Isabella Crump: Visual Artist (and Drummer)

Artist Isabella Crump

One of Art Motif Magazine’s most important objectives is to share the incredible talents of young artists in our communities. Isabella Crump, our next featured artist, began drawing seriously when she was 9 years old. Today, Isabella is a 14-year-old Freshman at Ironwood Ridge High School in Tucson, Arizona and her artistic pursuits, both as a visual artist and a musician (she is a drummer in a few local bands), are just beginning to take flight. Take a look at our interview with Isabella below and prepare to be blown away both by her extraordinary artistic skills and her old soul take on life.

“I Wear My Sunglasses At Night” | Colored Pencil & Acrylic on Board by Isabella Crump

What is essential to your work as an artist? Apart from art supplies and equipment, having the right mindset and enough motivation to actually do art is crucial to my work, of course! The art community as a whole is very important to me as well. Seeing people with the same love for art supporting and uplifting each other raises my spirits.

“Wood-Leaf Creature” | Wood Burning with Leaves by Isabella Crump

What works, events, or moments in your life have influenced your art? Over the years, I’ve been on and off about drawing, but I started when I was little. No one in my family is exactly an artist, but my parents have always appreciated and taken an interest in the arts. I guess I picked up art as a hobby on my own from being surrounded by it my whole life, and I started really drawing all the time when I was around nine or ten. All the support I’ve gotten from family, friends, teachers, and even random strangers has motivated me to keep going.

“Third Eye Blind” | Oil on Canvas by Isabella Crump

Do you have a preferred genre, style, or medium? I don’t really have a preferred style or medium. Since I’m still learning, I love making all kinds of art and using different materials. I like to experiment, but I’m mostly drawn to portraits of people, more specifically females. Besides the fact that I enjoy drawing them, I think I gravitate more towards portraits of young women because I can relate more, as if I’m almost able to see myself in the paintings. Until about the 20th century, women had a hard time engaging with the art world, so that has given me even more of a drive to represent them in my work.

“Smoky Haze” | Pen & No.2 Pencil on Paper by Isabella Crump

What inspires you? I never know what’s going to inspire me, but I do know where to find inspiration. In other artists’ works, in my music, in nature, and in people.

“Imperfections” | Colored Pencil on Board by Isabella Crump

What piece of advice would you give other aspiring artists? It’s cliché advice but don’t give up! I mean, if you just stop you’re not going to just magically get better, right? Try to practice whenever you can and build the habit of sketching everyday.

“In the Mood for Coffee?” | Pen on Paper by Isabella Crump

What is your creative process? What does a typical day of creative expression look like to you? To begin my creative process, I grab some snacks, get nice and cozy in front of my laptop, and then start surfing the web. The internet is the perfect place to find ideas and inspiration for my next artwork. I might flip through a few art books and magazines or look anywhere really. Art is everywhere. I might even leaf through the records sitting on my shelves and examine their covers. After my hunt for inspiration, I just envision an idea in my mind, start sketching and see where it goes from there.

“Tempest” | Acrylic on Canvas by Isabella Crump (Shown here as the selected piece for the cover image of an art magazine in 2017.)

Who are your favorite visual artists? There are so many but I love Banksy, Vhils, Hope Gangloff, Gustav Klimt, Malcolm Liepke, and Dominic Depeyre.

What is your idea of happiness? Finding joy from even the smallest things, keeping your chin up, and living in the now.

To learn more about Isabella and see more of her work, click on the following link: