What is your name and how old are you? My name is Tali Yalonetzki and I am 31 years old.

Where were you born and where do you live now? I was born in a small town called Dragovich in the Ukraine, my parents and I moved to Israel when I was 7.5 years old. Now I am living in Tel Aviv, Israel.



How does where you live affect your art? I am living in Tel Aviv centre. Tel Aviv is a city full of life, 24 hours a day. Located near the Mediterranean sea, the city is full of light most of the time and also is filled with a lot of colourful people. Light and sun are what give me energy to be happy and full of inspiration. Happiness drives me to draw and create.

What kind of mediums do you use? Why do you choose to use these mediums? My two favourite mediums are oil pastels and coloured pencils (for the gentle details) on packaging paper and acrylic on MDF or canvas. I love it cause my way of work is dynamic and fast and in both of these techniques you can work fast and finish it in a relatively short time. In the pastels I really like the feelings that you can create - very soft feelings and a variety of textures.

Are there any downsides to this medium? Soft pastels make my room pretty messy. It throws small pieces all around the floor, keyboard, computer mouse, nice dress and everything. In acrylic I wish the paint would dry off more slowly on the colour palette than it does. But these are minor downsides compared to the great joy these mediums give me.



What makes your work unique and truly your own? I have two completely different styles in my drawings; one that is very naive and and more childish and humouristic and another style which is more realistic where I am trying to capture interesting moments in life that I think are rare for me.

What kinds of ideas and things are you working on at the moment? I am drawing a lot of portraits lately. In the past few months I've tried to experiment with drawing still lifes and I think it is fascinating, making a composition on nice fabrics full of patterns that I buy.

Are there any other mediums that you'd like to experiment with? I really like video arts and animation, and I would be happy to try to experiment in it.



What's the coolest art tip you've ever received? In everything that you try to create you have to enjoy it. Have some "fun". When you enjoy something you are giving your enjoyment back to the art piece and than hopefully to someone else who will find the same kind of joy in the piece. The advice that I got from one of my art mentors was, "never forget the word 'fun'."

What do you doodle when you are daydreaming? I usually draw characters of people. I like to study people's shapes, their outfits, poses and behaviours.

What would you be doing if you weren't making art? Maybe to be a dancer or a choreographer. When I was young I really liked to dance with different music and styles and to improvise.



Where can we see more of your work? I have two shops - one that is in my realistic style called Tushtush, and another one which is in more of a naive style called Tosya.