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Index
SPOTLIGHT | 20 DARIA ROSSO
LADY BIRD | 24 ANNA PAOLINI
FIND THE ROOTS OF YOUR PERSONALITY | 30 Exclusive Interview with ANNA CASTAGNOLI
AROUND THE WORLD | 38
SCRAPBOOK | 40
with BIANCA POZZI
LITERATURE, ART & PHILOSOPHY | 44 Exclusive Interview with CAROLINA T.GODINA
CREATIVE SPACE | 54 BRIGHTNESS GALLERY | 56 #FREEDOM
In This Issue of
cover : illustration by
To
Paul G arland
a s k q u e s t i o n s a b o u t y o u r s u b s c r i p t i o n , p l e a s e e m a i l u s at: sub@brightnessmag.com
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DRAW & DRAW MORE! Paul Garland
10 Art Director & Editor In Chief
Creative Director & Graphic Designer
Web Design
Hasmik (Narjes Mohammadi)
Sadegh Amiri
STUDIO BRIGHTNESS
International Contributors
Translator
Sales & Marketing
Concha Pasamar | Ana Rodriguez Ali Ghafele Bashi | Jen Yoon | MarĂa Wright
Darya Ghafele Bashi
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ABOUT US
PLEASE VISIT OUR WESITE: WWW.BRIGHTNESSMAG.COM EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEWS . EXHIBITION NEWS . ARTIST BIOGRAPHIES
ABOUT BRIGHTNESS Brightness magazine was founded by Narjes Mohammadi (Hasmik) and Sadegh Amiri in 2016 as a digital magazine to present exclusive interviews with experienced illustrators, whose wisdom and knowledge are treasure troves for young artists. We aim to promote the current works of popular as well as up and coming artists, so that people can be inspired by the beauty and effectiveness of illustration in expressing powerful ideas. For those who want to dive deeper into the wonderful world of illustration we present articles that give valuable insights into the creative minds of the world. We hope you enjoy reading our publications as much as we enjoy publishing them.
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We want to change the world with art and love...
BRIGHTNESS FOUNDERS
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NARJES MOHAMMADI HASMIK
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ILLUSTRATOR
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Are you interested in submitting to Brightness? If you’d like the chance of being published in one of issue, get in touch via this page. Please note that we receive many submissions each day and have limited space in each publication. So please show us the work you’re most proud of or the work you especially enjoy creating.
Submission Info Email your submission to sub@brightnessmag.com with “ART SUBMISSION” in the subject line. • Submit images as JPEGs or GIFs • Submit up to 5 images • Image sizes should be at least 600px wide and no more than 1000px wide
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Paul Garland
Draw &
Draw More! EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH PAUL GARLAND
Paul Garland was born in Somerset, England. Studied at Somerset College of Arts & Technology, Epsom School of Art and Plymouth University and currently works from his studio in the North of England. As a visual story teller, he creates intensely colourful, conceptual illustrations using metaphors to convey often quite complex stories for clients worldwide. His work has been recognised by the Society of Illustrators, American Illustration, 3x3, Luerzers Ar-chive, Society of Illustrators of LA, the Association of Illustrators and the World Illustration Awards amongst others.
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Exclusive Interview
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Paul Garland
Exclusive Interview
1.When did you start to dedicate to the my arm, I even had a seizure in an Ad Agency studio whilst presenting my work once which world of illustration? I really didn’t know what to do with my life whilst at school, there wasn’t much in the way of careers advice offered at the time. At the age of 14, whilst still at school, I started work on Saturdays and in school holidays for a large motorcycle dealership. This lead to what I thought was going to be my long term career as a motorcycle technician. At 19, I com-pletely lost interest. Partly due to the industry as a whole struggling due to a negative rep-utation that the government was giving to road motorcycles. So I decided to go back to college, initially with a view to becoming a Fashion Designer. Fortunately for me, I was advised to take a 2 year Art and Design Foundation rather than simply Fashion, this ad-vice proved invaluable as I wasn’t a fan of sewing. It was on this course that I was torn between Fashion and Graphic Design, both of which I seemed to have a reasonable flair for, so a compromise was made, I went to Epsom School of Art to undertake the country’s only Fashion Illustration course. I loved the course, it was great, as were the lecturers and I gained a solid grounding in anatomy, though it was whilst there that I started to be-come unwell, so had to leave the course early. I spent the next 2 years working at the Hydrographic Office in my home town, working on drawing charts for the Admiralty and whilst doing this my illness became progressively worse. I was diagnosed with epilepsy, which in your early 20’s, after living a happy, healthy and pretty carefree life came as a pretty big shock. Whilst lying in hospital, I made the decision to return to college to do what I loved - draw! I couldn’t go too far away from my home town, so off I went to Plymouth University. Again, this didn’t really work out due to my illness and I had to leave the course but my mind was made up. So ultimately I am self-taught, with partial degrees in Illustration. From 1995 I battled through in my early years as an illustrator, pounding the streets of London with my folder under
was very embarrassing as I couldn’t talk, even though I could hear and understand their questions. I had some success, but it was very frustrating as seizures were a major part of my life for just over 10 years. It’s now been just over 15 years since my condition was stabilised and apart from a major medica-tion problem which lead to 6 months of being bed bound, life has steadily improved. Why have I mentioned all of this now and never spoken about it before? Because although epi-lepsy is a physical condition, it has had huge mental health repercussions in my life and as mental health is such a big thing at the moment I thought it about time to speak out. I strongly believe that if you keep trying to aim for your goals then you will eventually get there no matter what the hurdles. I still have huge ambitions and lots of projects that I’d like to pursue and whilst my success and reputation in the Industry is pretty positive, it could always be better with some larger and more important assignments. So any Adver-tising Agencies out there, with meaty projects, give me a call ; ) I’d love to produce some record covers and illustration work for the music industry for example.
