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"The Royal Horticultural Society awarded governess Miss Lime its first prize for selecting an entirely new variety of citrus, the Caustic Orange (Citrus Punitiva)."
I'm quite proud of the background I made - and later proceeded to cover up almost entirely - for this one, so I thought I'd include an unobstructed view of it.
"The Royal Horticultural Society awarded governess Miss Lime its first prize for selecting an entirely new variety of citrus, the Caustic Orange (Citrus Punitiva)."
At long last I can share the cover I drew for yet another spoof-of-the-New-Yorker mock magazine, this time about Naples. Depicted is the marvellous, majolica-covered cloister of Santa Chiara, one of my favourite places in the city, if not in the world. The name of the piece was supposed to be "The Chameleon", but I guess I was the only one who thought it was funny...
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This is sort of huge for me: this (not so) little illustrated guide of Naples, containing one of my illustrations, was published yesterday by Feltrinelli, one of the greatest Italian publishing houses. So, today I had the thrill of seeing my work on a library shelf.
A (belated) happy new year, everyone! Geese are not the most quiet of bellhops, but they'll be glad to serve you more champagne, if needed.
This year's Christmas card.
As always, Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays, everyone!
Hello!
I've really enjoyed your art for a while and wanted to ask about your process. Your linework is so fluid and crisp, and your color choices are so well-picked. Did you go to an artschool or are you self-taught? Have you found any useful references for color theory or building perspective? Just curious and happy birthday!
Hello there! First of all, thank you for your kind words (and for the birthday wishes!) — they’re much appreciated. As for your question:
I draw on rough, relatively thin paper, scan the drawing, then print it in shades of magenta on sturdier, smooth paper (Fabriano Tecnico 6). I ink traditionally on the printed drawing, mostly with a G nib, then scan it again and turn off the magenta channel. I find this method gives me the crisper linework possible. Also, knowing that I can re-ink the entire drawing — or just part of it — if something goes wrong really helps with fluidity: if I were inking directly on the original drawing, I’d be so nervous I’d probably make a mess.
As for colours, I usually test things digitally until everything feels right, and then proceed with watercolours or gouache (yesterday’s drawing was coloured digitally, but that’s quite rare for me).
I know it all sounds absurdly intricate, but: I print the now clean linework very lightly (or it’ll bleed) on rough paper and colour it, then scan the coloured drawing and overlay it with the clean linework.
By doing so, I get smooth inks and somewhat textured colours, which is exactly what I’m after.
Sometimes I draw and colour the background on an entirely different sheet of paper, like drawing on a different layer in Photoshop.
My background is only tangentially related to illustration — I’m an architect — so I’d say I’m mostly self-taught, although my studies did help, especially with perspective. That said, if something gets too complicated to resolve the old-fashioned way with a T-square, I sometimes turn to 3D modelling software like SketchUp.
If I were to suggest two books that really helped me with colour and perspective — but also image composition and the use of values — they’d be The Noble Approach by Maurice Noble and the good old Successful Drawing by Andrew Loomis.
Hope I was exhaustive enough and not too confusing!
It's my birthday.
Commission, something a bit more twee (?) than my usual stuff. I still can't decide which version I like the most...
It's been a while since I last participated (five years!), but here's the polished version of my entry for the 2025 Edward Gorey House Envelope Art Contest. This year's theme was “Evil Garden”. You can find a photo of the actual envelope on my Instagram.
"Famed actress Isadora Frumply, here depicted with her boa constrictor Gigi, was found this morning strangled in her conservatory.
The Yard thinks it might be the doing of foreign hoodlums."
For its first official issue, the newborn illustration magazine Magazzino Magazine had an open call for submissions. They provided a limited palette and a theme that I'd translate as "dinner is served".
This is the illustration I submitted, or - rather - this is how I would have normally coloured the illustration I submitted. If you want to have a look at my actual submission, it's up on my Instagram.
“On Friday, the Author finally visited the Exhibition he had come to Paris to see.”
One hundred years (and a month) ago, the Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes in Paris opened to the public, wowing the world and shining a light on what would later be known as Art Déco. I simply had to create something to celebrate its centenary, as this exhibition holds a very special place in my heart: I wrote my master's thesis about it, and I feel like I've actually spent many hours roaming its streets and visiting its pavilions. Alongside the illustration I drew for the occasion—depicting the Author buying a ticket from one of the stands at the Porte d'Honneur on Avenue Alexandre III (now Avenue Winston Churchill)—I've also decided to share some of the architectural drawings I made for my thesis. (In the next post)
One hundred years (and a month) ago, the Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes in Paris opened to the public, wowing the world and shining a light on what would later be known as Art Déco. I simply had to create something to celebrate its centenary, as this exhibition holds a very special place in my heart: I wrote my master's thesis about it, and I feel like I've actually spent many hours roaming its streets and visiting its pavilions. Alongside the illustration I drew for the occasion—in the previous post—I've also decided to share some of the architectural drawings I made for my thesis.
“On Friday, the Author finally visited the Exhibition he had come to Paris to see.”
One hundred years (and a month) ago, the Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes in Paris opened to the public, wowing the world and shining a light on what would later be known as Art Déco. I simply had to create something to celebrate its centenary, as this exhibition holds a very special place in my heart: I wrote my master's thesis about it, and I feel like I've actually spent many hours roaming its streets and visiting its pavilions. Alongside the illustration I drew for the occasion—depicting the Author buying a ticket from one of the stands at the Porte d'Honneur on Avenue Alexandre III (now Avenue Winston Churchill)—I've also decided to share some of the architectural drawings I made for my thesis. (In the next post)
Earlier this year, I was asked to draw another cover for an imaginary New Yorker-ish magazine, this time about Rome (they had to settle on the kinda cryptic title "The Capitoliner" for copyright reasons). Naturally, I took the opportunity to focus on an entirely superfluous wallpaper...
Happy New Year --25, everybody! I've been reading lots of Blandings Castle novels, lately, so I guess I have pigs on my mind...
"As it turned out, that last slice of Christmas pudding was really one too much."
I try not to share the current year's Christmas Card on the Unmentionable Social Medium because I like the people I send it to to see it for the first time when opening the envelope. But here, here I feel it's safe enough. You all can keep a secret, can't you?
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays, everyone!