Lindsey Stupica

Reading Time | 3 minutes

Thanks for taking the time to join us, Lindsey! Can you start by telling us about your biggest artistic influences?

I am hugely influenced by the artists of the Art Nouveau era—particularly Alphonse Mucha. I really love artists that do their own take on Art Nouveau inspirations such as Audrey Kawasaki and Lois Van Baarle. Disney animator Glen Keane has informed my work greatly.

Aside from actual artists, I pull inspiration from films, color schemes, and music. I typically make “Mood Boards” and “Style Frames” when starting a new project. I’ll gather many images of things that inspire me from works of art to photographs to textures and brushes. I try to get things in a pile and sort of sift through things in an abstract way before knowing exactly what I want my work to look and feel like.

In her “free” time, Lindsey combines her love for Art Nouveau and unicorns.

That’s great! Now, how about a bit about yourself?

I hate trying to sum myself up in a paragraph. I had my daughter when I was 18, and have been struggling to get my career going ever since. I decided to go for a career focused in art and animation because I wouldn’t be happy doing anything else. It was a hard decision (I could have been a nurse and been more fiscally responsible) and I am still trying to figure out how to make things work. Even so, I love what I do and who I have become from my experiences. My daughter and I are annoyingly like the Gilmore Girls. She wants to be a writer or a film director and we love geeking out about movies together. I play acoustic guitar, love the North Shore of Lake Superior, am somewhat obsessed with unicorns, fireflies, and shoegaze music, and am at my most happy when it’s 90 degrees and humid out. Someday I would like to create a beautifully rendered, 2D animation in the style of Art Nouveau with a bit of experimental film thrown in.

That’s really fascinating. We often think of professional art-making struggles in relation to “tough clients” or “creative blocks”. I think it can be easy to forget that the decision to pursue art-making for a living can be a struggle in itself.

Now, what are your plans for the future?

I’ve been having a really great time freelancing with a few different clients and studios in the Minneapolis area and I love to continue to do so. I learn so much from each  job I do and it’s fun to grow my connections and talk animation with some many different passionate people. I’d like to grow my own freelance business throughout the coming years. I also make my own character and fantasy art in my “free” (Ha) time and I am trying to get little shows at coffee shops and galleries around the Cities.

Is there anything you would like to mention before we wrap up?

I think what Nice Moves is doing for the community of Minnesota’s animation industry is amazing. I really like living in a community of people who are excited to talk shop and support each other rather than a cut-throat industry of know-it-alls.

We really appreciate that! The community is what keeps us going 🙂