2. Does your work represent your personality? I hope so, I am by nature a fairly simple creature and try to reflect that in my work, un-necessary details simply congest images as they do in life. I used to work completely with traditional media, using gouache and chinagraph pencils to create flat coloured artwork. There weren’t too many people who could paint a completely flat area of colour in those days, so it was this, my sense of colour and my ideas that gave me my start - flat colour and poster styles from the early to mid 20th century were and still are a huge influence on my work.
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3. Do you use any special technique? Can you tell me a bit about your technique and the materials you use? I came very late to using computers to generate artwork due to my epilepsy, the flickering lines on computer monitors would trigger seizures, so it wasn’t until TFT flat screen moni-tors were invented and became affordable that I could try to learn how to work digitally. Technology has massively moved on in my time as an illustrator, I had to teach myself how to use both computers and the software and I’m not going to lie, it was tough. At first I really struggled and became frustrated as the work didn’t look on screen how I saw it in my head. I still only use the software in a minimal way, just enough to be able to com-plete my work, but I really do only scratch the surface of its capabilities. Photoshop for instance is a huge application, it’s a learning curve which I’m happy to carry on every day. I still use traditional media, pencils and paper to create my rough drawings and have made my own collection of textures which are used sparingly to finish my artworks. These are made via various forms of printmaking such as screen printing and Lino blocks. I also use an iPad Pro and Apple Pencil, Apple Mac computers and Adobe Creative Cloud to put it all together, mainly using Adobe Illustrator and Adobe Photoshop.
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Exclusive Interview
4. Tell us about you and how do you develop an idea and structure?
5. What is the difference between editorial illustration and other ones?
I start by reading a brief and the accompanying article, it usually takes a good few reads through to get the general gist of what it’s all about. I then highlight words and sentences and attempt to see if any ideas are sparked either literally or metaphorically straight away. If not, I make a list of words in my note book which are then cross referred and combined using a thesaurus to develop the ideas. Several scribbled drawings and notes are then made and the best 4 (sometimes more, occasionally less) are developed into rough sketches for the Art Director. Colour isn’t added at this stage unless I feel it’s needed to help the Art Director understand what I am trying to say. Colour is only developed as the work progresses.
Editorial is the bread and butter of illustration and is mainly conceptual. More often than not, the works and ideas are the illustrator’s creations, occasionally an Art Director will have specific requests, but the most successful are those where free rein is given to cre-ate the job. More risks can be taken in this area of illustration by Art Directors and illustra-tors, as tomorrow, next week or next month they will be ‘chip’ paper. Other forms of illus-tration have a longer shelf life, whether it be packaging, design or advertising based work and the client and Art Director or Art Buyer have to be sure that what they put out into the world has a form of longevity and appeal to the consumer. Therefore these projects are usually much more Art Directed.
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6.How do you prepare your work for production?
First of all I look at the required reproduction size and set up a CMYK art board in Pho-toshop to the exact size, then increase the size massively to produce the artwork. Sever-al layers are developed and labelled (as there may eventually be hundreds of layers). This is then put to one side and I then take the approved drawing and place it into an Illus-trator document to develop the main elements of a project. Once complete, these are then taken into the Photoshop document where they can be re-sized to fit the composition and various shadows, gradients and textures can be added. Once the project is com-plete, the artwork is flattened, the mode is altered to RGB if the project is web based, oth-erwise it remains in CMYK for print and finally reduced back down to the required repro-duction size. This finished file is then saved separately, (making sure to keep the original, larger layered file in case of changes later down the line) and sent to the Art Director by FTP (usually wetransfer) as a PSD file, unless it’s requested in a different format. There, now all of my secrets are out : )
7.What work are you most proud of?
That’s a very tough question, I should say the last piece of work completed, but if I have to pick one piece of work it would be a series completed whilst still at college in 1993, an entry for the RSA Student Design Awards which subsequently was named amongst the winners and exhibited in the Design Museum in London for 6 weeks. This gave me a massive amount of confidence to pursue illustration as a career. Thinking about this, I must dig these out and frame them for my wall.
8. who or what has been the biggest single influence on your way of thinking?
Far too many, but a small few are: Rene Magritte’s surrealism, The Bauhaus for their sim-plicity. Mid century poster artists and designers, as mentioned before. James Marsh, was a big influence early on and still inspires. A couple of my college lecturers, on my Foundation course - Gordon Field, Steve Langford and Brian Sweet in particular, really helped a lot. At Epsom, Josie Kemp and Howard Tanguy, who really helped with my Fashion Illustration and then Brian Grimwood, his words of wisdom whilst starting out in the big wide world were invaluable. Finally, my first agent, Jacqui Figgis was simply won-derful and helped to build my work reputation in the UK. Today, there are far too many illustrators out there whom I admire to mention individually and the great thing is that new, fresh illustrators are constantly graduating from colleges all around the world.
9. What are you currently fascinated by and how is it feeding into your work?
Another tough one, many many things, I love all forms of art, design, architecture and music and I love visiting museums and galleries. Travel is a huge part of my life and
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ulti-mately, my family. My wife Cheryl and my daughter Amber Rose are my absolute world and without them I’d really struggle for sure, every piece of work completed is run past them before being sent to Art Directors.
10. What are some trends or visual styles you appreciate in contemporary illustration? Any that are executed well and get the idea across!
11. What are some of the most important considerations in creating an editorial illustra-tion today?
‘Can I meet the deadline’ is my first question to myself, then it’s the budget, if it’s low, I ask for an increase in the fee, if this isn’t agreeable then I have to let the project go. I al-so have to be able to answer a brief, if I don’t feel it’s my kind of thing, again I turn it down, there’s nothing worse than sub-standard work. Finally, is the project my kind of subject, even that can be a major factor in taking a job or not, whether it be a personal reason or a moral one.
12. What do you think about e-books and apps like a new field of job?
Brilliant! Any new way to offer a creative outlet is always welcome! A few years ago eve-ryone was harping on about the ‘death’ of print and whilst every now and again the printed version of a periodical may disappear, there are always new ones being developed. Online versions, e-books and Apps are absolutely great, as long as the budget is still ac-counted for.
