Poly Bernatene Author and illustrator from Buenos Aires, Argentina

I didn't know it until I grew up and when I had the opportunity to start illustrating books in my early 30's (my first jobs were in animation, making backgrounds). I discovered that storytelling was my thing. Since I was a kid I played drawing, making my own comics or imagining worlds and characters and then putting them on paper. That's exactly what I'm still doing now

My ideal day is to get up early to go to my studio, I like to listen to the world news on the radio, but then I put on music or podcasts that inspire me to draw according to the project. Although my most productive time is in the afternoon, because I need to catch up with emails and administrative or daily issues as soon as possible to be able to concentrate on my work ... that often means that I end up hooked drawing late in the day, unfortunately the daily demands a lot of energy, especially in the reality of my country.

There are many! From my years as a student in Fine Arts with painters like Goya, Rembrandt, Sorolla or Turner who captivated me with the handling of light and climates, to my present time especially with great cartoonists and illustrators like Alberto Breccia and Dave McKean.

Professionally speaking, it was precisely the test illustration that convinced my editor to let me illustrate my first book “Paco del Tomate”.

From everything that surrounds me, I observe everything naturally although I am not conscious of it, I especially like cinema and illustrated books, every time I enjoy a good reading or I am told a good story I have to start drawing immediately, and it is from those drawings (sometimes with no apparent purpose) that my own stories come out.

Dave McKean. I follow all of his work and find it deeply inspiring.

There are some novels I read as a teenager: "1984" and "The Name of the Rose", and I always like to illustrate my own stories as an author.

It is difficult to choose a favorite because each illustration or project has its own particular reason why I am fond of it, although I put the same love in all of them. If I had to show only one image that represents my spirit today, it would be the one that came out while illustrating a song, it's called “Querer ver” by Valentín González. (attached)

I love reading, watching movies (lately classics and experimental animation) and playing tennis.

The reason I illustrate: to tell stories! I even enjoy reinterpreting or generating a new reading in a text, challenging the reader to find new layers in the reading.

For me it is to generate a dialogue that challenges the viewer of the image, that moves and motivates the reader, like all good art. To be genuine and honest when producing, without expecting too much response from the social gaze, especially in these times where the algorithm and the tyranny of likes abound.

It exists all the time, more often than one would like, even with years of experience, the blockage is part of the job and facing it is part of the process. There are no recipes, in my case it is just a matter of conviction and insistence, believing that giving all the best of oneself will always be the solution to it.