Stefano Imbert: Fashionista Extraordinaire

When did you first think about art as something you wanted to do? Were you encouraged or discouraged by family, friends, teachers, mentors?

Drawing was always my “refuge” as a kid. I discovered that creating picture books from stories I invented myself was somehow liberating as they brought me into a world of total fantasy. I spent hours drawing intensely and realize only now that these images were black and white line drawings with no color… probably this gave me an immediate relief and gratification. My father was an architect and an artist, and I spent a lot of time in his studio where he always encouraged me to draw and experiment. When it was time to enroll in high school, there wasn’t even a question of where … an art school was the only possibility. Choosing the arts was always something that was very organic to me.

What kind of kid were you? Where did you grow up? What were your influences?

I was a quiet kid but always ready to play and socialize with other children even though I quite enjoyed the company of grownups.

I was born and raised in Rome, Italy and was lucky enough to be exposed at a very early age to a myriad of artistic expressions - architecture, classic art, and pop culture. I was especially influenced by musical theatre and the cinema of the 30’s and 40’s. As a consequence, my work is a mix of influences, from Otto Dix to Kander & Ebb to Lypsinka, and has an emotional range from pathos to the whimsical. Throughout many of my images, one may detect my ever-present sense of humor, too, so don’t be surprised to find a drag queen or glamorous aging diva within my imagery.

But my most important inspiration and mentor who remains my very good friend is James McMullan, the principal artist for Lincoln Center Theater. While still a student at School of Visual Arts, I worked as his assistant and there learned all about high focus drawing, theater illustration, and how to deal with clients.

What markets does your work appear in? Newspapers, magazines, galleries? How did that come about?

I have provided illustration to New York theaters and others nationwide for more than 15 years now and am regularly featured on a London-based men’s fashion online publication. These venues came about quite organically. When I was starting up, I seriously researched the areas in which I wanted to concentrate my career.

My influences and inspirations are varied and that, I believe, greatly contributed to the evolution of my work into what it is now. Since I started in this business, I realized that too many young illustrators see editorial work as the only possible venue for their success, so I decided that I was better off trying to make my own passions part of my work. I always loved theatre and movies and remember drawing fantasy movie advertisements when I was eight or nine years old, so it’s not a surprise that for my career I carved a niche for myself close to what I feel most passionate about. Theatre is intrinsically part of my life, so consequently, it plays a big part in my work.

I also realized that I was instinctually drawn to fashion (I’m Italian after all!) and started to experiment with that field in mind. In fashion illustration I really love the immediacy, energy, and movement that only that kind of illustration can create. There is no construction or pencil lines to use as base for your drawing, just brushes of colors trying to reproduce the feel and texture of a garment and the strength of the model posing.

Did the advent of the computer affected your work? Or do you stick to traditional ways of creating art?

I use both traditional and digital as a complement to each other. Creating poster art for theaters involves not only an illustration for the final poster, but also an image that can be flexible enough to work for the flyer, the Playbill, the website banner, and many other marketing materials. This flexibility can only be achieved with the help of the computer. I need to create a final image that is not “locked” into a specific size, so I paint a few separate images (for example, background and characters) using watercolor and gouache traditionally, and then “assemble” them using a digital tool like Photoshop to generate a single illustration in different layers. In my case the computer is a big help for my work.

Your work appears in various publications. How did that come about? What is your favorite venue to work in?

To illustrate is to express yourself, and my Italian “passion” gives me very intimate and sometimes intense relationships with my projects. I feel particularly attracted to theater and fashion, two genres of illustration that involve personalities, their stories, and often high drama, and I relish the challenge of encapsulating all in one image. Thus, I am fortunate being in New York City, a center of both theater and fashion.

Can you tell us about your work with Ink Well?

I’m so very proud to be part of Ink Well! It’s a foundation

that gives children who are sick or are going through some kind of hardship the possibility of interacting with artists and creating with them in order to both distract themselves through an artistic outlet. The kids are introduced to a variety of artists, spanning from illustrators to cartoonists to animators. It’s a wonderful way for them to get a close and personal relationship with art and artists. I love to volunteer for Ink Well as it also gives me the chance to be and draw with kids who inspire my imagination and keep it young.

Illustration by Stefano Imbert

Illustration by Stefano Imbert

What’s the future hold for Stefano? Any ultimate goal? Mine is to have a barn studio in a rural area where I can paint on large canvases, have no idea what I’m going to paint and drink white wine all day. You?

Illustration by Stefano Imbert

I love the idea of having a barn in the middle of the country and focus all your energies solely on your work. In reality, though, I’m afraid I’m a city boy. Actually, living in New York City has been one of my all-time dreams, ever since I was a young boy in Rome. Now that I’m here in this difficult, impossible, noisy city, I’m afraid I couldn’t survive without its constant inspirational energy. I obviously would love to work with more theaters, across the country and internationally. But, a dream, of course, is to do a poster for a Broadway musical! Last year I began teaching illustration at CUNY and discovered I LOVE it! I am actively seeking to expand my teaching career and hope to do so in the very near future. I also would love to be able to work on my own children’s book. In fact, I have started working with an author and have already put together some ideas and sketches… so stay tuned!