13. What do you like or dislike about the art world?
It can be very pretentious. Also, some people don’t appreciate the needs for a realistic budget and the worth of artwork. Finally, chasing unpaid invoices.
14.What is your best piece of advice for young artists who are getting started as an editorial illustrator?
1 - Draw, draw and draw more! 2 - Try to produce the kind of work that interests you in a manner that you feel comforta-ble with, a ‘style’ of your own will then naturally develop. Don’t try to force a ‘style’, it will come eventually. You’re, expected to be able to reproduce the said ‘style’ when commis-sioned, so keep practicing. 3 - By all means try to replicate other artists work whilst you are learning, but make sure you keep it for your own eyes and treat it as a learning curve. Don’t however, accept as-signments when asked to replicate another artists ‘style’ (yes, it happens) it will only lead to ‘copycat’ work and a bad reputation before you start. 4 - Attend exhibitions and galleries. 5 - Enter competitions. 6 - Finally, don’t under-sell yourself, if you do, you not only do yourself an injustice, but you ‘be-little’ the industry as a whole which leads to overall fees being reduced. You are a business and need to make a living, so treat it as such and you will go far. #notahobby
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Spotlight
I was born in Turin in 1994, from a mother who is an art restorer and a father who is a decorator, so I have been immersed in an artistic environment since childhood. These circumstances have led me to become an illustrator and artist who graduated in the field of painting at the Academy of Fine Arts in Turin. Moved by the desire for adventure and a great need for novelties and new stimuli, after a few years of working in my hometown, in 2016 I left Italy and began to travel. I put my life in a backpack and left. When you travel, you are subject to continuous transformations, your personality is moulded by the experiences you have and the memories you make. You discover yourself by discovering different cultures… it’s a neverending “challenge” between you and the world. One of my nuances that emerged from exploring is my passion for cooking; I realized that in order to get in touch with a different culture, food is the main door. So, for fun, two years ago I started to illustrate the best recipes of every country that I had the opportunity to visit and to collect them in one of my notebooks, unconsciously, giving life to something that relates my two great passions: design and cooking. Here I am today, with my latest project “Melting”; a collection of works where the main character is food, taking it out of the conventional space, playing with textures and motions. All the illustrations are digitally painted using Procreate
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DA R I A R O S S O Illustrator and painter Instagram:daria.rosso
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The Creative Space Spotlight
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ANNA PAOLINI
LADY BIRD EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH
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PAOLINI
Exclusive Interview
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ANNA PAOLINI
Exclusive Interview
ANNA PAOLINI 1. Tell me a bit about you and your background: where are you from/ where did you study? I live and work in Bologna, where I was born. After studying humanities, I chose to pursue arts first by attending the Art Academy and then a school for illustration. It gave me the basis to take up a career in the field. 2. When did you start to dedicate to the world of illustration? After obtaining a degree in illustration, I started to develop personal projects: I organised several exhibition of my work and participated to competitions. In 2018 I got the very first opportunity to publish one of my projects, and from then on I have focused mainly on illustrated books, both as author and as illustrator.
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I am fascinated by intense and authentic contents. Be they pop-surrealist illustrations, graphic ones or charcoal, my passion for illustration often brings me to appreciate its message first, and then its style.
it very stimulating. 8. what are you currently fascinated by and how is it feeding into your work? Nature has an essential role in my narrative. It provides me with great inspiration both aesthetically and emotionally. It instils meaning and powerfulness in my works.
3. What are your top tools to work? My illustrations are realised with crayons and graphite. These are the mediums I prefer - they allow me to express myself at best. The ritual of the drawing gesture and the long period of production comfort me, and I believe this is reflected in my works.
9. How do you think online design resources have influenced the art being produced today? Clearly, they make everything closer and more evident. We can take advantage of infinite stimuli and inspiration. The risk is of course a certain degree of homologation, buy I think the positive effects prevail. Art is always rooted in its historical time. This makes us recounting it even if unawares.
4. How would you describe your illustration style? Does your work represent your personality? Absolutely. There is always an emotion in each stroke of color. There are autobiographical elements that lead me to choose one subject rather than another. I would say that my vision is rooted in a dimension of stillness and silence. My communication is based on empathy. Hands, eyes – big and still, meeting or escaping the look of observers – have a powerful role in my narration. As well as the floral arrangements that accompany and soften it.
10. Do you feel social media is an important tool for illustrators? Does having a social media presence really change an illustrator’s ability to get commissions? Yes, I believe that nowadays they help a lot. You must know how to use them, and I think the best way is to find what works best for you. Exposing one’s work is exposing a part of oneself. It is an important showcasing opportunity to be mastered with caution. Having said that, much more is needed to actually succeed as an illustrator. Propose projects, take part to competitions, attend dedicated events…
5. what would you say is your strongest skill? I think – at least this is the intention – the effort to bond, to identify silently with the observer, like exchanging glances between two strangers.
11. What are some trends or visual styles you appreciate in contemporary illustration? I like the work of artists that have very different styles. In general, I am fascinated by intense and authentic contents. Be they pop-surrealist illustrations, graphic ones or charcoal, my passion for illustration often brings me to appreciate its message first, and then its style.
