Textbooks
While I understand that some illustrators may not prefer working with textbooks, it's quite the opposite for me. In fact, they are my flagship, and I couldn't be more satisfied.
I recognize that my role in this process is to be creative and playful but mostly: to facilitate learning.
My goal is to assist students in grasping the context and help teachers capture their attention.
And how I do this? With beautiful illustrations!
When I'm working on textbooks, I pay extra attention to all kinds
of representation.
It's like showing the kids an ideal world.
Of course, my aim is always to depict the real world of kids—the people, environment, fashion, architecture, and biodiversity.
This way, I bring children closer to art, showing them that their reality can be a realm filled with fun and beauty.
(No more tall, muscle, blond dads to Brazilian kids, please!)
Oh, literature adapted to textbooks! I love to illustrate them! Call me if you have some!
Storytime Magazine
My collaborations with Storytime Magazine are always both challenging and enjoyable. The stories are imaginative, filled with great characters and full of action.
In "The Great Drought"
the challenges included:
1) Fitting all 13 animals
in both spreads;
2) Researching and designing exotic Australian animals!
For the 5-page
"Miser and Merry" folktale,
I performed an extensive research on Irish rural aesthetics in the early 20th century.
Having a distinct villain and good guy, both Irish farmers, gave me the opportunity to explore the design choices.
I proposed
a little mouse as
the villain's sidekick
for contrast
with the elf.
"The Wonderful Sheep" was my first cover story for them.
It was a five-spread tale about an adventurous princess who ventures
into a magical realm.
I designed the princess with curly hair, and darker skin than the servant.
I also gave her sneakers
to display a lively vibe.
I'm really proud of the last spread. It has good storytelling and nice colors (and a lot of text). It took some effort, but it was worth it.