self-portrait © Debi Gliori
We’re delighted to have Debi Gliori as the third guest in ACHUKA’s new Meet An Illustrator feature. Did you miss the first one with Jim Field? The second one with James Mayhew?
This year we can look forward to:
- The Boy and the Moonimal from Bloomsbury in June
- ‘A Cat Called Waverley’ from Otter Barry Books
image from the book posted to Debi’s Instagram
As a child, what were the first illustrations you remember being pleased with?
Drinkers in a bar in Barcelona. I carefully copied the words ‘Cocktail Bar’ into my little sketchbook and felt very chuffed with myself. I’ve still got the drawing – it is remarkably accurate, down to the row of optics and a solitary drinker. I was 4 at the time. I still have the sketchbook.
Who/what inspired you when you were young?
A girl at school who said my drawings were rubbish because I didn’t colour inside the lines. I’ll show her, I thought…
Who inspires you today?
My family. They’re at the heart of everything I do.
Did you study art or illustration? If so, where?
Five years of illustration and graphic design at Edinburgh College of Art.
What is your favourite artist tool/product?
My elderly watercolour pan box. Opening it is like being a child stepping into a sweet shop. Eye candy in its purest form. All those colours just waiting to be brought to life with water. Every one of the books I’ve made has begun in that box.
Where do you buy your art supplies?
At the moment, from the multiple temptations ( I have to rein myself in every time I log onto their site) of the online box of delights that is Jackson’s Art.
What software/apps do you use?
None. I’m an analogue artist. Writing too. I use brushes, charcoal, watercolour, acrylics, paper, canvas and a fountain pen.
What was your first commission?
Such fun! It was a series of Star Wars-inspired murals painted on the bedroom walls of a very fancy house in a nearby town.
What are you working on at the moment?
A book about a Viking heroine defying her family’s expectations. Also, a series of large 1m square paintings of peonies.
Twitter or Instagram? Yes
Coffee or tea? Absolutely
Cat or dog? Dog, every time. But can I ask for a third category? Thankyou. Guinea Pig.
Grape or grain? In tiny doses because migraines. But both. No preference.
Sunrise or sunset? Sunrise. I love Da Day Dawn. Best time ever and a beautiful Shetland tune. All that possibility.
What do you listen to when you are working?
I crave silence when I’m writing. Can’t hear what I’m doing otherwise . When I’m painting, the odd audiobook or Jan Garbarek, Arve Henriksen, John Surman, Philip Glass, Olafur Arnalds, Espen Eriksen Trio or- brace yourself – I leap to my feet, grab my fiddle and play something that needs practice.
Where can we follow you on social media?
@debigliori on Twitter (for passion and politics and what makes me laugh or weep)
@debi_gliori on Instagram (for what I’m working on)
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