# Introduction

Aistė Stancikaitė is a 33-year-old digital artist from Lithuania. She creates all her drawings with pencil, later incorporating them into her animations. She now works in Berlin, Germany, as a digital artist. As an addition to being a digital artist, she is also a well-known photographer on Instagram.

## Early and Personal Life

Aistė Stancikaitė was born in 1988 in Vilnius, Lithuania. After graduating her university, Stancikaitė stopped drawing and painting for some time. She started photography, instead. She started photography because she was moving to different countries quite often and it would be more facile if she began photography, rather than drawing and painting. To draw or paint, it is necessary, but not mandatory, to have one place to do all artwork. She had been traveling in many countries for almost three years. However, Stancikaitė yearned to draw while practicing photography. Stancikaitė started drawing again in 2016 and has never lost any motivation to draw and paint ever since then. In a 2015 interview, she mentioned that she lived in her studio in Bristol with her partner. They later moved out to Berlin together.

## Education

Stancikaitė attended the Vilnius Academy of Fine Arts as a painting major and graduated with a BA in Painting. The Vilnius Academy of Fine Arts is a school for the arts near the area Stancikaitė is from. Established in 1793, it is one of the oldest art schools in the Baltic area. She attended the school for five days a week, each day having seven hours of painting throughout classes. She later attended the Willem de Kooning Academie in Rotterdam, Netherlands. This school taught Stancikaitė to paint and draw different concepts. The Willem de Kooning Academie is a school for the arts and was named after a famous alumnus, Willem de Kooning.

## Career

Aistė Stancikaitė started her career as a digital artist in 2012 when she started drawing again. Stancikaitė has an Instagram where she adds all of her artwork. This way, she reaches more people and promotes her art. She still practices photography from time to time and uploads them on her Instagram page. She solely works as a digital artist with a studio that she lives in with her partner. As of 2015, Stancikaitė had a studio in Bristol, UK. Stancikaitė later moved to Germany and now lives in the city of Berlin. Stancikaitė moved to a new studio in Berlin. This is shown in her Instagram post from March 30, 2020. She does all of her work in the studio she has in Berlin. Stancikaitė states that she is heavily inspired by travel and the artwork that other people make.

## Art Style

Aistė Stancikaitė is skilled at pencil drawing, which is where her strength lies. The materials Stancikaitė uses are HB, H, and B pencils because they complement her simple and minimalistic art style. She also uses technical pens often in her art. She polishes her art pieces by using a scanner, Photoshop, or Illustrator. Stancikaitė has a more monochromatic art style and she uses only one main color. The color she uses the most in her artwork is red and different shades of red. She mostly draws humans with realistic anatomy, which resonates with many people. She tends to focus on making her art look detailed. Her artwork has an abundance of texture, which rapidly gains popularity.

## Awards and Nominations

2021 - ADC 100th Annual Awards, 2 x Silver Cubes, 2 x Merit
2021 - 3x3 International Illustration Awards No. 18, Merit
2021 - Communication Arts 62nd Annual, Award of Excellence
2020 - Luxembourg Art Prize, Shortlisted Artist
2020 - ADC 99th Annual Awards, Merit
2020 - Communication Arts 61st Annual, Award of Excellence
2019 - 3x3 International Illustration Awards No. 16, 1 x Gold, 3 x Honorable Mention
2019 - Frēsh 19, Best in Book Award, 1 x Gold, 1 x Silver

## Exhibitions and Residencies

2021 - Cave Canem, Eve Leibe Gallery
2020 - Stories, human, GNYP Gallery (Berlin, DE)
2020 - 6th Luxembourg Art Prize, La Pinacothèque, (Luxembourg)
2019 - Varda Artists Residency (California USA)
2019 - First Thursdays Spotlight Series, Creative Debuts x Adidas Originals, (London, UK)
2016 - OnDisplay: Reconstructed, Unit 10, micro - residency (Bristol, UK)
2015 - Griffin Gallery Open, Griffin Gallery (London, UK)
2014 - Drawn, Royal West of England Academy (Bristol, UK)
2014 - Allez Allez Plonge, Bristol Biennial (UK)