[Un]Discovers: Ryan Tandya

Recently I am attracted to an illustration series created by an illustrator named Ryan Tandya. I think his works are very whimsical and clean. As always, when I see an artist I like, I will want to have him/her on this site. For this week, it's my pleasure to have him on this site as I want to let my readers to know him more.

Hello Ryan, it's great to have you on [Un]Discover this week and let's start with this question - what made you want to be an illustrator? Were you under any formal training for illustration before you entered this industry?
As a child I was always fascinated by illustrated storybooks and cartoons, and I grew up reading comics and playing video games. I can't imagine a better life than working in the creative field I've been really comfortable with since I was small. I'm currently enrolled in a university in Surabaya, Indonesia majoring visual communication design. We had a brief introduction to illustration through a few classes back then on the early semesters.

Wow, you only took a few illustration classes and you can already illustrate some great works? That's fantastic! So which illustrators do you look up to? What have you learnt from him/her/them?
I have too many to mention! Some of my favourites include Laura Laine and Audrey Kawasaki. I love how they portray things so beautifully in their own ways.

I am a big fan of Laura Laine too. I have actually interviewed her before on Swide. She is a great artist! Well let's go back to your works. What 3 adjectives will you use to describe your illustration style?
I find it hard to describe my own work, I'm not so conscious about my style but I always try to keep it clean, simple, and spontaneous.

Clean is one of the words I use to describe your works and whimsical as well. I am clearly addicted to your Horoscope series. So, can you tell me why you decided to choose these 12 brands? Was there any difficulty while working on this project?
I was commissioned to do this project. I was asked to draw the girls wearing pieces from the most recent collections (it was September when I started). Basically I just tried to find a piece that suited a sign's character best, e.g. a furry clothing for Aries or a scaly dress for Pisces. It was fun browsing and picking which piece I should draw. If there's any difficulty it would be myself for trying too hard at first, but as I let go it turned out to be so much fun. I've never respected the people behind the brands this much before I did this project. Now I pay more attention to details of the pieces because they are just intriguingly beautiful!

The whole series is simply beautiful and I hope to see another series like this in the future from you! Well, out of all the works you have done so far, which piece can best represent you as an artist? Why?
Maybe the nutcracker because it's so personal.

Now here is my final question for you as an illustrator: if you could rework an image of a cartoon character by dressing him/her into high fashion outfit, who and which brand would you choose? Why?
Rilakkuma randomly passed through my mind . As for the brand, it's so difficult for me to decide, maybe Lanvin or Jil Sander, or Gucci. :p I think any brand would be great!

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Now it's time for some trivia questions!

Prada or Rick Owens?
Prada

Bird or Rabbit? 
Cats :)

Pink or Gold? 
Gold

Winter or Summer?
Winter

Fire or Ice? 
Ice

Mickey or Snoopy?
Mickey

Paris or Tokyo?
Tokyo

Mac or PC?
Mac

Lady Gaga or Adele? 
Beethoven

Sneakers or Dress Shoes? 
Dress Shoes

Thank you so much to Ryan for answering my questions and if you want to see more of his works, you can visit his website here. All images are courtesy of Ryan Tandya.