Friday Inspiration

I have decided to start a Friday Inspiration Day on Creative Nibble where I will share with you some of the people or images that have inspired me over the years.  We have worked hard all week so we deserve a bit of eye candy on a Friday, especially for those of us who will be working through the weekend as well!

I am beginning my Friday Inspiration with an Illustrator that I discovered all those years back at art school.  "We have a guest lecturer today I was told".  Usually right about then I would sigh and roll my eyes because that meant three hours sitting in a lecture theatre listening to some self involved 'artiste' talk about the inspiration they got from the way a leaf fell on their arm one day or even worse from such-in-such who exhibited in such-in-such a place who got published once in such-in-such!!! 

I'm not saying that hearing about how people are inspired is not interesting for me because it is, but, anyone who has been among a 'certain' group of people who think they are artists because they can talk a good game about a scribble on a page will know exactly what I am talking about.  And if you are one of those people who had to sit through a completely boring lecture listening to someone talk about the same piece of predictable artwork for hours will feel my dread on the 'Guest Lecturer announcement'.

However that day was different, that day Sara Fanelli walked into the studio.  She didn't want to give a lecture she just wanted to basically hang out with us for the day and talk about they way she worked and see if she could help us with anything.  I must admit that I did not know her work when she walked in but when she left I had fallen in love with her work and felt like I had just met someone truly inspiring.

Self Portrait

From what I remember her telling me was that she loves to scribble and doesn't care what that scribble looks like as long as she gets it on the page.  She showed us some of her sketch books and I remember she was a little embarrassed by some of her sketches but always had a smile on her face when she looked at them like she knew a story behind it.

From Dear Diary (2000)

Pinocchio (2003)

Pinocchio Book Spread

Pinocchio Book Spread

I love her characters and her sense of fun in all her illustrations.  Her children's books are inspiring and refreshingly different.

Pizza Express Menu and Theatre Poster

You can see more of Sara Fanelli at her website www.sarafanelli.com.  I hope her Illustrations have made you smile because they always do that for me.