Fatima Ordinola | Peru
The inspiration process for "Our Love" came from different disciplines such as theatre, movie, and music. My creative process has been changing for the last few years, but I always found that these resources of inspiration help me understand more what I want to communicate. “Two of us” from The Beatles, “Aftersun” directed by Charlotte Wells and “A MidSummer Night’s Dream” from Shakespeare gave me plenty of art experiments and ideas for this book. However, none of this material could have been done without the memory of my relationship with my parents as a link to join my inspiration and creative process. I could not think of a better interpretation of this love and peace environment than animals. The first look, touch, hug and behaviour is exciting to observe and appreciate when it comes to baby animals an their parents. The combination of the black ink with colour chalk pastels gave the expression of each couple that I was looking for in every page. As simple as the background might look like, it helps the reader to understand and focus their attention to the animals because they are the protagonist of this story, and my idea was always to emphasize the relationship between them. The element of surprise is something I wanted to achieve and the double page unfolded is a decision I made at the end of the creative process. What a better way to show these animals journey than to keep opening the book sideways in order to see all the characters moving forward together as a community. When I look at this project, it reminds me of the great responsibility that comes with being an illustrator in terms to communicate and express ideas clearly but with sensibility and love. Therefore, I feel this story fits for an audience between 5-10 years old and I hope that this poetic story not only remains in a 40 pages picture book but to expand and reflects to the relationship we have with friends, family, and ourselves.
Education:
Anglia Ruskin University
MA Children's Book Illustration
Graduation: 2024
Published titles: 2