Animation by Katrīna Sadovņikova

This year’s first Nice Touch feature is by Katrīna Sadovņikova, an illustrator who joined the FOLD team last year and creates animations for the Nice Touch section every week. Katrīna enjoys drawing colourful illustrations that can convey serious themes while retaining a sense of childlike fun and ease. In the Nice Touch section, Katrīna talks about the tools that have become her main working instruments.

Nice Touch Editorial January 5, 2024

«Although since my beginnings as an illustrator I have preferred analogue art methods, my creative process is unimaginable without my iPad Pro tablet and Apple Pencil stylus. The iPad is convenient and versatile ─ it’s light, intuitive to use, and easy to take with you almost anywhere. As I work in both 2D and 3D environments, it’s extremely important to me that the iPad can support both 2D and 3D art and design apps.

The iPad and Apple Pencil are relatively expensive (and your friends will call you an iPad baby), but I recommend them for both beginners and experienced professionals who want to create digital art and design more easily. For those who are used to drawing on paper, I recommend applying a protective glass to the iPad, which is matte and has a slightly rough texture that gives the feel of paper.»

Katrīna Sadovņikova studied animation and illustration at the Arts University Bournemouth. Creative Review magazine named her one of the ten most promising art and design graduates in the UK in 2022. The illustrator enjoys using a variety of techniques in her work and is equally fluent in both 2D and 3D environments, creating expressive, unusual, and slightly silly characters. Katrina’s dream is to have her work published in the online magazine It’s Nice That. You can follow the illustrator’s work on her website and Instagram account.