to maybe see something that you feel that needs fixing. And I kinda like to see I've been playing with layers of paint, so I like to see how the paint that is dry now, how I got
00;39;51;06 - 00;40;00;14
Niege Borges
to put another layer on top and how that's going to look like, you know, if I don't like something, I just way too dry and I with the van on top, you know, it's.
00;40;00;14 - 00;40;01;16
Fabiola Lara
Flexible that way.
00;40;01;18 - 00;40;19;05
Niege Borges
It's very flexible and I have patience and sometimes I just am working on multiple stuff like if I'm doing the oil painting and drawing, maybe I'm going to do stuff in the computer while it's dry, making a drawing my computer in the meantime and trying to take a break from the oil painting.
00;40;19;07 - 00;40;21;16
Fabiola Lara
Have you shared any oil paintings before?
00;40;22;04 - 00;40;26;07
Niege Borges
Yeah, there's some on my Instagram a while back. Those Kalibo.
00;40;26;25 - 00;40;27;23
Fabiola Lara
I must have missed it.
00;40;28;05 - 00;40;40;29
Niege Borges
Yeah, yeah. I don't have a lot really. And some of my paintings, like they could maybe even be done in acrylic because, you know, like what I do, I think he is a be be achieved in acrylics also.
00;40;40;29 - 00;40;43;18
Niege Borges
But I just like the texture of oil.
00;40;43;26 - 00;40;55;01
Fabiola Lara
I get that. I saw that you actually used to work with paper cuts, which is a medium that I'm exploring just now. But can you tell me about that era and like why you decided to maybe pivot?
00;40;55;21 - 00;41;17;16
Niege Borges
I was just searching for something different to explore. I wasn't sure of what I was going to do. Like illustration wise, I was happy with just doing my like commercial, more commercial illustration looks and graphic design. And I also needed a break from the computer.
00;41;17;16 - 00;41;32;24
Niege Borges
I wanted to do something that could pull me away from the screen for a little while. So I started to together like colorful paper. I always loved paper just, you know, would go to the paper store and just buy different types of paper.
00;41;33;03 - 00;41;51;16
Niege Borges
So I was just having fun, and I always liked those scientific illustrations of plants. So I was like, What if I make the book on paper? I was just like, kinda even therapeutic and a certain way. I don't know.
00;41;51;16 - 00;42;07;27
Niege Borges
It was just like fun to make, and I like how it looks, and I like to play with the different colors, you know, the bold color that the paper has. But yeah, but then eventually I started having so much patience.
00;42;07;27 - 00;42;13;09
Fabiola Lara
And yeah, it's very time intensive, kind of like oil painting. But yeah.
00;42;13;20 - 00;42;16;26
Niege Borges
But yeah. But then you have to cut it and then your hands tricks and and.
00;42;17;01 - 00;42;26;11
Fabiola Lara
Yeah, you have to like, draw it and then plan how you have to cut it. And it's like, that's where I'm struggling right now. But I still I still enjoy it. But yeah, I understand.
00;42;26;18 - 00;42;45;06
Niege Borges
A lot of work. Sometimes I do think of maybe exploring. That with my illustrations, I see what I could make if I print some illustrations of how I could give some depth to the illustrations while printing them and creating little scenarios or something.
00;42;45;15 - 00;43;02;05
Fabiola Lara
It also explains why you like are interested in the 3D because you could also replicate stuff like that in 3D. Now I've been I've been seeing people do stuff like that can be interesting. Do you have a dream client or dream project that you would like to work on?
00;43;02;05 - 00;43;09;13
Fabiola Lara
I feel like you've worked with so many amazing clients at this point. But is there anything else out there that you you're hoping to accomplish?
00;43;09;27 - 00;43;25;02
Niege Borges
Yes, I would love to work with like some big fashion brand like, for example, which they they hired some illustrators for campaigns. They have a painter that does a bunch of stuff for them, so I'm not trying to take his place.
00;43;25;16 - 00;43;41;08
Niege Borges
Like amazing is if the genesis of his name, right? And but eventually, would you hire illustrators to do some little projects? So I would love to do something for Gotcha. Gotcha. This call me. Would you.
00;43;41;22 - 00;43;49;29
Fabiola Lara
Definitely listening? Amazing. I could totally see that. I'm actually surprised that have you worked with any fashion brands before?
00;43;51;13 - 00;43;57;21
Niege Borges
Know that I worked at for small fashion brand, but not not any like major. Yeah.
00;43;57;21 - 00;44;06;18
Fabiola Lara
I'm just realizing that you've been doing like editorial fashion, but not necessarily working directly with a brand that would be incredible. I know what's going to happen is a matter of time.
00;44;06;25 - 00;44;09;05
Fabiola Lara
Yes. Thank you so much for your time.
00;44;09;06 - 00;44;19;05
Fabiola Lara
I have to say I had a wonderful time just connecting with you and talking to you. I love. I personally love your work. I think it's so cool. And when I saw your TikTok campaign, I was just so impressed.
00;44;19;18 - 00;44;22;01
Fabiola Lara
Thank you for your time all the way from Brazil.
00;44;22;10 - 00;44;25;16
Niege Borges
Yes. Thank you for inviting me. I had a great time.
00;44;29;08 - 00;44;47;05
Fabiola Lara
OK, everyone, thanks for listening to this amazing chat with the illustrator, Niege Borges. As always, I'll be leaving the links and description so you can explore her work. It's incredible. Just a little reminder, listeners of the podcast can get a free updated weekly and monthly planner inspired by the show by using the link in a show, notes
00;44;47;05 - 00;44;59;04
Fabiola Lara
or going to DrawsInSpanish.com. If you want to hear more from me, you can find me on YouTube, where I post studio vlogs and tutorials about my life as an illustrator slash podcaster every other week between Draws in Spanish episodes.
00;44;59;13 - 00;45;12;28
Fabiola Lara
So technically, you have something new for me every week. My channel is at five Julieta draws, but you can also click on the link in the show notes, and it'll take you right there. Lastly, if there's a Latinx visual artist based in the U.S. that you think we should speak to on the show, go ahead and
00;45;12;28 - 00;45;23;25
Fabiola Lara
nominate them by going to Drawsinspanish.com/nominate. Now do me a favor and hit subscribe so you don't miss the next episode of Draws in Spanish. Thank you y hasta la proxima!