Anja kroencke
Art knows no death, it is imperishable. As said by Longfellow that art is long and time is fleeting. The spices of nature are born only to die after a certain space of existence. Art continues indefinitely. Austin Dobson assessment of art is expressed in his saying that all passes. Art alone enduring stays to us. According to the celebrated Latin poet Ovid art lies in concealing art. If art is the magic of holding back time then artists are the magicians who captivate time in colors and canvases. As time passes by several take birth and perish, but some people with their achievements and contributions leave their foot prints on the sands of time. These people remain immortal for ever in the pages of history. One among these legends is Anja Kroencke. Anja Kroencke is magnificent illustrator renown for her outstanding fashion illustrations or more better said lifestyle illustrations. Her contribution in her field is commendable and her work includes the most identifiable masterpieces of illustrations. (Lamb, 210)
The soft spoken illustrator Anja Kroencke, in an interview with altpick.com in her home-studio in New York, described her life experience, location, education, inspirations and jobs. Anja Kroencke, the marvelous illustrator was born in Austria. Art flows in her blood. Since the days of her childhood unlike several other children she lacked playfulness, instead she preferred to draw. But she could never imagine that, by the miracle of destiny, her hobby would some day pave the way to her glorious career. (King, 15-17)
Anja Kroencke attended the College for Textile & Design in Vienna as a student in textile design and fashion illustration. She enjoyed working with type, color and works of art. In the year 1987 after graduating she decided to choose graphic design as her career. She started working as a graphic designer and worked in a few design studios in Austria. She used to design logos, packaging, corporate identities, brochures, etc. She had as well launched a small graphic design studio in Vienna. Later she joined GGK, one of Austria’s leading advertising agencies as an art director. In her quest for complete perfection Anja Kroencke used to design her own drawing and never depended on separate illustrators for her graphic design projects. After working for six years as a graphic designer she came to New York on a vacation to visit galleries, artists, and museums with her friends and decided to settle there and start the struggle for her career from the city. For about a year she kept on applying for jobs in design firms and freelanced. Finally she joined as design director in a design firm and worked there for two years. (King, 21-23)
Anja Kroencke was always interested in drawing. She realized that illustration is in public demand in New York. So she created a small portfolio of illustrations, found an agent and started taking projects on illustrations. In New York City Anja Kroencke got the essential boost to her career. Here her career gained acceleration and accomplished the peak of success. (Lamb, 214)
Anja Kroencke is well known for her distinct haughty women characters. The body proportion, body movement, faces, hands and feet, poses of the characters and the backgrounds in her drawings reflect high class, high profile modern society. Her characters (mostly women) are elegant, stylish and fashion trendy as seen from her drawings. The sophistication and the elegance of her lines and the zing in her works of art have given Anja Kroencke a distinct and remarkable position in the field of illustration. Her drawings are incredibly pure, playing with measured degree of black & white and color producing visible contrasts between wide stretches of pure white and vast regions of velvety shadows. Her illustrations are mostly portrayals of modern lifestyle and above all have a greatly sought after in the fashion world. Her drawings are found in the press all over the world. Anja Kroencke has a distinct style of drawing. She initially draws by hand, and then scans it into the computer for further manipulation. Anja Kroencke’s technique of amalgamation of conventional drawing with contemporary ultra-modern techniques of drawing has given a new definition to art that has perfectly fitted into requirements the advertising and the Web. (King, 38-41)
Anja Kroencke had made illustration more interesting and popular than ever. Her style has become such a standard in fashion illustration now that People were using more illustration than ever before. Anja Kroencke’s technique and style has influenced several artists. Artists all over world have started borrowing the concept for the style from recent trends in illustration. As a result the 2d illustrated method got greatly influenced by the medium in which the artists were working. This has helped the artists to communicate their own designs. (Lamb, 214-215)
In conclusion it would be relevant to mention that art is never demonstrative; it never catches attention with an exhibitionistic appeal. Obviously, a casual observer scarcely finds anything impressive, a thing of beauty, in it. But on the other hand, the eye of a connoisseur never misses it. Anja Kroencke, Austrian-born illustrator whose works of art is considered to be the most recognizable in her field, with hard work, creativity and diligence is successful in her career. She is a legend in real sense, a name to be noted in golden words on the pages of history.
References:
King, H; Inner World of Anja Kroencke (HBT & Brooks Ltd. 2006)
Lamb, Davis; Kroencke: Cult to Culture; Development of Art on Modern Strata. Art Today; Vol. VII; 12 (National Book Trust. 2006) pp 210-215
Art scanned from King. H; Inner World of Anja Kroencke (HBT & Brooks Ltd. 2006) Pp 5, 17, 21, 44 and 58
