Q: Originally from Buenos Aires, what are some of the things you like best about living and working in New York

A: I always felt New York was a very stimulating place. That is what made me move here to study art in the first place.

How and when did you first become interested in art and illustration?

I have been interested in art since I was very young. I grew up drawing and painting and I always knew I was going to do something related to that. My dad was a big fan of comics and I remember reading Hugo Pratt with him when I was little. I have always been fascinated by printed image in general, from package design, textiles, wallpaper and magazines. I started collecting art books and exhibition catalogs when I was 15. It was through the printed image that I got to know the works of many contemporary artists working in different disciplines. The first book I bought was The Japanese Experience: Inevitable.

What was your first commercial assignment?

My first commercial assignment was a movie poster that I did for a documentary film about the military dictatorship in Argentina from 1976 to 82.

What is your favorite part of the creative process? 

My favorite part of the creative process is doing research to find material that inspires me. I spend a lot of time at libraries and bookstores finding ideas during the first stage of a project. Then, with all these images in mind I start drawing. I have a very intuitive way of working and I come up with better ideas if I turn off the more rational part of my brain. I find more interesting and fresh shapes if I just work from an image in my head instead of using photo references.

Do you keep a sketchbook? What is the balance between art you create on paper versus In the computer?

I keep many sketchbooks, but I almost never finish one. My ideas are always stronger if I start sketching on a piece of newsprint or in a napkin that if I draw on a fancy moleskine, so I scan my sketches and keep them in flat files. I work a lot with texture and pattern, so I also collect these kind of things.

How do you spend the first hour of your work day? What is your favorite time of day for working?

I like to work early in the morning after I practice yoga. The first hour of my workday is important, because I see the project under a new light and I have ideas that I didn’t have the day before.

What are you listening to? / What are you reading

I am reading a book about the work of the Japanese photographer Manabu Miyazaki. I found the book at McNally Jackson while I was doing research for a project and I was drawn to the photograph on the cover, which shows a giant black bear holding a camera at night as if he was preparing to take a picture.

The book includes Miyazaki´s photographs and some interviews in which he discusses the relationship between art and nature. He talks about the negotiation with the wild and the hunter´s wisdom.

I am listening to Fernando Otero, an Argentinian musician that won the Latin Grammy.

Who and what are some of your strongest influences?

My influences are diverse. I admire the work of contemporary Scandinavian designers like Maria Dahlgren from Sweden, Aino Maija from Finland and the painter Mamma Anderson, also from Sweden.
Gunta Stölzt and the textiles she did for the Bauhaus.
Diverse American painters like Milton Avery, Cy Twombly and Will Barnet.

The collection of ancient Egyptian art at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Argentinian cartoonist Ricardo Siri Liniers…

Did your participating in the AI32 LIVE Cover Project have any spillover into your studio practice? Do you recommend marathon art projects for inspiration or redirection?

I believe that creativity is contagious so I do recommend marathon art projects for inspiration and redirection. It is always refreshing to work outside the studio and with other people. The marathon was great and the energy there was very good.

What are some of your favorite places/blogs/websites for inspiration?

One of my favorite blogs for inspiration right now is patternity.org

Anna Murray and Grace Winteringham created patternity.com four years ago and they focus on the exploration and application of pattern.

Have you ever had a creative block with a deadline looming? What do you do to get crackin’?

Of course I have creative blocks sometimes… It always helps to take a shower and clean up the studio :)

What advice would you give a young artist on selecting an art school or college

Try to talk personally with faculty, students and recent graduates.

Franca Barone is from Buenos Aires, Argentina. She studied Illustration at Parsons The New School for Design receiving her BFA in 2013. Franca works in a variety of media but is currently focussed on drawing and printmaking. In 2013, she won the Van Lier Fellowship and her work was selected for the annual juried book, American Illustration 32. Franca has exhibited in several group exhibitions in the United States as well as her home country of Argentina. She currently lives and works Brooklyn, New York.