Lisa Mitrokhin 

When did you discover you loved to draw?
   I'm not sure that drawing and my love of it was a thing to be discovered. I was drawing since I could hold a pencil. It was never a revelation. It was always just a way of being for me. Much like some kids immediately start climbing trees and buildings and grow up to be base
jumpers.
 
Where do you get inspiration for some of your darker images?
    That's a tricky question because to me they are not dark. I just draw what I find beautiful. The topic of the origin of inspiration is of great interest to me. In fact, I just wrote an article on the subject. Perhaps your readers will find it informative and thought-provoking.
https://www.mitrokh.in/art-the-language-of-the-soul/
 
What is your go tool when you draw a new design?
   My studio is set up with a 21 inch Wacom drawing screen next to my computer monitor. The Wacom is my drawing board. I use a program called Corel Painter 18 for pretty much all of my sketching at this point. For those who are not familiar with Corel, it's drawing software designed explicitly for painters. It allows me to draw using a stylus directly on the screen as if I were drawing on paper. I can select, and even create, tools and media to use, such charcoals of various sizes and hardness, lead pencils of any quality, watercolors with a set spill limit, oils that are more or less greasy, brushes with specific bristle roughness, etc. The possibilities are endless. Using Corel is like being able to magically conjure any drawing
instrument. Of course, you have to be an artist to take full advantage of this program. Despite the popular misunderstanding, digital drawing software doesn't do any of the work for you. It's a set of tools to help professionals do what they do naturally, faster and more efficiently.

Much like a carpenter is fully capable of building a house with nothing but a hammer, nails, and a hand saw.  A better use of his time and expertise, however, is to equip him with power tools. I too can draw with pencils on paper, but for publication quality work it's just not the optimal way. 
Once again, if your readers are interested in getting an even better picture of what this process involves, I happen to have an article on my digital setup. https://www.mitrokh.in/how-i-paint-digitally/
 
Do you listen to music or watch TV while you draw?
   I love music. My husband and I always have music playing in the house.
 
Do you have a favorite band that helps you get creative?
    I have many favorite bands in many genres, but I don't have a particular one for drawing purposes. Usually, we set a BPM and a mood and stream hours of new and familiar tunes alike. My absolute favorite band is Pink Floyd.
 
Did you have any formal art training?
   I do. Even though I hate giving them any credit, I actually have a degree in fine art.
 
What did you do before you started creating coloring pages?
    I was a commission tattoo artist. I worked one-on-one with select clients that I clicked with, tailoring personalized designs to fit their fancy. It was my job to extract moods, feelings, and beliefs from their heads, and turn those into visual images that I then inked onto their skin.
The article on that decade of my life is here: https://www.mitrokh.in/my-decade-of-tailoring-tattoos/
 
What is your drink of choice, coffee, tea or juice?
  Coffee. Most definitely coffee.
 
Do you have any upcoming projects to be on the lookout for?
   As far as coloring goes, I am working on Nights And Mares Valentine for January release. Separately, chapter 2 of my graphic novel "Shellshock" will be
released around January as well. Yep, there is an article on that too :D
 https://www.mitrokh.in/shellshock-my-first-graphic-novel/
 

Can you tell us a little bit about yourself in your own words, anything you want to
add?
   As you have no doubt already noticed, my website is tailored to answer pretty much any
question about me, in depth. But, I won't make your readers go through all of it to get to know me better. Lets see, I am about to turn 36. I have lived in five countries on three continents. I know a handful of languages, I use only three, and I am fluent in only two. I am a certified pilot, but I do not drive a car. I prefer my bicycle. I have short blue hair and tattoos, most of them self-inflicted. As a matter of fact, most of the things that I wear, use or otherwise interact with, I prefer to do myself. It's just more efficient that way. I have very clear visions of what I want, and I tailor my life to fit that image. I cut and color my own hair, ink my own skin, I make
my own clothes. Grow my own vegetables, and collect my eggs from my own chickens. My husband and I built the aviary for our birds and the den for our dogs, with our own hands based on our own designs. We just finished building a new raised bed garden on our property. I literally create the world that I live in, and I perceive it as I create it.

My best friend in the world is my dog Shelby, aka Shellshock. I love animals, and I find their company more agreeable than that of humans. That is not to say that I dislike humans. I find humankind fascinating. In my spare time I study behavioral psychology, and of course, I work with people. I have to love and care for them to be making art for them. But dogs do have a larger chunk of my heart.

All art on this page is credited to Lisa Mitrokhin. The page below was colored by Kat Datillo.