Today we’d like to introduce you to Karima Cromer
Hi Karima, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
Growing up, I always knew I wanted to be an artist. I explored different mediums through middle and high school; going to ones that specialized in the arts. Covid hit during my senior year of high school, trapping me inside with my iPad, new screen printing kit, and a dream. I taught myself how to screen print after creating a strawberry and peony design, documenting my progress on my personal Instagram account as I learned. Many of my friends and family members swiped up asking if I was planning to sell the shirts. After getting a plethora of DMs, I decided to start selling t-shirts in July 2020.
I started creating sticker and charm designs to sell alongside the shirts before I moved up to Orlando from South Florida for college. A couple months in, I found local markets in the area I could apply and sell at. I quickly grew to love the market scene and found an amazing community of artists while vending. My product line has grown immensely since starting back in 2020 as I’ve created acrylic pins, car fresheners, and more.
I recently graduated from the University of Central Florida in May 2024 with my Bachelors in Studio Art with a minor in Entrepreneurship. I grew a love for printmaking during my latter years after taking multiple classes that taught me different types of printmaking (etchings and linocuts being my favorite) and honing my skills in screen printing after messily doing it DIY on my patio for a couple years. Since graduating, I’ve done a few gallery shows with pieces I created in the program and hope to keep creating with traditional mediums for more shows. I’ve connected more with the art community post-college up here and it’s helped me to grow as an artist in both my business and personal work.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
During my 4 years of college I had a hard time juggling online order fulfillment, a full time class schedule, a remote job, and in-person art markets while not having a car on campus my first 2 years. Having to rely on friends to drive me to and fro markets started to become exhausting before finally getting an SUV. I occasionally closed my online shop or reeled back on doing markets after starting to build a community. After graduating back in May 2024, I was finally able to dedicate more time to markets, personal projects, and building my brand.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I specialize in digital illustration and printmaking, mainly doing character design work and comics. Coming from an African American and Caribbean background, I strive to highlight my communities through Black beauty in my work. I do this by featuring personal experiences, black hair textures, hairstyles, and Afrocentric facial features and body types. I love to incorporate aspects of nature having grown up always playing outdoors and loving gardens.
I’ve created two character series I’m very proud of: Fruit Cocktail and Space girls. In both series, I personified the elements to create cute artwork and art prints. In the Fruit Cocktail series, I drew the fruit with surrounding flora. In the Space series, I drew the planets/space elements. A couple of the Space girls I designed I’ve been using for a comic series I’m currently working on called ‘Caution: Do Not Mix!”
I first started the series as a 12 page comic project for a college illustration class in late 2023 and quickly expanded the story after falling in love with the initial idea. The class pushed me to finally begin and commit to creating comics after dreaming of being a comic creator since I was in elementary school.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://arttragedy.bigcartel.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/art.tragedy?igshid=8nrgtali3ecw
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/karima-cromer-a87653293/
- Other: https://karimacromer.wixsite.com/portfolio
