Our Illustration Director Christine Cavallomagno recently conducted an interview with Jed Root, Inc. artist Judit García-Talavera so we could learn a little bit more about her!
Christine Cavallomagno - Welcome to Jed Root, Judit! It’s great to be working with you! Can you tell us a bit about your work- what inspires you, and what you love about illustration?
Judit García-Talavera - Thanks!! I'm glad to work together and to be a part of Jed Root! My inspiration generally comes from many different sources, from fashion magazines, to the internet (blogs,flickr, myspace), flea markets, fashion photography, music, old movies... I try to get inspiration from my daily life.
Illustration for me is more like a language and I try to use it to illustrate situations, feelings and thoughts.
CC - When did you first decide you wanted to be an illustrator?
JGT - I started drawing when I was very young. I was always sketching and daydreaming, and in that way the process I've worked with has not changed very much. When I was studying art I was obsessed with the Impressionists and the sketches from classical artists like Rembrandt or Goya. With my first job as an illustrator, all of my dreams of life as professional artist started to come true. I knew this was the only thing I wanted to do for a living.
CC - You work in traditional media, creating images with beautiful watercolor washes, saturated colors and inks. How do you combine traditional materials with working digitally to produce your work?
JGT - First I start drawing with pilot pen and ink, then I add color, usually using watercolors, color ink and felt-tip pens, Then I scan the artwork into the computer to work on the image digitally. This method of working offers me a lot of freedom to compose and it also allows me to work really quickly so I can focus on the details.
CC - Your work seems influenced quite a bit by fashion and travel. Tell us a bit about the experiences that you’ve had, that appear in your illustration work?
JGT - I grew up in Tenerife, a volcanic little island in the middle of the Atlantic ocean. When I began study art I realized how far I felt from the rest of the world and the few possibilities that I had to become an illustrator if I stayed on the island where the options are limited. That was the reason that made me move to Barcelona. It's a cosmopolitan city which has an incredible cultural life. I get to meet interesting and creative people from all over the world. Their experiences, stories, and memories help me to give a background to my characters and my illustrations.
For me fashion is art and I enjoy discovering new designers, new magazines, fashion editorials, but always as a spectator, taking inspiration from fashion and allowing it to inform my work.
CC - Tell us about a few projects that you’ve worked on, and why you enjoyed working on them.
JGT - A few months ago I started following some blogs in the internet. These blogs are written by girls where they post their pictures of what they where wearing that day. Some of them are really well-known, and these girls become "internet stars" or "web-celebrities". I'm intrigued by this phenomenon that normal girls are now a reference for thousands of people all over the world. I've done a couple of illustrations of some bloggers and now I've started to collaborate with a street fashion blog called Trendycrew. I illustrate the pictures they take and I enjoy giving my personal perspective to each photo.
Amazing illustrations!!!
Posted by: Antonio Barros | June 10, 2009 at 04:17 AM
fantastic :)!!!
Posted by: jimmy | October 04, 2009 at 04:32 PM