6. What challenges do you expect in this job? The biggest challenge is to keep growing without losing my identity. Keep believing in this work, which is a wonderful one. 7. Which one do you prefer, personal projects or ones for publishing houses and magazines? Why? Luckily, the two often coincide. I work a lot on editorial projects that give me the possibility to express myself with freedom. At the same time, sometimes working on assigned projects pushes me to challenge myself. I find
12. Where do you see yourself in five years’ time? I see myself in a bigger workshop, with more space and twice as many ideas. 13.What is your dream project? So many! But since the beginning I dream of illustrating the short stories of Italo Calvino and of developing a cover for the New Yorker! | 27
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Exclusive Interview
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ANNA CASTAGNOLI
FIND THE ROOTS OF
YOUR PERSONALITY
Exclusive Interview with
Anna Castagnoli
Anna Castagnoli is an Italian children’s book
author, illustrator and critic. Born in Versailles, after a childhood spent across Europe and a bachelor degree in Philosophy, she discovered picture books, a fascinating universe that brought together her primary interests: art, literature and psychoanalysis. She is the author of several books including Il manuale dell’illustratore (Ed. Bibliografica), De gouden kooi (De Eenhoorn, 2014), La caja de los recuerdos (OQO, 2010). Her stories have been illustrated by artists such as Susanne Janssen, Gabriel Pacheco, Isabelle Arsenault, Carll Cneut, Gaia Stella. Her blog lefiguredeilibri.com is a reference point in Italy for picture-book lovers and illustrators. Anna teaches the history of illustration and the theory of perception in universities and institutions in Italy and Spain. She lives in Barcelona with her family. www.annacastagnoli.com
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Exclusive Interview
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draw.” That sentence triggered my desire to make picture books. In the following summer, I attended some courses at the Stepan Zavrel International School in Sarmede. My first teacher, Linda Wolfsgruber, was the one who made me fall in love with picture books, its mechanisms, and narrative logic. After that course, I started attending Bologna Children’s Book Fair. In the second year, I finally had a good project and I started my illustration career.
• Tell me a bit about you and your background. Where are you from and where did you study? I was born in France to Italian parents. Together with my family, I spent the first few years of my childhood travelling. After France, we went to the United States, then went back home and toured all over Italy. My father worked as an engineer at Boeing and accepted missions abroad. My mother, before marrying and following my father on his travels, taught painting at an art school. My sister, brother and I grew up in a very creative and unconventional environment. When we settled in Italy, I ended my school career with a degree in Philosophy. I dreamed of becoming a writer, but to make a living I worked as a stilt walker for a theatre. • When did you start to dedicate yourself to the world of illustration? How did you become a children book’s author/illustrator? Until I was 30, I didn’t think that I would write and illustrate children’s books in the future. One day, a friend of mine saw some drawings I had made as a girl and said to me, “It’s a crime that you don’t
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• Your work is unique and poetic. Can you tell me about your journey to up to this point? Was there a moment when it all fell into place? Do you think you are still searching? After more than fifteen years of work, I still feel like I just started my research into art, especially for illustration. I feel that there is something truly authentic being created by my hands when I draw something from everyday life such as a weekly activity. When I illustrate, the truth is clouded by the search for a sweeter style, a more “for children” style. I am searching for a way to disperse these clouds, but failed to do so till now. In my opinion, authenticity comes from the raw emotions experienced during childhood, not the filtered out ones. I try to carefully remember what I thought and how I felt about certain things as a child so I can offer the truth and not the sugar-coated lies. • What do you feel was the best lesson you learned while studying? As you developed your technique, was there anything that has stuck with you till now or have you thrown out the pieces of advice your teachers have given you? One of the best pieces of advice given to me was by the Czech illustrator Jindra Capek, during a course. “When you draw you should always start from the observation of reality, and then gradually find a synthesis.” A practice I still use. I’m always on the hunt for good advice. Recently, I wrote the book called, “La meilleure façon de marcher?” With the help of Gaia Stella as the illustrator, Debbie Bibo as the agent, and the french publishing company Grasset, we worked for
Exclusive Interview
many months, continuously enhancing the ideas, fretting over the little details in order to create a masterpiece. I have learned a lot from working with talented people and I am grateful to every single person who has helped me on my journey. • What’s your earliest memory of creating a piece of art? Even as a child I liked writing stories and bringing them alive with drawings. I remember my oldest illustration was someone sheltering another from the rain while he, himself, was getting drenched. For some reason, it made the five-year old me laugh a lot. When I was seven, I looked at a the sky on a rainy day and suddenly thought of a poem. I rushed home so I could write it down, but I forgot what it was before I could. • Do your illustrations represent your personality? Absolutely. The strange thing is that my writing reflects a more complex personality. That’s why I don’t like to illustrate my manuscripts and give them to other illustrators. It seems paradoxical, but they don’t suit me! As an illustrator, I am much sweeter and more delicate. I could never have illustrated “The
Golden Cage (Book Island)” as powerfully as Carll Cneut did. • What work are you most proud of? Why? The Golden Cage book. Its writing is very strong and I absolutely love it. It tells the story of a terrible princess who collects birds and cuts off the heads of all the servants who do not bring her the birds she asks for. The birds she wants only existe in her mind and not in reality. It is a story about childish omnipotence and the gap between reality and desire. At the end of the book, the princess learns to be patient and take care of what she already has. Carll Cneut was my teacher in an illustration course. I sent him my manuscripts at a time when I was still completely unknown. Imagine my surprise when he replied he would do it the next morning. He worked on my project for two years without my intervention. When I saw his rendition of Valentina, I almost cried. It was like he took the blurry image from my head and made it clearer. She was exactly what I wanted. Carll understood my writings and the meaning behind it better than I could have ever described it. The games he plays with different styles to potray whether the bird
