Meet The Illustrator: Cathrin Peterslund

Name: Cathrin Peterslund

Describe your illustration style in ten words or less.
Poetic, detailed, and atmospheric.

What items are an essential part of your creative space?
I need relatively quiet and peaceful surroundings, and I always have a set of headphones so I can listen to music. At my workspace you will usually find paper, pencil, fine liners, light table, and my computer and Ipad. And last but not least, a big mug of coffee.

Do you have a favourite artistic medium?
My work-method varies, depending on what type of project I’m working on. I just finished a project that was 100% digital, and I really enjoy testing new tools and becoming better at drawing with my Ipad. But the combination of analogue drawing and digital colouring is super interesting and fun to me. So at the moment fine-liners and Procreate are my favourite media!

Name three artists whose work inspires you.
Edward Gorey, Tove Jansson, and Eyvind Earle

Which artistic period would you most like to visit and why?
I would love to see how the surrealists were working, and how their idea-processes looked like. The year before I went to study, I got obsessed with Salvador Dali because I had visited an exhibition with a ton of his drawings and sketches, and I remember thinking that I could draw crazy things too, if I wanted. It was really fun, and something I will never forget. I have since then explored other surrealists, and been really inspired by art of Leonora Carrington - it would be so interesting to see how she worked.

Who or what inspired you to become an illustrator?

I actually don’t remember. Drawing was just always the thing I enjoyed doing the most, and I remember that I as a kid wanted to become some sort of an artist, but I didn’t know what kind. I didn’t know that illustration was a thing you could actually have as a job before many years later, but when I found out, I knew that I wanted to go for that. Also, I am lucky to have a family who always backed me up in my wish to become an artist, so in that way it was easy for me to go in that direction.

Can you share a photo of your creative work space or part of the area where you work most often? Talk us through it.

This picture of my desk was taken in December. My workspace is in a shared studio in in the centre of Copenhagen. We are 8 people sharing it but it’s rare that everyone is there at the same time, and especially during these Corona days. The studio is in a basement so as you can see on the picture it gets quite dark down there at winter, but I love it. I think it’s super cozy to have few people around me when I work. But at the moment I mostly work from home because of the Corona-situation.

What is your favourite part of the illustration process?
The moment when I get settled on an idea, and I start moving further with it into the more detailed part. I find it really exciting when I can see the final image is starting to take form.

What advice would you give to an aspiring illustrator?

Allow yourself to take breaks. Something I have experienced is that it can be hard to relax when you constantly want to improve. You will grow your whole life so you don’t have to do everything at once.

Cathrin is an illustrator living and working in Copenhagen, Denmark. She studied comics and illustration at the Animation Workshop where from she has a BA in Graphic Storytelling.

She loves to draw detailed and epic universes, most often inspired by the nature where she enjoys spending her time. Luckily Cathrin lives right next to a huge lake where she likes to run and walk while listening to audiobooks. Cathrin is represented by the Bright Agency

For more information, please visit Cathrin's website or follow her on instagram .