Meet The illustrator: Carolina Parada

Name: Carolina Parada

Describe your illustration style in ten words or less. 

Characterized by a whimsical tone and warm colours

What items are an essential part of your creative space? 

I have a lot of books around me. I always have a sketchbook, Polychromos, and my iPad. Music is always there too.

Do you have a favourite artistic medium?

My favourite medium is watercolours. Unfortunately I don’t get to use them as much as I would like to. Most of my illustrations are digital.

Name three artists whose work inspires you. 

My favourite artist is the surrealist painter Remedios Varo, I also find Magritte and Chagall very inspiring.

Which artistic period would you most like to visit and why?

Surrealism, because it explores the irrational, the nonsense, the subconscious. It is the depiction of dreams and nightmares. It is freedom for imagination.

 
Who or what inspired you to become an illustrator?

I have been drawing my whole life with more or less intensity and for different reasons. In terms of my career, a critical point was to start sharing my illustrations on social media. I realized that I had an audience that was interested in my ideas and stories. Although I would still draw and write for myself, having people interested in my art has been really encouraging.

Can you share a photo of your creative work space or part of the area where you work most often? Talk us through it.
The attached photo shows my desk and my main tools: an iPad and an apple pencil. I usually watch something or listen to music or podcasts while drawing, so I have my computer right there. I waited for the perfect moment to take this photo. I was watching a movie from Studio Ghibli (Pom Poko) and was finishing an illustration to celebrate the birthday of someone special. I don’t have much natural light in my apartment (it’s Paris), but in Spring and Summer every day at 20h and for around five minutes, a ray of sun hits my window and I get the rainbow you can see on the wall.

 
What is your favourite part of the illustration process?

Making drafts, when ideas are born.

 
What advice would you give to an aspiring illustrator?

Draw every single day and don’t stop exploring (new materials, techniques, styles).

 


Born in a city perched in the mountains of Colombia, living in beautiful Paris, Carolina has a PhD in biology and combines her scientific activities with her career in writing and illustration. Her inspiration for both science and art comes from the beauty of nature.


For more information, please visit Carolina's website or follow her on instagram.

from Kids' Book Review https://ift.tt/ZSxEmTe