Tiia Nikupaavola

Tiia Nikupaavola is a Finnish artist who specialises in digital illustrations of fantastical characters. She welcomes private commissions and opportunities involving character design. 

Tiia finds inspiration in literature, games and a diverse range of visual artists. “At a young age, I was drawn to character-driven stories seen in popular culture, especially in videogames and comics. I was captivated by Tetsuya Nomura’s character designs in the Final Fantasy series, as well as the illustrations and storytelling by Neil Gaiman and Hiromu Arakawa in The Sandman and Fullmetal Alchemist. I started working with traditional media and techniques, however, after transitioning to digital media, I have found amazing digital artists like Marc Brunet, Sinix Design and Toni Infantine, who I look up to.”

She is a self-taught artist, primarily working digitally using Krita on a Cintiq16 and Procreate on iPad Pro. Her creative process begins with a rough sketch and colour palette, which is sculpted and refined through the application of additional layers. In the future, Tiia plans to expand her skill set to include printed media. 

In addition to her creative pursuits, Tiia works as a research assistant utilising her master’s degree in cell and molecular biology from the University of Jyväskylä. She lives in her hometown of Tampere, with her significant other and Paavo, their pet rabbit. 

Contact

Instagram: @tiiiart