Laura El

The artist.

Laura El is a digital illustrator based in New York City. She has had a love for art since she was a young girl, when she would draw worlds through which she could escape reality. Laura was adopted as a teenager and moved from her country of birth, Lithuania, to Ireland. Not speaking a word of English, she struggled early on in Irish schools but was able to express herself through art and developed a relationship with her art teacher who pushed her to improve her skills and follow her passion.

This however didn't stop Laura from pursuing art as her career. Several years later in 2019, Laura launched her own business as a commission artist and printmaker and hasn't looked back since. In February 2022 she dropped her first 1/1 NFT series on Solana, quickly becoming one of the blockchain's top grossing artists. In January 2023, she made her Ethereum debut where her first piece was collected by Cozomo de' Medici.

Symphony of the City captures the energy and eclectic sounds of a typical city block. Laura has lived in cities all of her life, but no city has contributed more inspiration for her work than New York, where she currently resides. She is fascinated with the architecture of buildings still standing from years past as well as the melting pot of people living there, each with a story to be told. The background for this illustration is naturally focused on a classic Brooklyn brownstone. One of the focal points is a man walking down the street, unapologetically enjoying the music playing on his boombox. A howling dog and a group of singing birds perched on a nearby tree also add to the diversity of sounds. Combined, these noises create the Symphony of the City, part of what gives the city its pulse and makes it feel so alive. There is always music playing, if you'll only stop to listen. 

This artwork was hand illustrated on a digital drawing tablet in Laura's signature line art style. It required 15,837 brushstrokes on nearly 100 different layers to reach the final composition.

Laura is known for her unique illustration style and her innate ability to tell stories through a single image. Early in her career, Laura focused almost entirely on creating one-line drawings. Artists use one-line drawings to express shapes using a single continuous line. Once you begin, your pen doesn't leave the paper until the drawing is complete. While Laura's style progressed over the years and she no longer creates illustrations with a single line, these drawings had a major influence on her artistic style. If you look closely at the details of her work, you'll notice it's made up of many curved and squiggly lines. Laura also varies the thickness of the lines as she is drawing by constantly adjusting the pressure of her digital pencil on the drawing tablet. She developed these techniques through years of practice, and the result is her distinctive, easily recognizable style. Laura's style shares some similarities with Art Nouveau, particularly the curved lines and depiction of plants throughout her work.