The Retrospective

When I ran into Chiara’s work I was blown away to say the least. Being wildly imaginative and visually alarming they stop you in your tracks. Women with antlers, secret messages to secret lovers (apparently her works are graphic message to a boy named Ilka), and lucha libre ravens. Chiara Bautista is a thrity one year old graphic designer currently living in Arizona. I had the chance to catch up with her via myspace and ask her about her influence and style; here’s what she had to say:

I have lots of influences, I like too many stuff. I really like toys, especially those I couldn’t get as a child ’cause my parents considered that some things [like a transformer robot] were not for girls. (Now that I’m 30 (ok, 31) I have like 4 different versions of starscream, he’s one of my favorite robot cartoon characters and I really like f-15’s, so I just had to avenge myself)

Music. I usually spend half of my day with my headphones on. I work in a big office full of people so if we want to listen to music, we have to use headphones. I really like anime’s graphic style; so clean and detailed at the same time. I admire lots of artists and illustrators. I’ve been working as an illustrator for printed publications for almost 9 years, and the “graphics staff” has always been kind of reduced (two people, and sometimes just me), so we have to work with lots of different styles, that way the publication would look balanced and “fresh”. That way I’ve been influenced by the work of many people.

My main influences are stories. I love to read and I really enjoy watching a movie with an original and unexpected plot. At the end, the main influence for my illustrations are dozens of great short stories Ilka used to write for me. All my illustrations are graphic reply to Ilka’s stories-like a conversation.

I’m kind of a messy person when I work. I’ve never been able to start with a final sketch. I usually draw the main “object” of the composition on paper, and then, I scan that … and then I add all the other elements as I work on that image on the computer. It’s like a puzzle made of sketches. For me it’s easier that way, ’cause there’s no line to follow and I can change as many things as I want until it ends being what I wanted to say. It’s like playing with clay.I use Adobe Photoshop, and Freehand Macromedia. I know, Illustrator is a way better program, but freehand has the blessed paste-inside tool

For more of Chiara’s work click here

Tags: chiara bautista · illustratrtion · designer · art1 Comment