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lives in their reality or inside Valentina’s imagination is truly exceptional. The book has been translated into seven languages and has been very successful. It is my biggest pride. • What do you hope children take away from your illustrations? I wish that the child can feel less lonely while reading my books, just like how adults do with literature. • How do you approach a new project? The important thing for me is to keep it a secret. If I talk to someone about it before the text or project is complete, it’s a disaster. It loses all its magic and inspiration. Sometimes it’s a long process which requires a huge amount of willpower and discipline to keep pursuing the project and not abandoning it halfway. Sometimes it goes at the speed of light. I listen to a piece of music or read a sentence I like and have a general idea or text of a new book. • You have lots of different responsibilities, author, illustrator, tutor and blogger. How do you divide your attention? Describe your typical work week. I’ve never had a typical work week. I am very undisciplined and quite messy in my way of proceeding, but I have learned to exploit these aspects of my character. I enjoy doing each of these things, especially teaching, but I also like that they never last too long and I can change my direction. With so many different activities I can concentrate on something for a limited time without getting lost and bored. You can’t tell because I do a lot of things, but I’m also good at wasting time. I think it’s important for creativity to have some downtime. To have a “soft” time and a “tense” time. When I decide to work on a book, for example, I am able to work twelve hours a day for two months in a row with only a few breaks in between. However, between one book and another, I can easily spend a whole week doing nothing in particular. • How well do you work under pressure? Without being forced from outside to deliver an artwork, or to prepare a course or article for a magazine, I think I would never be able to finish anything. • Let’s continue talking about your illustration blog, what gave you inspiration to start your blog? When I decided to become an illustrator, I started
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collecting children’s books that inspired me whether it was modern and old-fashioned. I would take them home and talk about them at length with my husband. One day, he suggested that I should share my passion with the rest of the world via a blog. Since he’s the tech expert of the family he built my website and thus began my blogging career. I started by analyzing a book that had made quite the impression on me, Hansel et Gretel by Susanne Janssen. I discussed it for seven very long posts! I didn’t have a purpose for it; I just did it to have fun. Then the blog became famous in Italy and became the backbone of my work. These days, I travel a lot in order to give lectures and courses; it’s one of the reasons why I love my profession. Without these trips, I would be too isolated and lonely. I could never be just a writer or an illustrator. I ,then, published a summary of all the things I have learned through the blog under the name of “Il manuale dell’illustratore (The Illustrator’s Manual, Editrice Bibliografica).” It includes lots of tips for those who want to become an illustrator in today’s market. • What is the major challenge in the illustration world? Finding your own voice, your own style. • What do you think about new approaches in the illustration industry? How they affect it? • Where do you see illustration, in five years’ time? In the last ten years, the world of illustration, especially in Italy and Spain, has become “fashionable.” It’s good and bad at the same time. Too many titles are being published. The titles spend only a small amount in bookshops causing the whole chain to suffer. On the other hand, many beautiful blogs and publishing houses are being born. • What is your best piece of advice for young artists who are just starting out as creators of children`s books? Your working tool is yourself. What kind of a person you are, your likes and dislikes, whether you are lazy or curious, whether you are closed or open-minded. You have to learn to know yourself, to find the roots of your personality, which is often hidden in your childhood. Don’t be afraid to look inside yourself, to change, to improve, but also to accept your limits and to learn to work within them. Discover yourselves and your work will be more authentic and unique, because each person is unique.
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ANNA CASTAGNOLI
Exclusive Interview
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Digital Journal of Illustration |
Around The World
Diana Mailyn Galindo www.maiebonitaillustration.com My name is Diana Mailyn Galindo Arias, I was born in Bogotá, the capital of Colombia.During my years in France, I studied Illustration with a specialization in Children’s Book Illustration at the art school „Lignes et Formations, l’école des métiers créatifs“ in Paris. Now I settled in Leipzig, Germany, where I work as a freelance illustrator and as an art teacher. Among other things, I give classes for children and adults in drawing, comics, ceramic, and FIMO modelling clay.My home country Colombia has an exuberant variety of plants, flowers, animals, fruits, and tastes that inspires my work every day. Indeed, my favourite topics to draw are „fauna“ and „flora“. The project presented here is about drawing animals. I work with traditional techniques such as watercolours, gouache, acrylic, and colour pencils but also with digital techniques. One of the goals of this work was to explore textures and colours in a digital way. Another one was to work on body positions and expressions using the particularities of each of the chosen animals. I want my characters to be expressive and produce emotions in the viewer.
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Sonia Alins www.soniaalins.com
About the exhibition Mar Interior Mar interior (Inner Sea) is the new exhibition of the artist and illustrator Sonia Alins. This is a selection of artworks with which she discovers the lushest, brightest, most colourful side of her Dones d’Aigua (Water Women) series. An ode to nature underlies her dynamic compositions, a call for the importance of it in our lives as a way to recover inner peace and harmony. Mar interior can be visited at Échale Guindas Art Gallery, specialised in illustration and based in the city of Madrid. The exhibition is composed of 55 original artworks, ranging from small to largesized artworks. About the Dones d’Aigua series Dones d’Aigua is a collection of subtle and delicate collages that contain very expressive figures emerging from an undefined aquatic environment. Sonia Alins explores, in a special and suggestive way, concepts such as surrealism, visual poetry and feminism. Alins plays with the idea of transparency and blur, establishing different levels of perception and bringing depth to the pieces, thanks to a planned and minimalist combination of materials. With this creative process, Sonia Alins generates ethereal atmospheres in a minimalist way.
Guggenheim Museum Bilbao www.guggenheim-bilbao.eus
Guggenheim Museum Bilbao introducing “Other Views,” a selection of illustrations interpreting Olafur Eliasson’s artwork Illustrators Ane Pikaza, Leire Urbeltz, Alberto Muriel, Concha Pasamar, Higi Vandis, Yolanda Mosquera, Myriam Cameros, and Janire Orduna accepted the challenge posed by the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao to capture their personal views of Olafur Eliasson’s artwork in illustrations within the initiative “Other Views. The exhibition Olafur Eliasson: In real life, sponsored by Iberdrola and currently on view on the Museum’s second floor, invites visitors to be part of its experiential works and installations. The participating illustrators are members of Euskal Irudigileak, the Basque association of professional illustrators, which has worked with the Museum to coordinate this initiative. Using a variety of techniques and styles, the images show the illustrators’ personal views of the most inspiring aspects of some works from the exhibition. The result is eight beautiful, skillful illustrations, fine examples of how our experience of art–and of the world–hinges on our perspectives and they invite visitors to plunge at will into one of the most exciting exhibitions this summer.
