During summer I spent a week in Sarmede, a tiny village in the Venetian hills in Italy. Quite unexpectedly given its small size and isolated location, Sarmede hosts an international school of illustration and a yearly exhibition featuring works by some of the most exciting contemporary children’s book illustrators.
The school was founded in 1989 by Czech artist Stepan Zavrel, whose beautiful frescos are still dotted around the village (together with the anecdotes about his rocambolesque life). In Sarmede I attended a course taught by Linda Wolfsgruber (a great teacher as well an inspiring illustrator) and I had fun experimenting with monoprint.
By using a sheet of Perspex, oil based colours, and a press, monoprint allows you to create interesting textured backgrounds. If you don’t have access to a press though, a rolling pin will do the trick. Back to my studio I cut and pasted the backgrounds I had produced in the course. And here is what came up… Valentina Cavallini Valentina's Website Follow us on Facebook
