Open the Sketchbook, Open the Door

This is the second part of my newsletter series about my journey through this illustration course: the entry-level course I’m currently doing at Ars in Fabula.

In the last one, I told you how I got here. Here’s how the whole thing got started

For six months, we work on one project: a full picture book. In the first class, they gave us five different texts by real authors and asked us to choose one by the end of the first month.

In the first class, they read us the five stories, and my brain immediately went: “Nope!” to two of them. One felt too boring, and the other one was too sad. It’s crazy how the mind works, you’ll see…

So I started working on the remaining three, which felt much more exciting. First, we worked on the characters. We began sketching ideas based on the different stories.

Honestly, I liked all three options and felt excited about each one. Which made it harder to choose.

Luckily, my wonderful tutor gave me a great piece of advice: “If you’re still unsure, do this same exercise with the other stories first, test them all before discarding any.” He also reminded me, “You said you wanted to learn how to tell a story and share your inner world.”

At the time, I wasn’t sure what that had to do with anything. But I was here to learn, so I followed his advice.

I went back to the story I had labeled “boring” and — very reluctantly — opened my sketchbook. I started doodling... and just like a melody building up, the pages started to fill with drawings.

I lost track of time. When I looked up, I had been sketching for hours. Oops, I forgot to work that day 😅

But I was happy. Happier than I had felt in a long time. I felt connected again, to paper, to my ideas. Like when your Wi-Fi reconnects and suddenly all your notifications start pouring in.

Small side note:
Even though I’ve been drawing forever and have taken some short courses, I never went to art school. I don’t have formal training. So a lot of what I do is trial and error. I’m still learning how to work with different materials, and I’m definitely not a pro with brushes or pencils yet. But I’m very good at buying random art supplies 😂

I have a drawer full of tools I don’t use, but I always know I’ll use them someday. That’s what happened with a set of acrylic markers I had forgotten about.

I remembered something a teacher once told me: “You think too much. It’s dangerous for you to draw with pencil because you erase and correct all the time. Try using markers instead.” So I did.

I fell in love with those markers. They feel like painting with acrylic, but easier for clumsy hands like mine. Eventually, I bought a bigger set with lots of colors, I love working with color and having lots of shades to choose from.

Then came the next step: getting into the story. I asked myself questions:

• Who are these characters?

• How do they know each other?

• Where do they live?

• What’s their relationship like?

• What happened in their lives?

• What do they like to do?

I love drawing objects, so I started designing items that helped show the characters’ personalities

For these sketches, I used a mix of acrylics, those wonderful markers, Faber-Castell Polychromos pencils, and Stabilo fineliners.

I also tried some traditional techniques like watercolor and colored pencil.

I don’t follow one specific technique — not yet anyway — I just go with the colors I want and see what works.

This story is very simple, and that gave me a lot of space to add my own imagination and interpretation. I really enjoyed that.

But… is this the story I chose?

In the next newsletter, I’ll tell you something very personal, a small plot twist.

Spoiler: just when I thought I had everything figured out, my tutor said, “I think you should still test the story you haven’t tried yet.”

And, just like before... I opened a new door.

And a lot of things came to light.

• Out of the Studio: Last weekend, some friends from Argentina came to visit, and we explored the south of Italy, places I had never been before: Amalfi, Capri, Positano, Sorrento… and even Pompeii! Oh my god, the sea color, the food!
  What I loved most was the art. In Capri, all the signs are hand-painted, so beautiful! And in Pompeii… there’s still so much art, preserved through the centuries. Thousands of years old and it still feels fresh and modern.

• Seen & Felt: KAOS- I watched this series a few months ago and thought it was excellent. I don’t understand why it got cancelled! It’s fun, clever, and full of great social commentary, all mixed with Greek mythology in the best way.

• For the Shelf: Vostra Befana, Autor: Barbara Cuoghi Illustrador: Elenia Beretta
  I just bought this picture book and it’s simply beautiful. And the color palette? Chef’s kiss!

• Echoes: In case you didn’t know, I love musicals and creative covers. This one is a version of the famous Ursula song from The Little Mermaid, performed by Voctave, an a cappella group. The harmonies are incredible, truly perfect. (Yes, I’m a Disney fan.)