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The Q&A: Lorenzo Gritti

By Peggy Roalf   Tuesday December 27, 2016

Q: Originally from Milano, what are some of your favorite things about living and working in your hometown?

A: I like here but I also like many other places to live and work. In the last three years I've spent much time in the Tuscan country and I really enjoyed it.

Q: Do you keep a sketchbook? What is the balance between art you create on paper [or other analog medium] versus in the computer?

A: I don't keep a sketchbook—99% of my work is digital. I do a lot of sketches on my laptop, mostly portraits—never printed one.

Q: What is the most important item in your studio?

A: I have to say my laptop and my phone. I don't have anything else on my desk—no pencils and no paper. I draw with a small Wacom Intuos and keep track of the deadlines with my phone.

Q: How do you know when the art is finished?

A: I can say it's finished when I get a certain feeling of Order. When everything seems in its right place. When I've experimented as much as time allows.

Q: What elements of daily life exert the most influence on your work practice?

A: Working with two or three time zones, I'd say sleeping, or not sleeping, exerts a huge influence in my practice. And time is always of the essence.

Q: What was your favorite book as a child?

A: My mother used to read me The Hobbit before going to sleep. It's a beautiful memory.

Q: What is the best book you’ve recently read?

A: I'd say The Turnaround by George Pelecanos. I'd love to do the cover [for a new edition] someday.

Q: If you had to choose one medium to work in for an entire year, eliminating all others, what medium would you choose?

A: I have to say digital.

Q: If you could spend an entire day away from work and deadlines, what would you do and where?

A: Walking and reading, if possible in the country.

Q: What was the [Thunderbolt] painting or drawing or film or otherwise that most affected your approach to art? 

A: Old Black and White Italian Comics for sure, from Western to Horror. I still remember every artist name.

Q: What would be your last supper?

A: Fried Chicken with French Fries.

 

Lorenzo Gritti is an illustrator living and working in Milano, Italy.His clients include The New Yorker, New York Times, Nautilus Magazine, Bloomberg Business Week, Bloomberg Markets Magazine, Scientific American, The National Journal, The Wall Street Journal Magazine, N.P.R., New York Observer, The Chronicle Of Higher Education, Family Circle Magazine, Doctors With Africa, Le Monde Diplomatique, Datum Magazin , Computer Arts Magazine and more. Has been awarded with The Gold Medal in 2016 from the Society of Illustrators in New York City.
Website: http://hellogritti.com

 


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