Soft Geometry, Bold Colors
Inside Ana Popescu’s Visual Language
Meet Ana Popescu, a Romanian-born visual artist and illustrator with a French background, now based in Vienna.
I’m lucky to have cool friends who know even cooler creative people, and that’s how I found my way to Ana. I’ve followed her work for a while now, but having the opportunity to interview her truly felt like a dream come true. I guess that’s what happens in Paradiso.
In this friendly conversation, Ana opens up about the emotional engine behind her work and the quiet strength it takes to build a creative life across borders. From her roots in Romania to growing up in France and settling in Vienna, Ana reflects on how place, identity, and personal values shape her art.
I find it very interesting to speak with a Romanian artist, especially when compared to someone who grew up in a place where art and fashion are deeply rooted. In Romania, I feel like art still isn't a big scene.
“In the West, creative scenes are very established, almost rigid,” she says. “But in Romania, things are newer and more flexible. There’s space for younger projects to emerge. The scene in Bucharest actually feels more dynamic than the one here, in many ways.”
Naturally, I ask if her Romanian roots influence her artistic voice.
“Definitely,” she tells me. “I go back every summer, and I think the architecture, the nature, it’s all there in my work. I actually just did a project with Cărturești, and it was such a pleasure to work with them.”
What I find most compelling about Ana’s illustrations is how unmistakably hers they are. Her compositions, built from blocks of sun-soaked color and softened geometry, feel instantly recognizable yet never repetitive.
“I’ve always done different things,” she says. “Even now I keep experimenting. I was never really happy with my work in art school. I kept trying to draw better, to test new techniques, and somehow I ended up here. But I don’t think this is what I’ll always do. You can always evolve.”
“In school, I worked mostly in black and white. It was somber and a bit depressing. After graduating, I bought these cheap children’s markers and started drawing in color, and I loved it. There’s so much possibility in color. I’m still fascinated. I think I’ve explored maybe ten percent of what you can do with it.”
As we talk more about her process, we get into the mechanics of her work: paper or screen, paint or pixel?
“For client work, I mostly draw digitally,” she explains. “It’s more practical, especially when there are changes. With paper, you have to start over from scratch. But for myself, I still prefer working analog. The result matters most, not the tool.”
I tell her I had assumed many of her works were digital until I looked closer and realized they were drawn by hand. That fluidity, the seamless blend between mediums, is part of what makes her technique so captivating.
We move into her journey and how her career evolved. I ask if she ever imagined having such a strong presence in the creative world.
“At first, I did a lot of client work where I had to adapt to other illustrators’ styles. I never thought it would grow like this. Even now, it’s hard to believe it’s been ten years and that I can live off of it. I still don’t feel like I’ve reached where I want to be.”
I tell her how surprising that is to hear. Her work is widely admired and often used as a reference.
“When you work alone in your studio, you don’t really know how people see you,” she says. “Freelancing is hard. You go through tough moments. And what you see online isn’t the full truth. People should stop comparing themselves so much.”
After a heartwarming conversation about our shared passion for color and creativity, I sent Ana three more questions to close the article. Here’s the scoop, straight from the artist herself:
What inspires you as an artist, and how relevant are other forms of art to you as a creative?
That’s a hard question because there are so many different things. Cities, architecture, industrial design, shapes, patterns, light. I’m very inspired by graphic design too, like Ikko Tanaka’s work from the ’60s to the ’80s. I also love ’90s aesthetics. I’m influenced by impressionist and expressionist painters, and by my fellow contemporary illustrators and artists (the list would be so long). Really, any kind of visual representation can be relevant. Sometimes it’s another form of art, and sometimes it’s just a random unplanned thing I see on the street.
What’s your advice for someone at the beginning of their creative journey?
That’s also a hard one. I still feel like I’m at the beginning and not in a position to give advice. Things evolve so quickly, and we’re in a completely different place now than ten years ago. But I think the key is the will to get better. Keep doing, keep trying. Inspiration doesn’t just come while you wait. Represent your work in the best way you can. And if no projects come to you, use that time to work on your own.
If you had to choose one color to represent you at this moment — emotionally, mentally, creatively — what would it be, and why?
I would always choose blue, not in the sense of sadness. I can look at different shades of blue all the time.