Meet Athena Petrovich | Digital Illustrator

We had the good fortune of connecting with Athena Petrovich and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Athena, Let’s talk about principles and values – what matters to you most?
Happiness and creativity. I’ve tried putting my business and my passion behind me to make more money at a standard 9-5 job, but it isn’t for me. All the money in the world couldn’t stop me from pursuing what makes me happy; I would rather struggle and do what I love than succumb to an average job. I encourage everyone to find this in themselves. Creativity; a true happiness.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
Throughout my life, I realized I really liked to draw cute things. I love exaggerating proportions and aiming to make the cutest art that I can. Pokemon has always been a huge inspiration for me, I’ve been drawing Pikachu for as long as I can remember. I aim to make my stickers something that could fit in a tattoo sleeve. I love the idea of an adorable character in the middle of utter chaos, dark lettering, spiderwebs, etc. I’d say.. brutal pastel goth.

Growing up, school was very hard for me. I didn’t understand why I had to be there, what the purpose of all the work was. It felt like a distraction. I’d rush through my work in class to flip over the paper and start drawing. I always knew my purpose in life was to be a creator; but I was always told that it isn’t realistic. I distracted myself with possible careers: psychology, law, government. But it never stuck. I would always come back to my sketchbook.

I learned how to navigate these artistic spaces in the modern day of social media, galleries, events, and more. I found the spaces that I fit into and the spaces I don’t. I learned that you can’t just make art and post a picture on Instagram. It’s so much more complicated.

Networking is the most important thing an artist can do. You need each other to survive. You need to make some free art here and there. You need to do social media trends you might hate, you need to take photos of your art for your website, and suddenly you’re also a photographer, social media manager, business owner, and a communicator; all ontop of being a creator.
It’s my least favorite part of being an artist, but it’s the reality of it. And it gets easier every day.

I want to show people the cute, pink side of art and also the brutalist side of it.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
My favorite place to show people is downtown Denver during the holiday season. Beautiful lights everywhere, horse carriages, a little bit of snow. It’s a dream. I take my friends to my favorite Poke spot: Poke Moke in Cherry Creek, then hit up the Cherry Creek North Mall and wander in the area.
Snowl in Aurora is the best boba in Denver, in my opinion. I take anyone and everyone I meet there! Be sure to have lunch at Katsu Ramen while you’re there.

And a shoutout to Starbucks on 2nd and Fillmore; those baristas have seen me working on my art for years now. My favorite coffee shop.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I’d like to thank Adam Duff from LucidPixul. Every time I’ve hit a wall with my art, or felt discouraged, there’s always a video of his that almost seems to speak directly to me. His words hold so much value in the art world, his content has been there for me when I doubt myself the most.

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