Carolina Niño is a Colombian-born artist who creates vivid, geometric collages inspired by natural elements. She recently created a Photoshop Tutorial on how to create a fantastical collage inspired by images from Adobe Stock. We spoke with Carolina about her journey to finding her signature style and the importance of creative space.
Carolina has always been surrounded by art and nature. She comes from a family of artists, and growing up in the Colombian countryside, nature became Carolina’s first and lasting source of inspiration. Even as a city-dwelling adult today, she frequently travels to reconnect with the elements.
After completing her education in graphic design, Carolina began her career at at agency but felt stifled by the controlled environment. Craving a change, she moved to Spain, where she lived with like-minded artists and musicians. In this new, creative atmosphere, Carolina’s artistic sensibilities began to blossom. It was a time fueled by curiosity, a period of learning. “At that time I was just absorbing, I didn’t have any style at all,” she admits.
The concept of a creative atmosphere also resonates in Carolina’s art. In the same way that people need space to grow and thrive, so do the elements of a collage. As Carolina explains, it’s impossible to focus on a single aspect of a crowded visual, and so she places utmost importance on the perfect balance of colors, shapes, and space. In a way, “the space between one object and another is more important than the object itself,” she says.
After her transformative years in Europe, she returned to South America with a renewed creative perspective. She picked up her first computer and started experimenting with Photoshop. Mixing and layering images came naturally to her, and she began to master the perfect balance between colors, shapes, and space.
Around the same time, she discovered Behance. “I wanted to be like those artists on Behance,” she shares, but she found the task of catching up to these established artists to be a daunting challenge. Rather than trying to emulate their success, Carolina shifted her focus to her craft, learning from tutorials and bringing together her experiences to cultivate her signature style.
And her strategy worked – Carolina’s work has been featured in both the Illustration and Graphic Design galleries on Behance, and her projects have a combined view of over 72,000.
Carolina’s art is an extension of her experiences in life. Each piece comes together to create a complete, balanced image. “Life is like a big collage. You travel and you put pieces together to create something.”
Follow Carolina’s step-by-step tutorial to create your own digital collage with images from Adobe Stock.
Check out more of Carolina’s fantastical work on her Behance portfolio.