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Digital Journal of Illustration |
Scrapbook
SCRAPBOOK
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BIANCA
POZZI I’m an illustrator based in the south of beautiful Brazil. Unlike many artists, I didn’t draw when I was a kid. Of course, as a child, I loved to draw, but I drew less and less as I was growing up. It took me many years, only after closing a pastry business I had, to realize I wanted to do something art-related in my life. I decided to go to university for the second time and I received a degree in fashion design. That’s when I learned about creative process, design and many other important subjects I apply to my art now. That’s also when I learned to use watercolours and realized I wanted to work in illustration. I started making hand-painted patterns for fabrics used in the fashion industry. After that I started turning my artwork into many other products, licensing it to stationery, wall art, fabric, greeting card companies and many more. I still work with surface design, but nowadays I’m more focused on publishing, as books and picture books, in particular, are my greatest passions. I mainly work with traditional media, such as acrylics, gouache and pencil colours. As inspiration, I usually look for classics, not only illustration and picture books but also 2D animation, movies, fashion and art. Some people say to me they feel peace looking at my artwork, which makes me happy because I like to bring these nostalgic, childhood feelings through my art. I like to create a place where anything is possible, and where imagination is a big part of it.
Website: www.biancapozzi.com.br
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Scrapbook
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CAROLINA T.GODINA
Exclusive Interview
LITERATURE, ART
& PHILOSOPHY Exclusive Interview with CAROLINA T.GODINA
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CAROLINA T.GODINA
Exclusive Interview
Freelance illustrator born and settled in Barcelona. Lover of all the artistic disciplines of which he was small, but especially of drawing and painting.
1. What led you to become an illustrator? My love for the draw and fairytales since I was a child. However before being and illustrator I made some other things that I also love related with art and letters. I studied Philosophy in the university, I graduated in 2005 and then I did some anthropology courses (a degree I would like to finish someday), a discipline that I find very interesting as well. Before the illustration, I also made trainings related to natural therapies and various artistic activities such as dance and ceramics that I love so, so much. I think all these experiences have been enriching in some way and have made possible for me to make the firm decision to dedicate myself to illustration professionally. 2. What can you tell me about your publications or books? What are the latest? The latest publicated book is ‘Cançó de fer camí’, a poem by Maria Mercè Marçal. Published by Sembra Llibres in 2019 October. This book talks about the sorority between women, empathy and freedom. The necessity to do our own way and to change the way we relate to each other and to the world. Every book or project is a new beginning to me and I love this so much of my work as an illustrator. Every single project is different of all the others and it opens new possibilities to explain a story. 3. How is children’s publishing industry in your country? Is it very different from what is done in your country from other countries? Yes, there are some relevant differences in relation to other markets. Not only about the style but in relation in a way how the projects or works are put in. According to the country, the age range of the target audience and culture differ greatly. What works in a country, don’t work in others. There are countries with a more conservative vision than others. In Spain the book industry manifest some differences in relation with other markets. In Spain there are independent publishers that make very risky books, and I love this so much. Then there is a more conservative trend in my country, which chooses to risk less in favour of the market. I think sometimes is difficult to find the balance between the market and the culture. I feel there is a tendency to confuse the two things as one. I would like books to be made with a little more risk and freedom, because sometimes good works can be lost in the name of market demands because the market consider that these books are not marketable and this si a bit sad. I don’t know where that balance between market and culture is, but I think it is possible find it. 4. Does your work represent your personality? The answer is absolutely yes and a part of not. Its true that my work express some aspects of my personality and my inner universe in a deeply sense. My
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works are part of me and my life experience, my work feeds on my life experiences, the things I love, the things interesting for me in some many ways. My way to see the world and position myself in it. The decissions I make now and in the past. The personality molds the work of any creative. Some part of ourselves is captured in the work we make. But in some way, the answer is also not, in the sense that the fact of the personality can change through the years and the works changes with us, but exist a part of our work that once it’s out, it starts to have a life of its own. That work begins to have a life of its own and far beyond the illustrator himself. And that has a kind of magic. But going back to the beginning of the answer, I think it does show something of me insofar that all the work I do, I do it from the heart and taking care of the whole process to contribute the best of myself as a person and as an illustrator. I think that it is what ultimately makes our work valuable. Surely my friends and family would say that my work does manifest my personality a lot and they are partly right. 5. What are you currently fascinated by and how is it feeding into your work? I love so much this question! And is one of the most complex to answer. I consider myself as a person who loves learning. I am a restless mind. I need to learn new things, and feeds on my mind and my soul. There are so many topics that fascinates me. My great passions are undoubtedly literature and art, but I am also fascinated by Philosophy, is another of my passions and a discipline that gave me a broader and deeper vision of reality and helped me to work on the critical spirit and not stay on the first impression or on the surface of things, I think this discipline has given a greater depth to my work in some way. Moreover I am fascinated and interested deeply by the magic and unaccountable of life. I like the dreams world and C. G. Jung’s perspective of psychology and dream interpretations, is another of my passions. And what I love the most and with what I connect beyond the purely intellectual is nature. Nature has been and is one of my inexhaustible sources of inspiration and it helps me time and again to continue with the motivation and desire to learn and to work. The magic of nature and its strength are constant sources of surprise, joy and gratitude towards life. Nature for me is pure emotion and beauty. Animals have also taught me many things and I like to capture them kindly and lovingly in my images. They are an important part of my life too.
