Mia Nolting is a Portland-based artist, illustrator and designer. She filled this Scout Book with terrific sketches, collage and her signature handmade fonts. Lovely! See the whole notebook and read an interview with Mia below.
Tell us a little bit about yourself and the work you make.
I’m primarily an illustrator, but I also always have a lot of personal projects going on. My work mostly draws from relationships, overheard conversations, longing, and misunderstanding. I have a combined love of drawing and typography and design, so I do a lot of lettering and book making. I have my great grandmother’s piano in my studio, which I try to play in the mornings before starting on anything. Lately I’ve been doing some screen printing, but I’m not very patient so it’s hard to get it right. I always try to have live flowers around my studio, which I use to draw from. I also draw strangers in coffee shops and on public transportation—I absolutely cannot draw from photographs, no matter what.
I try to make work that’s intimate and that captures emotions and fleeting moments, beautiful and sometimes sad. I’m not as concerned about making precious objects or single images as I am with making a a lot of something that might be fleeting or temporary but that reaches a lot of people. I think that’s why I like printed materials—publications, books—or a series of drawings better than stand-alone images. I draw really quickly and don’t get attached.
How does sketching play into your art practice? Describe your relationship with notebooks and sketchbooks.
Sketching is a huge part of my practice. Probably 90% of my work happens in my sketchbook, by accident – it’s a lot harder for me to make finished work, because sometimes the pressure overcomes creativity. Sketchbooks are nice because there isn’t that pressure to make something good because you spent all of that money on nice paper or someone’s paying you to do it so it has to be good. I usually end up scanning things I draw in my sketchbook and using them in finished illustrations, composing and adding color later.
Where do you use your Scout Book?
Scout Books are nice because they’re small and fit in my jacket pocket. So they tend to be wherever I am.
Would you like to share any projects you’re currently working on?
I’ve been working on 2 logos lately, which are fun because they’re both hand lettering. A young adult novel called Hold Still that I illustrated just came out from Dutton/Penguin, and it’s exciting to finally see it on shelves. My friend Rachel Peddersen and I are co-curating a publication called and&review that’s coming out in January, and my scientist boyfriend Michael Griffin and I are working on a map of ancient portland trees that shows all of the trees in North Portland that are over 100 years old (there are a lot of them!). I’ll be in Los Angeles for a few weeks soon to work at a studio that makes movie posters. I’ve been taking more photos lately, which I think might turn into something. I’m about to send out the last survey for a project I’ve been working on for 2 years, and I’ve got an ongoing book of lists. And, updating my website, always.
Show Us Your Scout Book: Mia Nolting
Tell us a little bit about yourself and the work you make.
I’m primarily an illustrator, but I also always have a lot of personal projects going on. My work mostly draws from relationships, overheard conversations, longing, and misunderstanding. I have a combined love of drawing and typography and design, so I do a lot of lettering and book making. I have my great grandmother’s piano in my studio, which I try to play in the mornings before starting on anything. Lately I’ve been doing some screen printing, but I’m not very patient so it’s hard to get it right. I always try to have live flowers around my studio, which I use to draw from. I also draw strangers in coffee shops and on public transportation—I absolutely cannot draw from photographs, no matter what.
I try to make work that’s intimate and that captures emotions and fleeting moments, beautiful and sometimes sad. I’m not as concerned about making precious objects or single images as I am with making a a lot of something that might be fleeting or temporary but that reaches a lot of people. I think that’s why I like printed materials—publications, books—or a series of drawings better than stand-alone images. I draw really quickly and don’t get attached.
How does sketching play into your art practice? Describe your relationship with notebooks and sketchbooks.
Sketching is a huge part of my practice. Probably 90% of my work happens in my sketchbook, by accident – it’s a lot harder for me to make finished work, because sometimes the pressure overcomes creativity. Sketchbooks are nice because there isn’t that pressure to make something good because you spent all of that money on nice paper or someone’s paying you to do it so it has to be good. I usually end up scanning things I draw in my sketchbook and using them in finished illustrations, composing and adding color later.
Where do you use your Scout Book?
Scout Books are nice because they’re small and fit in my jacket pocket. So they tend to be wherever I am.
Would you like to share any projects you’re currently working on?
I’ve been working on 2 logos lately, which are fun because they’re both hand lettering. A young adult novel called Hold Still that I illustrated just came out from Dutton/Penguin, and it’s exciting to finally see it on shelves. My friend Rachel Peddersen and I are co-curating a publication called and&review that’s coming out in January, and my scientist boyfriend Michael Griffin and I are working on a map of ancient portland trees that shows all of the trees in North Portland that are over 100 years old (there are a lot of them!). I’ll be in Los Angeles for a few weeks soon to work at a studio that makes movie posters. I’ve been taking more photos lately, which I think might turn into something. I’m about to send out the last survey for a project I’ve been working on for 2 years, and I’ve got an ongoing book of lists. And, updating my website, always.
Where can we find your work?
My website
My new art rep
and&review
Book of Lists
Surveys
A special survey