Illustrations are the window to the universe for young readers!

Francesca Greco was born in Foligno and she has studied at the University of Perugia, at the Faculty of Philosophy and Letters, specializing in art history. In 1989, she won a prize at the 5th Biennale of children’s art in Kanagawa, Japan, for her first illustration in Alice in Wonderland. She illustrates and writes books for children published by publishing houses in Italy and abroad. Her works have been shown in many collective exhibitions in Italy and abroad. Besides illustrating books, she paints and has worked as a designer for big Italian companies. She has her own gallery where she creates decorative works on furniture, illustrated pottery, wooden creations and fabric puppets.

Illustrating a book for children is a wonderful, privileged and really serious matter. Francesca Grecois a well-known illustrator in Italy. Here. She shares more about her love for art and beyond.

Inspiration as an artist…

“I’ve always been a really curious person and it happens really often that I get lost looking something or someone that catches my attention in everyday life. I think this disposition to be amazed by nature, people or small details that stands out from the ordinary life helps me as an artist to create my word of images . In addition, I think that all that I have read, seen heard, smelt and tasted, my entire experience of the world outside is processed and transformed when I illustrate and take new and unexpected shapes,” she shares.

Choosing illustrations as a way to express…

“I’ve always loved painting and drawing. I’ve done it along my entire childhood. But as an adult there’s a precise moment I can identify as the turning point: I was travelling to the north of Italy by car and I saw in a magazine a simple illustration with a crow holding some red berry into the beak. It was not an ordinary crow: it was alive, whimsical and unique with vibrant eyes pushed by the illustrator on the extreme sides of the small head and it was a bit distorted by the strong cut of a powerful portrait. The style of that illustration with its unusual perspective and playful mood really caught my attention. The illustration was on top of a short article dedicated to an upcoming exhibition of children’s book illustration from all over the world. I went to see that exhibition and I decided I just want to be an illustrator. From that very moment, I’ve used many tools and different mediums,” she shares.

“But, I am a traditional illustrator and I like to work by hand using paper and colors of any kind. I really love the watercolors that are delicate and wild at the same time, but I also work with the acrylic paint and colored pencils or the collage. I like to change and experiment,” adds Francesca.

Why are Illustrations important in a children’s book…

“I think illustrations are important because it’s an immediate and synthetic way of expression which everyone can relate to without barriers of language. Illustration is a way to communicate and tell stories that works before and beyond the written text using its own rules. Illustration can be descriptive, realistic, scientific, poetic, evocative; can be on a wall, inside a church, on the ceiling of a castle, in books and when in combination with the text can unlock unexpected levels of sense that the illustrator displays on the page adding his own view and soul through the entire process,” says Francesca.

“I think for readers, especially for young readers, illustration can be a challenging discovery, the very first approach to the world of images, art and symbols. An illustrator that I really admire said once that “ illustrated book are the first art gallery visited by kids” (Kveta Pacovska) and I totally agree. It’s an instrument to experience the world and to develop their capacity to imagine and handle the huge universe that they are learning to know,” she adds.

On title cover…

“The cover of a book is crucial: it’s the first encounter with a book and it’s full of promises for the reader. In the relation between a reader and the book, cover is the door that can determine the destiny of the book. I think a good cover should be communicative and appealing, but should’nt reveal too much. I also think that it need not be the best and strongest illustration of the entire book because as a reader, I would love to be surprised and to reach a climax going through the book; I expected to leave an adventure and to take a path that will drive me somewhere. It’s like to discover a treasure after a long search,” tells Francesca.

Depicting the soul of the book via illustrations…

“My first approach to a book that I want to illustrate is reading it many times. I look for a couple of moments that would be the core of the storyboard. These are the moments or the characters that will give the shape to the rest of the work. Then I start understanding the structure of the event to define the characters and I add my personal reaction to them with details that represents my interpretation of the story,” she shares.

Works…

“I’ve published more than 30 books since my first with a small Italian editor. I’ve worked with editors and publishers from all over the world, including Canada, USA, Japan, China, Korea, Taiwan, Italy, Germany and I’m now waiting for the publication of my first title with an Indian editor based in New Delhi. My experience with my publishers has been good,” she adds. Her book Finn and the Whale will soon be published by Wonder House Books, India.

Which artist do you look up to?

“In illustration I really love the work of many artists: Suzy Lee with her synthetic and lively style; Kitty Crowther with her capacity to be profound and ironic and to phase the big questions of life in our children‘s books; Quentin Blake with his fast and ironic sign that doesn’t need any addiction and it’s always necessary; Adelphi Galloni Devon chained me when I was a child with his Baron Munchausen illustrations,” shares Francesca.

What next?

“I’ve been working on a new personal project since many years and I’m very excited because I feel it’s finally ready to be published. It’s about the change and the growth and the contrasting feelings that this processes generate,” concludes Francesca.