self-portrait © Flavia Zorilla Drago
The 28th guest on Meet An Illustrator is Flavia Zorilla Drago, an author-illustrator from Mexico City currently shortlisted for the 2021 Klaus Flugge Prize with Gustavo The Shy Ghost.
This excellent short video introduction to Flavia’s work begins with a selection of her childhood art:
And here is some more background:
Listen to Flavia talking all about Gustavo and shyness on the Children’s Book Podcast #611
And look!
Flavia has a Picture Book Creation course on Domestika which, at the time of posting this feature, is being offered at the exceptional price of £11.90, a 70% discount.
Books coming soon!
- Monsters Play… Peekaboo! (2021) [board book]
- Monsters Play… Counting (2021) [board book]
- Leila and the Witchy Cakeoff (2022)
As a child, what were the first illustrations you remember admiring?
At age 3, I drew Cheetara from the Thundercats and a portrait of my sister.
Who/what inspired you when you were young?
I mostly enjoyed drawing mermaids, hamsters and animals.
Who inspires you today?
Nowadays I get my inspiration from fairy tales (the old school frightening ones), horror movies, 80’s music, paintings and engravings (especially from the Middle Ages, and the Industrial Revolution) and old photos.
Did you study art/illustration?
I studied graphic design at ULSA in Mexico City, then I did a year of illustration at the ENSAD in Paris, and finally I did the ‘Children’s Book Illustration MA‘ in Cambridge, UK.
What is your favourite artist tool/product?
My favourite paper is ‘drafting film‘ – a type of plastic that you can use for screen printing. I like it because it’s very good for pencil but also you can use ink and it won’t become wobbly.
Where do you buy your art supplies?
In Mexico City I buy my supplies at LUMEN. In the UK I get my supplies from Intaglio and Tindalls Art & Graphics.
What software/apps do you use?
I use Photoshop and Wacom for my picturebooks. I just bought an ipad and got Procreate – I am still learning how to use it and experimenting with it, but so far it has been very enjoyable.
What was your first commission?
My first ever commission were some clay figures that I made for a friend of the family when I was 8 or 9 hehehe.
What are you working on at the moment?
I am doing a PhD on horror and picturebooks at Anglia Ruskin University, and I am working on a series of books with monsters as main characters with my lovely @bigpicturebooks.
Twitter or Instagram? I used to love Twitter, in 2016 I made lots of friends there and we could joke all the time, but nowadays I find it annoying, so I guess I prefer Instagram.
Coffee or tea? Coffee in the morning, tea in the evening.
Dog or cat? DOG!
Grape or grain? Grape
Sunrise or sunset? Sunset – sadly, I am never awake for the sunrise.
What do you listen to when you are working? I love listening to punk and indie music from the 80’s (The Smiths is my favourite band), but lately I have been listening to Nina Simone, Sam Cooke, Marvin Gaye, Fats Domino and Gil Scott-Heron. My favourite podcast ever is Hidden Brain with Shankar Vedantam.
Where can we follow you on social media?
You can find me on Instagram as @flavia_zdrago and on Twitter as @DiaFla (but I only tweet in Spanish).
This is a regular weekend feature, publishing every Saturday.
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