Sketchbook Tour: Maya Carroll Tischler

Maya Carroll Tischler is an illustrator and painter living in Victoria, Australia. With a love of magic and mythos, Tischler’s pieces are rich with symbolism, pulling inspiration from the mystical practice of tarot, folkloric legends, and representations of female deities and creatures. Refusing to confine herself to a single medium, Maya crafts intricate experiments in storytelling and immersive worlds through digital, pen, acrylic, and gouache formats, 

 Tischler writes that her Volume 16 sketchbook, “Fairies,” “starts with the fool and ends with death, in the pages in between are a wide range of archetypes, characters and fairy folk, celebrating the details, pivotal moments and concepts of being human.” Taking inspiration from tarot, Maya depicts how the fantastical can be not only a place for escape, but a way to examine one’s own identity and reflect on the world around them. Each spread is rich with vibrant layers of color and delicate line-work, reminiscent of Renaissance etchings and stained glass, as well as the ornamental beauty of the pre-Raphaelite and art nouveau eras. Tischler takes these histories and myths, many familiar to us, and elevates them, reimagines them through her insightful illustrative eye. 

You can keep up with Maya’s newest projects by checking out her Instagram and you can take an in-depth look at her creative process by checking out her Youtube channel, Maya at the Dino Studio.