Issa Watanabe Illustrator from Perú

I remember a visit from Brazilian artist Vik Muniz when a boy asked him if he remembered when he started drawing. He said he couldn't remember, but he remembered when the others stopped. Like all children, I started drawing when I was young, and I was lucky that my mother was illustrating children's books at that time: Illustration at home was a natural way to tell stories, express feelings, invent, play. I have not lost that.

My work routine depends very much on the type of project I'm in and what I experience during that time. For example, a few years ago, I went to my studio very early every day and worked for hours without seeing or talking to anyone. Now I have set up my studio at home. I live alone with my daughter and it is difficult for me to have a fixed work schedule, especially now that due to the pandemic, classes were interrupted this year and it became necessary to manage many things. But I can say that I really like to get up in the morning, prepare a pot of coffee and sit and draw right by the window. Sometimes I am so engrossed in an illustration that I become obsessed with it. I can sit for hours and even find it difficult to sleep because I feel so much like drawing the next day.

I think when we create something, we consciously or unconsciously draw on all the influences we have experienced throughout our development. Of course, I admire many illustrators, but I also get inspired by music, books, museum visits, cinema, casual conversation...

When I was four years old, our teacher put together a little book with the stories the kids told her. And she asked me to do the cover! I drew a giraffe, a flower and a little bird. I still have the book. My mother and father kept all the drawings of me and my sister since we were children.

I think you can be inspired by anything that moves you: a picture, a text, a poem, a bird outside the window in the morning. But the ideas usually buzz around in my head for months or years. Sometimes they are experiences that I have had and that take time to take shape. And it usually takes just one trigger at any given time for me to feel the need to express these experiences.

Oh, very many: Leo Lionni, Sendak, Quentin Blake, Erlbruch, Roberto Innocenti, Tomi Ungerer, Janosch, Enzo Mari. And to name a few more recent ones: Beatriz Alemagna, Martin Jarrie and Simone Rea.

I lived in Mallorca for 15 years and spent most of that time in a house that was practically by the sea. It looked like a small boat. That was my favourite place. Now I live in Peru and have more than one favourite place. I need certain conditions in a place that will help me to work comfortably. For example, natural light is very important for me. I also need solitude. I don't like to share the moments of drawing with someone other than my daughter. The tables are also important: very smooth and the bigger the better. I'm very chaotic when I work and I start to conquer all the space around me. I like having my books close by, a coffee machine and a sofa.

The illustration of "Migrantes", where the whole group marches and the little death runs behind it. This illustration has a special value for me.

I am slow and not a very active person. I enjoy the silence and being at home, although I love to travel. I read a lot. I enjoy spending time with my daughter. I like going to the cinema, to a café with a friend, and lately I work with modelling clay to form or build small stages.

It's not easy to adapt to the demands of reality. By illustrating, I can transform this reality a little and symbolically build another one. On the other hand, my approach to illustration is mostly intuitive. It's like having a few small pieces of Lego and spreading them all out on the table. The possibilities to combine the pieces are endless and by assembling and disassembling you discover the world like a child at play.

I wish I had an answer to that! I don't know what the recipe is, but I'm sure it has to do with honesty, even more so when you are illustrating for children.

Oh yes! Sometimes when we publish something there's a lot of ballyhoo and distraction and it's very easy to get lost in it. Then it helps me remember why I do what I do and where my motivation comes from. In other cases the voice comes from within. This voice that judges us and tells us that what we are doing is not good or not enough. I mean, it was Schiller who said something like, "reason is an annoying witness during the poetic process". We have to learn to recognize this and to stay calm. I worked as an art director for a content production company for several years. It was a job I liked and it gave me great financial stability, but I didn't have any free time left. I wanted to illustrate, but under these conditions it was impossible. Two years ago my mother had a terrible accident in Brussels from which she was recovering very slowly and we supported her. Although we are aware of the fragility of life, we often forget it. When I came back, I quit my job and started to create "Migrantes". At the beginning I had a lot of doubts and fear, of course, but now I have no doubt that it was the right decision.