Stella Dreis Illustrator from Plovdiv, Bulgaria

Maybe because illustration gives me the opportunity to look at and show reality from a different point of view. This does not mean fleeing from reality. I need reality. But the language of images allows me to ask questions, make the invisible visible.

Everything starts with a cup of strong coffee. Then I need an hour or two to ‘settle in’. If I can afford it, I try to do almost nothing during this time or as few as possible of those things that are not really important but need to be done anyway. Then I sit down at my desk and work for as long as I can. After a constitutional walk I’ll go back to work until late at night or into the early hours of the morning. I am much more focused and find better ideas in the quiet of the night. I call this process shadow hunt. Because the ideas are somewhere inside of me. But they are usually more like shadows, which I see more clearly as I reveal layer after layer, hour after hour.

I came to illustration in a non-traditional way and when I started, it were the books by Wolf Erlbruch and Carll Cneut that fascinated me and showed me what illustration can be. I still love and admire their work very much. But over time, much changed in my environment and as a result my own visual language also changed and went its own way.

For me the text is the most important source for the images. If the text is a good fit for me, it is magical. The rest is a mixture of my own observations and experiences and the ways in which they have changed me. Day after day, always anew. Depending on the project and subject, it can also be small anecdotes, objects, people or places that inspire me and that I weave into my illustrations. Like the little bear in the book ‘Scareman’ ('Die Menschenscheuche') by Michael Stavarič for example. The book was published by "Kunstanstifter" in 2019. The little bear named Arosall really exists. His story moved me deeply. Even if I am getting a little off track ... there are some questions that follow me through the whole process. Not inspire, but help: How much poetry, absurdity or surrealism does the text need or can take? And where exactly do I deploy them? There are also cases where I feel like I need to go more into the concrete, the real and the everyday for it to work. Striking this balance is very important to me because only this way will the final product feel real and believable. At least to me. And then you just hope that you succeeded.

Shaun Tan, Carll Cneut, Lorenzo Mattotti and many many others. There are so many fascinating illustrators in the world!

I love and need the quiet. But depending on the project and my own mood I listen to music or audiobooks. Especially when I am working on a more technical project that does not require as much thinking.

Proud is not really the right word in my case. Illustrations such as the one with the chairs, the cats or the whale from ‘Was macht die Nacht’ by Dirk Gieselmann I like very much. They give me hope that even more is possible.

The storytelling. Of the invisible and of the unspoken things between the lines, but also of what is hidden in yourself. Sometimes loud, sometimes soft. And staying quiet when necessary.

I like it when pictures move and surprise you and tell their own story. I think for me that often has to do with poetry, obstinacy and honesty. And a splash of humor always warms the heart.

I can just quietly observe the world around me, and nature in particular, for days on end. To be restful and in awe is all I need. But when a text comes to me, a dialogue starts. The shadows appear one by one and there is no more quiet. Which is also lovely. But when no good idea emerges after a while, it becomes quite dark inside me. I have known all imaginable states of mind during these times ... oh yes!

What helps me is accepting that such times are part of the process and are not inherently a bad thing. It can even be cleansing. The other thing is trusting that eventually the ideas will come. Even if everything turns out different than I initially thought or hoped. You can only give as much of yourself as is available to give at any given time. No more. So, I let go and do what I feel like in this given moment. That could be a walk outside or another drawing. One that only has meaning for myself and no one else. That is how the series ‘selfies’ came to be. They can be viewed on my website. I have heard many differing opinions on these. That is a good thing. And an exciting thing.