Artforms and Artists from Around the World – An introduction to Judy Mastrangelo and a review

I met Judy Mastrangelo several years ago when my sons and nephews and nieces were still young. I loved her gorgeous illustrations of fairies and creatures and gave a few of her beautiful books as gifts. I am delighted to introduce you to Judy’s art and her book, The Star.

Tell us a bit about your art journey. Did you always want to be an artist? Did you study art at college or are you self-taught?

Yes, I always knew, even as a child, that I wanted to be an artist. I loved to draw and paint, which I did constantly. I especially loved drawing in nature, and even climbed a blossoming crabapple tree to draw a picture of its beautiful flowers. I would take walks in the woods, and in gardens, drawing trees, houses, and flowers. I even drew pictures of people I saw while I traveled on buses and trains, since I often carried my sketch book with me. (I even met my dear husband that way, when I saw him on a trolley car, and I drew his picture.) 

I often took art lessons, from my youngest years, and in college, which I enjoyed very much. In these classes it was wonderful to be able to draw life classes from models. It helped me learn human anatomy. I also always love to learn from the great masters, such as one of my favorites, Leonardo DaVinci. I often copied his drawings, which also helped me learn anatomy. He would dissect in order to understand how the human body was put together. I could never do that myself, so I learned from his drawings. I’m always studying the artwork of great artists, in books, on the internet, and I especially love going to museums and seeing the current original paintings. These masters were, and always be my best and most inspiring teachers.