We have great news at the agency – a new rising star has joined our talented team of illustrators: EVI RINKINEN!

We are excited to introduce our new artist, Evi, who aligns perfectly with the Napa Agency’s intention of representing illustrators with a strong and distinctive style. Our aim is to elevate and support creative talents – as well as offering our commissioning clients interesting and innovative illustrators to work with. Evi utilizes a variety of tools and media in her work, showcasing her bold, artistic approach to imagery that also beautifully bridges the gap between illustration and fine art.

Evi Rinkinen (b.1994 in Jyväskylä) is an illustrator, designer and visual artist based in Helsinki. She is currently completing her master’s studies at Aalto University in the visual communication design department. Working between illustration, graphic design and fine art, the illustrator uses digital and traditional illustration methods in her work and sometimes combines them. In her work organic, lines are combined with more graphic shapes, creating visual contrasts. Rinkinen is an illustrator with a broad thematic curiosity and for example she likes to work with themes related to philosophy and psychology and current phenomena. As well as themes related to nature and the environment are also meaningful to her as an illustrator. Her clients include for example Helsingin Sanomien kuukausiliite, Finnish Design Shop, Ylioppilaslehti, Psykologilehti, Anna, Libero and Maailman Kuvalehti.

Napa Portfolio: https://napa-agency.fi/kuvittaja/evi-rinkinen-new/?lang=en
Instagram: @evitarleena

Hi Evi! Super nice to have you in the Napa Agency’s roster! Where do you come from and how did you discover and get interested in illustrating? Hey – a joy to join you! My path to becoming an illustrator has been quite winding and indirect, because I studied for a long time in the textile and fashion industry. Drawing was always present when I was young, and it was my way of understanding the world and generally visualizing things. But the realization of ​​illustrating as a profession became concrete after I graduated from the Lahti Institute of Design in 2018, as during my studies I had mostly focused on refining my pictorial expression and everything else felt secondary.

What inspires you and are there certain subjects that fascinate you to illustrate? I am quite curious by nature and I have a wide range of source material I draw from, but I feel a special attraction to fantasy related imagery and nature subjects such as plants and their abundance. The most interesting thing is to work with pictures where something strange happens and which combine several themes, creating something new and interesting based on them. However, sometimes I may also be inspired by really ordinary things that have a more interesting emotional charge or symbolic meaning.

Evi Rinkinen: “Ofelia”, Personal project, 2022

Tell us about your typical workday as an illustrator – what is the first task you do in the morning and how does your day usually end? I like the freedom of creative work and I usually schedule my work at the most convenient time for me. Sometimes I start right away in the morning and sometimes I save working for later in the day if it feels more natural then. I usually start the actual work process by freely sketching – it’s a kind of warm-up. Similarly, I also end the working day with sketching – it helps calm the mind. Because in creative work the thinking often continues even after the working day.

In what way your illustration style has developed during your career? What are the cornerstones of your artworks, what’s your stylistical go-to? When I started working as an illustrator I felt anxious about having to have one work tool or a medium to focus on, and for a while this took away from the development of my own aesthetics. Fortunately, I discovered that through making, you get to know your own style better, and the certainty of making also carries over when changing tools. In my work, I try to combine a more expressive image with a more gestural and organic line trace, and I constantly balance between them.

Evi Rinkinen: “Sees”, Package illustration, Sees Company Oy, 2024

What technique do you use, what does your illustration process look like? I work with both digital and traditional methods. I recently returned to watercolors as a medium and analog work has given me a lot of new inspiration. Often my client work is done digitally, but I do all sketching on paper, often in pencil and sometimes as a loose watercolor composition if I’m working with colors at the time. I often make the same sketch many times, correcting it as I go, and move on to the actual image when I’m satisfied with the tests.

What’s your work environment like? Name the first five things in your field of vision now! I currently work from home and have curated my space quite carefully. I concentrate best if my environment is visually quite calm, but there are some fun focal points to focus on from time to time. My habit is to display interesting objects and the collection at the moment is the following: a small tin toy duck, various stones, dried flowers, the old house keys of my childhood home and, in my opinion, a funny shaped acorn (its cap is especially huge and it makes it have a personality).

Evi Rinkinen: “Would it be the time for us to rest?”, Editorial illustration, Maailman Kuvalehti magazine, 2024

Tell us your three favorite websites! Do you follow news in the illustration or creative industry, or share interesting or useful apps in your daily life as an illustrator? I admit that most of the news I follow is more strongly related to the field of visual arts and design. I draw more from other art fields for my work and I only follow the most acute information channels related to illustration. In my most active work use, I refer to a digital color library based on Wada Sanzo’s A Dictionary of Color Combinations book, which I also own as a physical copy.

What else do you do apart from illustrating? Any secret or exciting hobbies? I’m quite into crafting and I enjoy knitting. Sewing is also a meaningful skill that I actively maintain. The line between work and hobbies gets blurred for me sometimes and I have planned to start a hobby that feels specifically separate from my creative work. I still haven’t decided what it will be though!

Evi Rinkinen: “Epilogue”, Editorial illustration, Libero magazine, 2024

What has been the most challenging and coolest illustration assignment so far? And what would you like to work with next? I can’t immediately think of a specific single assignment, but I have worked on several article illustrations that have dealt with difficult and perhaps even distressing topics. I have experienced illustrating them as a really important challenge, because I think presenting a difficult matter in a visually appealing but understandable way is interesting. During my master’s studies at Aalto, I have delved into book design through my own thesis, and in the future it would be fun to do bigger projects, for example in the form of book illustrations.

CURRENT TOP 7:
Record: Pharoah Sanders’ and Floating Points’ collaborative album Promises. The album’s ambient songs change seamlessly to each other , and sometimes without realizing it, I listen through the album many times while working. .
Book: The Spring Cannot Be Cancelled: David Hockney in Normandy. David Hockney is one of the patron saints of my work and I quite enjoy his way of talking about creative work.
Food: Soups in many forms. Especially long-simmered tomato soup with fresh bread or Phở soup.
Movie / Series: The Rider, directed by Chloé Zao. The movie has a very tender atmosphere and I felt very moved while watching it.
Exhibition: Ateneum’s Gothic Modern, I went to see it several times. I was happy to see so many Hugo Simberg’s works there, which we were made to copy in elementary school art class.
City: My hometown Jyväskylä has experienced a kind of renaissance in my life since I moved out of there a decade ago. My family’s cabin is located there, where I spend a lot of time in the summer. It’s a kind of refuge where it’s always a pleasure to return to calm down.
Profession: If I wouldn’t be an illustrator, I would be… I love gardens and the architecture that exists in them. Botanical gardens in particular are their own kind of universes and I would love to work as a gardener in one. Maybe nostalgia plays a big role here because my grandmother was a passionate peony enthusiast and I got to spend my summers at my grandparents’ cabin in the countryside with them.

Evi Rinkinen: “The body is not only biology”, Editorial illustration, Psykologi magazine, 2024

Thank you for the interview Evi, it was a pleasure talking to you and get to know you! Once more, a warm welcome to Napa Agency!

Evin portfolio: https://napa-agency.fi/evi-rinkinen-uusi // Evin Instagram: @evitarleena