DANIA FLORINO Interview

Who or what made you want to become an illustrator?

It's very simple really ... I never thought about doing anything else in life!

In fact whenever I see a movie , listen to a piece of music or experience any emotion the first thing that comes to me is ...

to draw !

How and why did you decide to pursue illustration as your career?

At the beginning of my journey, searching for my artistic personality, a friend asked me what I had felt as a child looking at the pictures of the picture books I liked best .
My answer was : wonder !

Here, this is my goal, what led me to this path :

the idea that a child, looking at my illustrations, could be enchanted by them.

I know, an ambitious goal ;-)

Did you attend art school or undertake any other formal artistic training?

My studies were traditional : I attended the classical high school, then I graduated with a Bachelor's Degree in Conservation of Cultural Heritage in Naples, Italy, where I lived for the first part of my life .

After finishing my studies, I was finally able to launch myself headlong into what would later be my real artistic training .

I took courses in Graphics, Photography and Illustration and collaborated with painters and decoration studios.

In the remaining time I studied and explored all possible painting techniques on my own, until I found my own stylistic signature . I experimented with pencil drawing, pastel drawing, airbrush, etching techniques, oil painting, acrylic, watercolor ,tempera, inks , collage...

Now everything I have learned I have the possibility to put into practice by simply sitting at my Mac, with my inseparable graphic tablet and my sketchbook !

Convenient, no?

Have you always loved to draw?

Yes,it has always been my refuge, my oasis, my dream world . And that is where you can still find me, although it has been a while .

Who or what have been some of your major artistic influences?

I have always loved two things : detail , and color . I loved Flemish art , the Pre-Raphaelites , Bosch, Caravaggio, Ribera, Hokusai, the Impressionists, not to mention William Morris, Arthur Rackham or Maxfield Parrish ...But also Norman Rockwell, Escher, Tullio Pericoli, Domenico Gnoli, and the irreverent characters of Milo Manara and Andrea Pazienza .

Which books from your own childhood really stand out?

Two books, which a far-sighted Santa Claus gave me at the age of ten : “The Tales of Mother Goose ” by Charles Perrault, and Alice in Wonderland. Both unillustrated , they inspired me to bring those beautifully described stories to life on the white paper.

The desire to succeed was my biggest motivator in the early years.

Do you have a favourite picture book or recall one of the first picture books you saw?

Among picture books I have more than one reference as well :

in particular two most wonderful editions of “Arabian Nights” and Andersen's “ Fairy Tales ”.

Then “ Fairies ”by B.Froud and A. Lee and “ Gnomes ” by R. Poortvliet and W. Huygen .

Describe your working technique and how you came to perfect it.

Whenever I start working on a new project, the first thing I do is to document myself, especially with photographs .

I then begin to imagine all the elements that would be nice to include in my illustration, whether they are animals, objects, flowers, insects, vehicles , etc. Of these I prepare a series of sketches, so that they acquire my personality, my style.

I then devote the necessary time ( how much ? nobody knows, it depends... ) to the creation of the characters.

Finally, the most important part : the choice of colors that I will use !!! This part for me is really decisive, so much so that sometimes I choose to make sketches on the computer drawing directly with color, so as to be sure that the balance of the page, chromatic as well as compositional, works.

Last but not least .... finally it is time to fill my illustration with defined and colorful details.

Do you keep a sketch book?

I don't have an actual sketchbook, but an endless series of notebooks of various sizes, on which I not only draw, but also write down anything I can use for my project, even my weekly progress calendar.

I often get great ideas while I'm doing other things,

and my sketchbooks are a great help in jotting them down on the fly so I don't forget them.

What do you hope children take away from your drawings?

I would be happy for children to want to lose themselves in the pages of my books, and for them to find my illustrations

to be a confirmation that a magical, colorful world really exists out there .

After all, it does for me.

Those who know me know this ;-)

What do you do in your spare time?

I love taking long walks by the seaside, alone, listening to good music.

I love to see good movies, especially those from the 1950s or science fiction movies

( I didn't mention it, but as a girl I also read a lot of comic books ... ).

In addition, for the past few years I have discovered a great passion for singing,

which I share with my husband and our closest friends.

Take us behind the scenes and describe your studio / workspace.

I love my new studio !!! It is a large and bright space, from which I can easily access our living room to a wonderful terrace, which is a real asset for many months of the year, for a pleasant coffee break, maybe chatting on the phone with a friend.

I have yet to finish decorating it, in fact I would like to hang some photos of my two children

and some prints of my illustrations that I cherish.

But there is time ...