Dutch Arianator represents power of women with massive portrait of idol ‘Ariana Grande’

ARTISTS ON THE RISE: FAN EDITION (ARIANATORS) inspiring young artists

18 year old Ana Sara Ten Napel, student of the Graphic Lyceum in Rotterdam, and full time Arianator. Created a massive portrait of her idol pop star Ariana Grande as the Greek Goddess ‘Aphrodite’ a representation of the power of women.

‘’Grande is a huge inspiration to me on a personal and artistic level’’

Two years ago Ana started with visualisation at the Graphic Lyceum in Rotterdam. She has always been a creative kid as art runs in her family. ‘’My grandmother taught me to sketch and paint on a very young age, It always stayed with me’’, She tells.

Outside her art studies she’s living the teenage life going out with her friends, catching up with latest movies and diving into music. One of her musical inspirations is Billboard’s Woman of the Year and Grammy nominee Ariana Grande. Ana is a huge fan of the pop star for ages.

‘’Ariana has changed the way I’m thinking’’

For her graduation project Ana Sara created a portrait of Ariana as the Greek Goddess of ‘Love and Beauty’ Aphrodite. The God Is A Woman singer reminds her a lot of Aphrodite. ‘’I’ve always had an obsession with Greek mythology and Gods and I thought Ariana is such a ‘power woman’ I must and shall turn her into a Goddess’’, she says.

‘’The concept of the Goddess of love fits her well, since she’s a source of love and beauty...well it speaks for itself’’, she adds.

After everything Ariana has been through the past few years she keeps going. Not only does she inspire my art she also inspires me as a person. She changed the way I’m thinking and gives me strength which is a beautiful thing. That’s what makes her the perfect role model for my art.

‘’I must and shall turn her into a Goddess’’

She got 2 months to work on the Aphrodite portrait but has spent the majority of the time on concepting. ‘’The message behind is what counts the most to me. I started in my sketchbook and made a lot of different versions where I experimented with different hairstyles and clothing.’’

Ana has been focusing a lot on portraits and digital visualisation like Aphrodite. She got introduced to digital art when she started on the Graphic Lyceum. ‘’It’s a lot easier to focus on detail in digital art which is essential for my realistic portraits.’’ but she mentions she does miss old-school sketching by hand which she will pick up soon.

Ana finds it important how women are represented in today’s society. With her work Aphrodite which stands for the ‘’Power of Women’’ she hopes to inspire and empower others.

''It’s beautiful how your own work can bring such a creative side out of someone else''

Ariana Grande noticed Ana’s work by liking the pictures she took at her school who decided to print her portrait on one of their biggest walls after she aced the assignment.

‘’I was in disbelief I never imagined this would happen. I was staring at the screen as my mentions kept blowing up. I didn’t even see Ariana, I had to go to her page to see my own pictures in her likes. I really cried a lot, tears of happiness of course. It was so much my mother thought someone had died but I couldn’t feel any more alive.’’ , Ana says smiling from ear to ear. ‘’Recently I got a message from a girl saying she had never drawn before but my work of Ariana made her pick up a pencil and she sent me her first drawing, which warmed my heart. It’s a beautiful thing how your own work can bring such a creative side out of someone else.’’, She tells. Her advice on anyone who wants to get into visualization if you like it. Start with sketching, keep on trying and never ever give up.