Meet Miss Kika – the Sweetest of the Sweet!

Liz Lorini is the talent behind popular design and illustration creation Miss Kika. You may have seen her work around the web, in magazines and books – my favorite, Little Book of Kawaii. In fact it isn’t possible to call yourself an Afficionado of the Kawaii and not have seen her work! From Fashion to Freelance, Gallery Pieces to Vinyl Toys- Liz Lorini is a Queen of Cute - You can even have Miss Kika grace your iPhone! But there is more to this sugar sweet artist than meets the eye. Liz kindly took time away from her coloured pencils and strawberry tea to share a little more about herself with you all.

 You’re a woman after my own heart, inspired by pop imagery and Japanese cartoons. When do you recall as first feeling the strong pull towards this style of illustration and how did that come about?
I think I always was pulled to it, it was what I enjoyed, admired,  and just ended up drawing when I had the choice to do what I wanted!  As young as I can remember I was doodling around sparkle girls like lady lovely locks and what-not, so  it never really popped into my mind to draw anything else.  My 3rd year of college I had a bit of an “ah-hah!” moment and realized just what direction to take it to on a professional level though…what clients to pursue and such.

Were you a hoarder as a child, collecting packages, catalogues and the like?
Haha yes! I held on to lots of little scraps and tidbits with things I liked, also had way too many stickers that I just HAD to keep, but did not want to use!

Miss Macaroon - a glice print created for her solo show

How you do manage your collection of inspirational pieces?
Right now I am trying to work in sets, so I will go with a theme and inspiration and base a collection around that.  Its nice because it makes me feel like I have these little worlds of colors and themes I have planned out and can jump back into at any time. 

How did you make the transition from formal study to a business in illustration? Was this a daunting process?
It was a little confusing at first, and in a way just kind of happened and I embraced  and ran with it!  When you draw in school it can be a very controlled environment, so once I was finished I sat down and had to kind of retrain my brain to just go for whatever the heck I felt like….the result of which was a set of uber saturated  candy girl pinups!  I had a lot of fun just letting go and doing whatever I wanted, and when I posted them online the response was so warm that I just kept on doing it. 

Victoria

Does the aesthetic displayed in your work carry over to your personal sense of style?
I guess, I like a lot of color and everyone that knows me can usually guess pretty quickly what item in a store I am going to race over and ogle at!  I wish I was a little more ambitious with my personal style though, crazy color overload fruits fashion or rainbow hair with 100 cute hair clips! Haha!!  Sadly I’m a little more on the boring side I suppose!

Do you feel an affinity for any popular anime character on a personal level?
I have always loved Makino from Hana yori dango!  Since I was 13 she has always been my favorite character~  that could have something to do with her being the first character I ever saw flip the middle finger at another. lol

Is there any part of your daily life you’d like to see more creative flare in but just haven’t managed it yet?
Cooking and baking for sure!  I would love to be able to make lovely cakes or homemade cookies and decorate them Martha style!  I have been meaning to take some cake decorating classes to learn how to do icing things like flowers…. I should make that my new year’s resolution…..right after buying an electric mixer. Hehe.

Dottie Domestic

What is your cure all for a “blue day”? Strawberry tea and window shopping

Is there a talent you wish you had?  I wish I could sing well!!!  I wish that almost every day, because I sing almost every day in the car or shower off-tune!

With the demands of your various projects, professional and personal, do you ever find yourself getting “creative burn out” and how do you deal with this? I do get like that sometimes, usually after doing a bunch of pieces or projects in a row that I really did not enjoy or feel like working on… and in freelance you always have a few projects that are boring, but you must press through.  Sometimes to bring myself out of it I will try and work on some new sets of work, maybe plan them out and get excited and pumped.  Other times when I am just totally 100% burnt out with art I will try and take a week or two to step away…. Maybe go get a haircut, watch some shows I like, just kind of get out of the office and do something nice for me.  That usually snaps me out of it pretty good as well!

Hail Rainbow

 

 

 

If you could give three pieces of advice to your future 40 year old self, what would you say to her?

1. Don’t forget how to enjoy quiet moments by yourself drawing and dreaming
2. Get more sleep!  I don’t sleep enough now…and Im sure I will not at 40 as well!
3. Take care of yourself…. No more cake at 1am while you are working!

Sweet Rococo

And if all that isn’t enough eye candy for one day, you can visit Miss Kika for free downloadable Wallpapers, icons and all kinds of goodies… but beware once you find her shop your new cuteness factor should come with a warning label!