Welcome
to my monthly interview feature! I’m so excited to be interviewing all the
fabulous artists, illustrators and designers I’ve meet over the years (both
personally and virtually!) and sharing their artwork and experiences here on
Bird Meets Worm. Look for a new interview on the first Tuesday of every month.
(Note this month is an exception due to my summer family travels!)
This month I’m so happy to be chatting it up with the lovely
Illustrator, Maria Mola! Maria is a fellow Tugeau2 Artist and I had the
pleasure of meeting her in person in Chicago, while attending Book Expo America
in May. I love her beautiful artwork! Maria
is from Barcelona, Spain, but she currently lives in Chicago with her husband
and their two little children. She is passionate about bringing her art to the
children's picture book industry. She creates her work both digitally and in
traditional media, often combining both. She especially enjoys bringing new
characters to life. When not creating children's book dummies, she enjoys
playing with her children, reading and photography. Most of the times doing
everything at once—with a cup of coffee, of course! You can view more of her artwork here!
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| Hopping over the world! Wheee! |
Q: How has your time living in both Spain and the United States
influenced and inspired your artwork?
A: My interest in illustration started
in 2007 in Barcelona when I enrolled an illustration course, that same summer
we moved to the US. In that course I was introduced to European illustrators
and classic international children's illustrators. When I arrived to the US I
noticed a big difference in styles when I researched at bookstores and
libraries. I felt that in general in Europe there was a more free
style, eclectic scene. In the US in general there was a more dominant
realistic style, with mostly classical mediums like watercolor or oils.
Instead, in Europe there was more of a mixed media, acrylics with pencils,
collage, digital. Over the years though, this difference in style has been
becoming more and more subtle, and I can see more eclectic styles here in
the US as well.
I feel I have been fortunate as an
illustrator to have received influences from these different markets. I think
exposure to different contexts results in richer perspective that translate
into an artists' work.
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| Aren't these colors & textures SO dreamy?! |
Q: Dish with us a bit about your creative process! How does yours
begin—set the stage for us: workspace, materials, habits? How do you approach
sketches? Finished color art?
A: I love to work with acrylics
or watercolors. But after I finished my first book using acrylics, I realized
how much time consuming and messy it could get, and transitioned to digital
media. I learned how to combine digital tools with some handmade textures to
add a more natural feeling. I still remember drawing with a mouse for a while!
And how magic was the feel of my first little tablet with a pen!
Now I usually make
everything digitally from sketches to artwork, mostly using Photoshop. But I
still fantasize on getting my hands on real paint, especially when my eyes get
so tired to look to a screen.
Q: As a freelance Illustrator, juggling 2 energetic little boys
and an art career, in what ways to do seek balance in your life? (As a fellow
Illustrator Mama—this is one of my favorite questions!!)
A: This is one of my favorites too. As
a reader of your blog and these interviews, I am always curious to check how
other artists juggle family/work, what is the formula.
This is a question that I am revisiting
every single day when I wake up!
This past year my older son started
kindergarten, and my little one is at preschool 4 days a week. So, in
theory, I am working the mornings of Monday through Thursday.
That is in theory, because every week there are different issues. Two different
schools means twice the amount of teacher training days, field trips and bugs
that the kids can catch (and later spread to the rest of the family!), so it is
rare to have a full week of work.
When I have deadlines I try
to make more time waking up earlier, around 4.30am-5.00am, but of
course my kids have a sensor and detect that I am around and wake up
earlier too...I love the quiet and the focus of that first coffee.
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| Super Illustrator Mama in action!!! Go, Mama, go! |
Because I work at home the family/work
boundaries are more compromised. Sometimes I am with my kids and I have to
fight the thoughts about everything else 'I should be doing', and when I am
working and they are around I have the feeling that I am not fully attending
them. Sometimes I feel that it would be ideal to have an office outside
the house, but at the same time I love to be available and being at home.
Actually some of my neighbors and other people I know don't even know that
I work. They assume I am a stay at home mom.
As if two was not difficult enough, it
turns out that we have another baby on the way (surprise!). I am trying to
become more disciplined to get better at balancing family and work. In fact, I
remember working very regularly through my boys' naps when they were babies.
Wish me luck! In the meantime I am going to keep checking how other
artists thrive in this family/balance work.
Q: In children’s publishing so many characters are animals or
imaginary creatures, but I absolutely LOVE all your sweet kid characters that
are actual people! Chat with us about how to create an original human character
and how you approach the design of the character’s style & details.
A: I don't follow a very conscious
process. I am very spontaneous when creating characters, I just start to draw
until I get something that in a very rough form allows me to connect to one
aspect of the character. I love to imagine stories about characters that
come from nowhere, there's always something special. Like real people,
characters hide a whole life that you as an artist have to connect to and help
depict clues for the readers. I must say that the most pleasant part of
all the creativity process for me is when all a sudden I realize I am starting
to face a new character. From there I try to empathize with the
character and try to tell their story. That helps me when adding details
or cleaning it.
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| Delightful Autumn Leaves |
Q: What was your most treasured picture book as a child? What is
your most favorite picture book now? Why?
A: Visually I remember a version of
the 'The three little cats', they
were like puppets/dolls and I spent hours looking at the details, I enjoyed it
so much!
I read a lot of times 'The Little Prince', probably the first
time I was too little to fully understand but I reread it several times, and
each time I enjoyed something different. It had a mystery that was
fascinating. It still has it, and it's probably one of the books that mostly
influenced me.
I don't have any particular favorite
picture book now. I have lots! And now that I have kids the excuse is
solid. ;) I consider myself more of a picture book collector that and
illustrator. I love different styles. I love the book as an object. There
are so many well thought books. I have just acquired one published by
the Tate museum by Alice Melvine 'Grandma's house' with some really lovely
illustrations and cut-outs.
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| Jump for joy in a poppy field of rainbows! |
Q: Describe your most perfect Sunday.
A: The most
perfect Sunday starts with coffee and browsing around news or reading
a book while hearing my kids entertained playing. Maybe a brunch in a nice
place? I am a homebody, though, so if we have already spent Saturday outside
I love to be at home without any scheduled kids outing events.
Thank you so much, Maria, for chatting
with us here at Bird Meets Worm!! Congratulations on your new pregnancy! I’ll be
sure to keep the illustrator mama tips coming! XO