CURRENT MISSION

Graduating

ABOUT ME

I'm Salla, also going by the name 'Sdalla' around the internet. I'm a 24-year old finn just recently graduated as Bachelor of Fine Arts with a printmaking major. I do a lot of digital art, and I'm currently a trainee at an animation studio, at which I'd love to continue working. If not, I'll probably apply for 2D artist positions at gaming studios.
I'm also an aspiring illustrator and comic artist.

I haven't really been traveling in a while. I do have a long history as a hitchhiker and I've done a couple of backpacking trips around Europe and it's been awesome. But now I'm focusing on developing my art skills.

I'm not the centre of attention type of person, and in bigger group conversations that usually makes me a bit awkward, and I rather just listen and observe instead of making an effort of trying to get my voice heard. I'm more comfortable with one on one conversations, unless it's among good friends, in which case I'm a lot more talkative. I like people, especially like-minded, adventurous and story-telling types of people. I love hearing about other people's experiences, things they've seen or people they've met, things that made them happy today, yesterday or half a second ago. You can get inspired from things most random, but the stories people tell are definitely the biggest source for me.

PHILOSOPHY

A quote our headmaster in Liminka art school included in his speech in spring -09: "Seek the truth but beware of those who say they've found it and think it's the right truth for you". I second this with all my will (and stubbornness :D)

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

I used to host in Tampere, and go to events in bigger cities during my travels, but having lived in a small town called Kankaanpää for the last four years I haven't been very active lately.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

Some surfing in England, Scotland, Germany, Hungary, Estonia, Spain and Portugal, hosting in Tampere. CS activities in Tampere and Helsinki. Meeting some really awesome people who I would've never met without CS.

Interests

Drawing! A lot of it! I used to keep a comic-journal of whatever happened to me, but I haven't done that in a while. Instead I've been really attached to my sketchbook lately. Have a sketch blog at http://sdalla.tumblr.com

I'm interested in all kinds of stuff depending on the... no, actually I have no idea what it's depending on. Sometimes I'm extremely into history, sometimes psychology, sometimes the basics of quantum physics. I listen to a lot of podcasts and read a moderate amount of books. If I'm curious about something I take my time to reseach it.

Other stuff to just fill stuff out:
Chocolate. Cats. Old buildings. First signs of spring. Warm autumn days. Travel stories. Sketch blogs. Sauna. Tumblr. Games. Comics. Interior design. Second hand shops. Shapes. Structures. Colors. Writing. World building. Moomins. Stuff and things.

• cats
• arts
• humanities
• writing
• books
• design
• interior design
• chocolate
• sauna
• comics
• traveling
• blogging
• painting
• drawing
• podcasts
• backpacking
• surfing
• animation
• history
• physics
• psychology
• software
• hitchhiking

Music, Movies, and Books

Oh my this is a long list. I'm a nerdy fangirl.

To start with music, I find it hard to say some specific genres of music that I enjoy. If there's something that I find interesting about the music, if it makes me feel something, sets my imagination free, bla bla something else that sounds glorious yet cliché on written form but is absolutely TRUE about music :D

My favourite bands right now are Beirut (Zach Condon is a musical genious and an inspiration both in arts and in adventure). I also like Patrick Wolf, Ellie Goulding, Laura Marling, Florence+ the machine, Pulp (...this is a very British list). And Kaizers Orchestra must be the best thing that came out of Norway EVER! :D Also Lykke Li. She's swedish. Also awesome. Swedish and awesome.

Add a moderate amount of sountracks from movies and musicals, a dash of something Irish, a bit of childhood nostalgia and a little bit of that general stuff you hear on the radio all the time and voilà

As for series, I'm a total Doctor Who fangirl (not the Moffat era though..). I love Sherlock, Game of Thrones and Community (season 4 doen't exist though), Whose Line is it Anyway, Avatar The Last Airbender and Legend of Korra, Adventure Time, Arrested Development, Gravity Falls, Firefly, Orange is the New Black, a lot of animations (I often find myself concentrating on the visual side of animations rather than the story, trying to take influence and learn. I own a shelfful of THE ART OF-books from Dreamworks and Pixar animations :D)

Kate Beaton and JP Ahonen are my favourite comic artists. Also, Tove Jansson's Moomins. I also read some Marvel comics, adore the Sandman series, obsess over a good number of webcomics and so on.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Adventures.

Teach, Learn, Share

Teach-- I can teach something about hitchhiking, I suppose. Like tips on which roads to take and where to start from in Finland or somewhere else.
I can also teach something about drawing, painting (both digital and traditional), animation, printmaking and so on.. Or at least the technical side, tips about supplies and software and such.

Learn-- Right now I want to learn more about animation and web design and some basic programming. I'm also trying to build my portfolio to have a bit more UI design stuff so that I can apply for 2D artist positions.

Share-- Did I already tell that I love stories? WELL, I LOVE THEM. Ever since our school did a comic anthology about story-telling I've been (conciously or unconciously) collecting stories. I memorize the stories I hear, sometimes write them down, and once in a while illustrate some, but nevertheless every story gives me something to think, sticks to the unconciousness and may be converted into something else, be it a dream or a painting or something totally different.

Countries I’ve Visited

Austria, Belgium, Estonia, France, Germany, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Russian Federation, Spain, Sweden, Thailand, United Kingdom, United States

Countries I’ve Lived In

Finland, United States