Lost in a dream with a lorikeet

*Jermaine caught up with Microsoft word champion and owner of an extremely cool name, Miranda Lorikeet *

It's cliché, but lets start by telling everyone a bit about yourself. When and how did you start creating such beauty on MS paint?

Always a good idea to start from the beginning. I’m a Sydney-based digital artist with a penchant for drawing naked ladies and soothing pastel dreamscapes.

I’ve always had a soft spot for MS Paint. I used it a lot as a kid in the 90s, but returned to it five years ago when I started an office job. I started drawing on my lunchbreaks and whenever I got a spare minute at work, somewhere along the way it went from being stupid scribbles to proper artworks.

Do you make any other style of work or strictly digital?

Not anymore, I used to draw with pens, paints, water colours. Whatever I could get my hands on really. These days it’s just me and my true love, MS Paint

What does the death of MS paint mean for you? And are you okay? ☹

It’s OK, it’s not really dead! It’s just being moved to the Windows store where you can download it for free. The morning Microsoft announced MS Paint was being retired I was almost in tears. It’s not being totally sacked, but it won’t be included in any of the future Windows Software updates. Which is still sad. My favourite part about MS Paint is the accessibility! The fact that I could sit down at any Windows computer in the world - whether it’s in an Internet Café in Denmark, at the local library or a computer in my office - and know that MS Paint will be waiting for me in the start menu. It was sad to see my beloved MS Paint get side-lined.

So your Instagram says you draw naked babes, but I see a lot more depth to your work than just nude chicks. How do you approach a blank canvas when starting an artwork? Do you conceptualise much?

When I start a drawing, the only thing I am sure of is the colour palette I’ll be using. A lot of my concepts are derived from surrealist artists like Rene Magritte, or French Cartoonists from the 1970s. I generally have a vague idea of what I want to draw, but when I start drawing the art work takes on a life of its own and turns out being something completely different to what I initially sat down to draw. I find that when I am drawing, the way I feel that day will greatly influence the concept and colours. It’s become this weird unconscious thought process. I kind of just sit down and go “I wonder what I’ll draw today” and I only find out when it’s done.

Who are your 3 favourite visual artists and musical artists at the moment?

My favourite visual artist is Guy Billout, a 1970s surrealist French Cartoonist. I’m also a huge Rene Magritte fan. I’m a sucker for cheesy surrealism. John Wesley is another; he’s a minimalist pop artist from the 1970s who draws really bizarre overtly sexual images. All 3 are huge influences on how and what I draw.

I’m forever obsessed with Black Keys. No matter how much new music I hear I still go back to Brothers. Really loving Roy Ayers smooth seductive jazz lately. Tomppabeats has been making some really pretty stuff lately too.

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