Laura (Batiburrito) - Meet the artist

My name is Laura and I live in a small Spanish town, surrounded by nature and good friends. Here, I started my career as a comic artist; and now I’m developing my illustration series “Batiburrito”. Batiburrito was originally born as a present to my boyfriend, since I tell through drawings our own story. But months later, I opened and Instagram account under that name. And it was much more successful than I expected! As you can imagine, I find inspiration in our love and our own life, but I think the story I tell is universal: it's about love in the small things, partnership, caring and joy. Nowadays, while I work as a freelance illustrator and comic artist in my country, I also keep expanding my Batiburrito project.

Have you always wanted to be an illustrator ? What studies did you follow?

As a kid, I wanted to be lots of different things, almost one per day: geologist, doctor, architect, historian... But there was one thing that accompanied me all along my childhood, adolescence and youth. And it was drawing. My parents realised about how much I enjoyed drawing, so I took drawing and painting lessons since a very young age. I was very lucky they supported me on that way. At age 14, I had already decided that I was going to study arts at university – and so I did. I still didn’t know which was going to be my profession, and I wasn’t really aware about the working options art graduates have. But I was sure that if I worked hard I would find my way.

What’s your favorite art supply ?

My best companion is my drawing tablet. In fact I employ a very cheap and old one – I have it since I was in high school! - but I really love it and right now I don’t need anything else. The model is Bamboo Ctl-470. It has worked hours and hours for years and still runs perfectly.

Do you prefer digital or traditional?

I love coloring my drawings digitally. Having all the shortcuts and layers and amazing vibrant colors is great. I spent many years painting with watercolors and other art mediums and even though it’s difficult to get the same spontaneity or texture of a traditional painting, I prefer the advantages that digital art offers to us. Anyway, there’s an exception. The line art of all my drawings is made traditionally. To me, any tablet can replace the pleasure of a traditional pen and a piece of paper. Maybe at some point I will start drawing my line arts digitally too, but at the moment I’m comfortable like that.

What do you prefer to draw?

People in general is my favourite subject. I love studying the gestures of the faces and bodies, and I would love that the humans I draw communicated as much as possible while being also as minimalist as possible. Besides, everyday life is one of my favourites subjects; basically all my instagram is focused on that topic.

 

What was your frst job as an illustrator ? and your favorite experience as an illustrator ?

I was still at my second year at university when my first comic album was published. It was a comic that mixed history and medieval fantasy, so at the same time there were real kings and lords, but also mythological creatures from the folklore of my natal region. That work opened many doors to me later on, so I’m really grateful to the publisher that trusted me and my art. Also, my job on the comic feld have gave me some of my most beautiful experiences: kids giving me drawings with their favourite characters from my comics, events and conventions all over the country, and even a young girl dressed as the heroine from my first comic! Sometimes as an illustrator, you are not really aware about how much your art can impact other people and how important it can be to them. We spend most of our time at our studio, working very hard and with the only feedback of family and friends. Comics gave me the opportunity to have real contact with my audience. And that’s a treasure!

Are you represented by an agency?

No, I’m not. Maybe on the future I could rethink this point. But at the moment things are working this way and I can’t complain.

Your style is so cool. When did you find it ? Was it easy ?

Haha, thanks. It’s funny because many people talk me about my style but I’m still not really sure about having one. In any case, it’s flattering to me when friends and fellow artists tell me “I knew this drawing was yours. It is very you”. So maybe style is something at some point we can control but at some point we can’t. Maybe there’s something subtle in our illustrations that is telling who we are, our truth. So yeah, I think that it’s impossible to not pour ourselves into the drawings, in some way. That’s why I think that finding our own style is just a matter of time and practice. Of course, when I was younger, I had many doubts, I drew very similar to artists that I enjoyed, I changed the way I drew eyes over a thousand times... etc. But it was in the moment I stopped freaking out about how I was supposed to be doing things, when the real me started to fow.

Which illustration are you most proud of ?

In general the whole Batiburrito series, and in particular the one about the leaves in the river. I have done much more complex illustrations in my past, and I think this one is so simple and yet so meaningful, that makes me feel proud. In my opinion it’s difficult to make a drawing where nothing is missing and nothing is dispensable, and that’s something I pursue. I feel a little bad saying this, but I think I achieved that goal on that little drawing.

Do you have a daily routine ?

I usually work at many projects at the same time, so it’s difficult to stick at an only routine during my work hours. As a freelance illustrator I have to be quite flexible. I learnt which things prioritise and I also learnt how to to be very organised. It also happens that some months I might have a lot of client work and other months I’m completely free to focus on my personal projects, like Batiburrito or my next comic. It’s a chaos, but it’s my duty to put order in there! What I always try -with more or less succes – is to make proper breaks, strecht and take time to myself in the afternoons. At least enough to go for a walk in the forest, be with my boyfriend and enjoy dinner at ease.

 

What's your favorite illustrators ?

The majority of my references are comic book artists. My favourite, without any doubt, is Moebius. I love the colors he employed and his hability to create new and fantastic worlds. I also love the work of Amélie Fléchais, Guillaume Singelin and Natalie Andrewson. There are much more, but maybe this illustrators are the most inspiring to me.

Future projects to come ?

Right now I’m working on my third comic, which hopefully will come out at summer 2020. I also consider my Instagram as one of my main projects. At some point of 2019 I would like to open a little shop with products related to the drawings I upload there. Since I was a teenager, the idea of selling my own postcards and prints and stuff like that, seemed very appealing to me. I also have other side collaborations and commissions for clients, which I usually show through instagram stories.

You can find the work of Laura on her instagram.

Laura's tools :

- Adobe suite
- Bamboo Ctl-470

Next interview with Sophie Mc Pike on Saturday, September 7th. Feel free to react in comment to tell me which illustrator do you want to see on my blog. See you every Saturday for a new interview. 

©Lucile Farroni - 2019