6. Do you have a method for dealing with the feeling of having no ideas? When this happens, I just go ahead without a fixed plan, just with the goal to stain the paper and drawing whatever it is, I also write loose things, ideas, thoughts, I go out to take photos and go for a walk. From this chaotic process, work material ends up breaking the block and in that moment is possible to continue. Time ago I felt some stress when I was in front of the blank sheet and without ideas (or so I thought), but over the years and practice (a lot of practice) I have developed several personal strategies so as not to get stuck waiting for a miracle. I think that blocks can be overcome in many different and creative ways, each person ends up finding the ones that work best for them. In my case, some of the exercises and actions that I carry out to get out of the blockage have an important playful component. He experienced them as a game, that greatly reduces the tension and the level of expectation that we generate. When you eliminate that initial stress, it is when ideas start to arrive, but for them to come it is important not to be dominated by the blank sheet. She is always an invitation, a universe of possibilities, never an impediment or a wall. When I started living the work process from that idea, I lost my fear of lack of ideas, because in reality when you stop to think what causes these blockages, it is usually a very high level of expectations and an exaggerated level of self-demand. Sometimes the lack of ideas is nothing more than the fear of not living up to what one expects of himself or believes that others expect. I think that in the creative process, in the same way that you have to be self-critical to a certain extent, you also have to be kind and understanding of yourself and keep practising and learning without fear. Expectations are ahead of the result and that generates a lot of dissatisfaction and blocking. A few days ago I had a blocking moment, at first I felt a certain stress, I felt that time would be upon me, but instead of letting that state dominate me, I decided to take a sheet and pencil and start writing everything I could think of strange or absurd as it seemed in relation to those images that I had to make, in less than five minutes I had managed to have eight different ideas and some of them helped me get out of the jam and be able to transfer them to paper. For me it is essential not to fear the blockage. The blockade is only a symptom of something that we impose ourselves and that limits us. Knowing yourself is a very useful tool to learn how to handle these situations. And if at some point I have a big blockage, the best thing to do is put the sheet aside and do other activities: take a walk, do an activity you like, listen to music, do yoga, whatever helps you relax. 7. How many times do you tend to draw a character until it is right, and also how do you know that it is right? It depends on the character and the expression I want to achieve. Normally, I make several sketches until I find the character that fits what I am looking for, others
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Exclusive Interview
come out more quickly but normally I have to insist several times until I find that character.In order to know what I was looking for, they have to fulfill two things; express what I wanted to express (face expression, look, gesture) and that when I look at it in my mind and in my heart, a ‘this is it!’. Actually finding a character that you like is something magical. Suddenly something that was just an idea in your head, becomes someone, even if it is a drawing on a sheet. A character has to speak to us. 8. What do you hope children take away from your drawings? I hope that they are transported to another universe and to be excited in some way. I hope the illustration speak to them. Above all, I would like my work to reach the heart of childs and they feel accompanied in some way. I hope they enjoy my work. 9. How do you decide what to include and what not to include in the book? Normally I make several proposals. The prior phase to the originals is the one that takes me the most hours of work. To make a brainstormig and present the preliminary sketches. It is always, for me, the most intense work, but also the most gratifying. Once I have made the previous proposals in the form of a quick storyboard, I keep the one that I consider works best at all levels and discard the others. But sometimes the decision of what to include and what not, is not only made by the illustrator. The editor also usually give feedback on the proposal and from there it is polished and considered good when the editor and
illustrator agree. Sometimes there is more freedom than others when it comes to posing the images, depending on the project and the client. 10. Can you tell me a bit about your technique and the materials you use? How much of your work is hand drawn? My work is 99% with traditional technique. For the adjusts of color and contrast, light, cleaning, I make it with digital tools. I love so much the work with traditional or analogical tools, because the feeling of the texture of the paper, and the versatiliti of this materials It is something that I have not found in the digital technique. But I am learning digital, because it is a good tool also. Although I have always thought that technique is not what matters. What matters is how we use the tools we have and that is what practice does. Techniques are tools at our disposal, they are means to reaching the final work, but they do not determine the result. The same tool gives different results depending on who uses it and how they use it, and those things are only achieved by practice and finding your own language. The important thing is to know what we can get from each of these tools and apply them to our work. 11. What work are you most proud of? Is a personal inedit project as an author and illustrator that I can’t talk about for the moment. And the other work I am feel proud of is my personal ‘Houses’ series. 12. Who or What is your biggest inspiration? My greatest inspirations have been painters, writers, poets, | 49
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musicians and cartoonists. I connect especially with Symbolist painters, such as William DeGouve De Nuncques, I am deeply moved by his work. I am also fascinated by the works of some surrealist painters. That dreamlike universe connects me with mine. I love so much the work of Remedios Varo. Frida Kahlo has also been a painter who has marked me. It also made a great impression on me to get to know the work of Edward Hopper, the work of which I admire. His ability to paint silence. Suspend the image in an instant that says so many things. Actually I have many admired people! The list is long. Remdrant has also marked me, his work with light is simply brilliant! Of a sensitivity and depth as few and few have been able to capture. I love also the work of SempĂŠ, he is a giant among the giants. From writers I deeply admire the work of Ana MarĂa Matute, her work moves me, and so many others! And my greatest inspiration always, beyond everything else, is Life, in capital letters, the entire universe. Nature with all its mystery and wonder. | 50
13. What are your interests outside of illustration? Writing, philosophy, dancing, music (I specially love the cello) and ceramics. And talk with my friends and my sister about the magic of life or about absurd and funny things to laugh a little about ourselves and life. I love to laugh, it is one of my favourite activities in life! 14. Why is illustration such a powerful medium? Because it can move something inside, touch the heart or the mind or both and make us reflect, but above all it is such a powerful means because it makes the world a more beautiful and friendly place. I think is good the social criticism in art, but sometimes the only thing a person needs is to look at a beautiful image that transmits peace and a hug directly to the heart. I think at the end is the love what’s more transformer there is. The idea of not being alone in the world, that everyone is connected in a profound way. I think illustration is a powerful tool in that sense.
