Artist Paints Cozy Watercolor Scenes That Will Make You W...

Watercolor illustration by Melocotonki

Whimsical kitchens stacked with colorful cookbooks. Flowers and fruits sitting side by side in a market frequented by modern witches. A cat waiting for a literature lover to step into a bookstore. In the work of Mexico City-based artist Sandra Lavaniegos, AKA Melocotonki, reality and fantasy come together to build uniquely cozy scenes we’d love to step into. “Real-life places inform everything I create,” she tells My Modern Met.

The artist, whose compositions are packed with enticing details, says she’s addicted to finding visual inspiration. “I enjoy many different mediums, films, fashion, photography, and I spend a lot of time browsing Pinterest, cooking blogs, photography blogs, and classical paintings,” Lavaniegos explains. “I feel that good compositions are born from carefully observing what you’re looking at and mentally sketching or analyzing it, whether on paper or in your mind.”

Finding inspiration in so many places results in the artist getting ideas at random, and so she tries to write or sketch them down quickly before she forgets them. “Later, when I have time, I go back through my notes and try to reconnect with that initial spark and refine the idea further. On good days, the process flows naturally and leads to even more ideas, but on other days I look at my notes and can barely remember what I was thinking,” Lavaniegos confesses.

Either way, this stream of creativity finds its perfect match in watercolors, which allows Lavaniegos to build her detailed worlds. “Working with transparency and building layers feels very natural to me,” she says. “Opaque mediums are more of a struggle. I enjoy hinting at what lies beneath the top layers and slowly building color little by little.”

Ultimately, the artist hopes people take away a feeling of calm, comfort, and maybe a little bit of magic from her work. “I often struggle to slow down my thoughts or feel at peace, and making art gives that feeling back to me,” Lavaniegos says. “I hope my work can offer that feeling to other people too.”

To stay up to date with the artist, follow Melocotonki on Instagram. You can also check out her online store, where you can find prints and stationery featuring her work.