Exclusive Interview
15. What is the best use of illustration you have ever seen? Shaun Tan’s use of it has the ability to unite magic, sensitivity, emotion and deep criticism of some aspects of human societies in the same job, and that is not an easy thing to achieve with that level of mastery. Above all, the poetry that he achieves in his work is admirable, without ceasing to manifest the less pleasant part of the human being, always with a touch of irony and always inviting the reader to reflect. He is simply a genius of our time. 16. What are some of the most important considerations in creating an illustration today? I think this can be resumed in one word: Emotion. The illustration had to be the hability to transmit emotions and tell us different stories. So when someone creates an illustration I think the most important thing is what message or what story the illustrator want to convey and how do he wants to do it. The illustrator must have the ability to invite us into his universe. An illustration they have to move something inside that invites us to reflection or simply immerse ourselves in that image discovering everything that tells us. Sometimes it is interesting to leave unexplained spaces in the image in order to the viewer to fill in these gaps based on what the rest of the image conveys. The most important thing is that the image moves you in some way. | 51
Digital Journal of Illustration |
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CAROLINA T.GODINA
Exclusive Interview
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Creative Space
Monkey Illustration for Andersen Press brief response by Sahar Haghgo
Andersen Press Brief Response by Zhi Ling Lee
Bloomsbury Brief Response by Hannah Jayne Lewin
“If we want this country’s rich tradition of producing outstanding children’s literature and illustration to continue and thrive, we must ensure that the creative minds of the future are supported in a meaningful way. Art is for everyone, and becomes staid and stagnant if it can only be created by the privileged few. It is vital that we push back against the brutal cuts to our schools and libraries, and fight against the systemic barriers that prevent artists from disadvantaged and BAME backgrounds from being able to progress in this industry.” Nadia Shireen, Author, illustrator and Pathways mentor Pathways is an ambitious talent development programme that supports aspiring illustrators from underrepresented backgrounds to become the next generation of children’s illustrators. Run by children’s literature agency Pop Up Projects and the UK’s only public gallery dedicated to illustration, House of Illustration, the programme was conceived in light of the Centre for Literacy and Primary Education’s Reflecting Realities report in 2018. The report brought the state of representation of ethnic minority groups in children’s books to light. It found that although 33% of the children enrolled in schools are BAME, just 4% of children’s books published in the UK in 2017 featured an ethnic minority character. Just 1% featured a BAME main character. The photo credits for both images are as follows: Pathways mentees at the Space, Atmosphere and Environments Illustration Masterclass at Camberwell College of Art, photograph by Roderick Mckenzie Smith. | 54
cohort of mentees from ethnic minority and disadvantaged backgrounds to become professional children’s illustrators. The programme bridges the gap between being an art student and working professionally within the illustration industry by combining robust illustration training with professional development and industry exposure. It is supported by 21 major publishers and UK universities, allowing its mentees to benefit from guidance from experts who know the children’s publishing industry inside-out.
To support the programme and stay updated, follow @PathwaysInto on Instagram and Twitter. Also check out www.pathways-org. com, to see artwork made by the mentees, learn about opportunities available to illustrators, discover a variety of children’s books Pathways seeks to address this shock- that highlight underrepresented points of ing situation by supporting a talented view, and much more!
www.houseofillustration.org.uk www.pathways-org.com www.pop-up.org.uk
Monkey illust Literature Brief
Exclusive Interview
tration for Andersen Press by Ayesha Gamiet
e Creativ Space THE
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Digital Journal of Illustration |
Brightness Gallery
Brightness
Gallery
Brightness Gallery is an international competition held on a monthly basis to provide skilled artists with a chance to show their talents. Each month there will be a different judge assessing illustrations based on the current theme. 15 artworks will be chosen to be published in our magazine providing greater exposure to art directors from around the world.
www.brightnessaward.com
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SUBJECT: FREEDOM
GUEST CURATOR
JENNY KROIK Jenny Kroik is a New York City-based painter and illustrator. She finds much of her inspiration in the city and its people. Jenny has a BFA in illustration from the Art Institute of Boston, and an MFA in painting from the Uni versity of Oregon. Kroik has created 3 covers for the New Yorker Magazine. Her other clients include the Washington Post, The LA times, Random House Publishing Group and more. Jenny also teaches art at various universities and art centers around the city.
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Brightness Gallery - Freedom
HAO GU C
H
I
N
A
My name is hao gu. I come from China Shanghai. I am a SCAD ( Savannah College of Art Design) student. My major is MA Illustration and BFA illustration. Competition
3*3 illustration competition “World Illustration Awards”illustration participate in “KFC vacation” ,“ Love ”, “ Children card ”illustration. (2018-2019) “2018 Eight World Biennial of Student Poster ”illustration particlpate in “Happy New Year”, “Aggression poster”. (2018-2019) “CA COMPETITIONS ”illustration particIpate in“Vacation” , “ Children card” and “ Brit-pop war ”.(2018) “RED DOT COMUNICATION DESIGN” awards shortlist in Brit-pop war illustration. (2018) “SCAD DAY” shortlist in Brit-pop war illustration. (2016 ) Qualified for the 3rd National Art Exhibition of Works by International Students. (2012) Excellency Award in College’s Artist Competition. ( 2012 )
Awards:
Savannah College of Art and Design Scholarship. (20142019) International Students Scholarship.(2014-2019) Tian Hua College of Shanghai Normal University Scholarship. (2012 ) The First Prize for Western Paintings at the National “Happy China”Junior Fine Art Competition. (2012 )
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Brightness Gallery - Freedom
ALICE SU - UKRAIN
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BARBARA BASTIANELLI - ITALY
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Brightness Gallery - Freedom
CAROLINE TING - BRAZIL
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CÁTIA OLIVIERA - PORTUGESE
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Brightness Gallery - Freedom
DOMENICO GOI - ITALY
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EMANUELA ORCIARI - ITALY
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Brightness Gallery - Freedom
GIULIANA MARIGLIANO - ITALY
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JESSIE LIN - CHINA
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Brightness Gallery - Freedom
MAHSA NOROUZI - IRAN
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Brightness Gallery
JASON CHUANG - TAIWAN
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Brightness Gallery - Freedom
SARA SANCHEZ - SPAIN
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YIHUI YUAN - CHINA
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Brightness Gallery - Freedom
SHUYI AN - CHINA
MADISON LAROSE - USA | 72
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