FEATURED ILLUSTRATOR Fran Bravo

Fran Bravo is a Spanish Art Director and Illustrator based in Kilkenny (Ireland) working with Cartoon Saloon since 2017. With over 30 illustrated books and internationally broadcasted animation work, Fran specialises in creating art for children and young adults.

I was born in Ceuta (Spain) in 1975. I’m one of those kids that spent hours doodling and imagining things. Since I can remember, I have always had a pencil in my hand.

Doodling as a kid

I studied Fine Arts in Granada where I learned about classic and modern art as well as some traditional techniques such as oil painting, watercolor, gouache, engraving and sculpture.

Even though I enjoyed the university, I wanted to explore comics and illustration more than traditional painting so I moved to Prague. I spent around two years at the Academy of Art, Architecture and Design. I was supposed to study illustration but as the atelier was full that door closed. Then the door to the animation world opened and I studied stop-motion Animation while illustrating at home. 

Stop motion set

I had a great time discovering so many great illustrators and filmmakers. I started publishing a couple of years before finishing my studies but, as I didn’t have enough commissions, I found a job as an animator in Málaga (my hometown).

Since then, I’ve juggling between publishing and animation like most of my Czech heroes. After a year in Malaga, I moved to Barcelona looking for more opportunities in publishing. I ended up working as an illustrator and also as a storyboard artist for a small animation studio.

In 2003 I moved to Italy to work on a short film with Emanuelle Luzzati’s illustrations and I managed to work remotely for some Spanish publishers. When I was finalizing the short,  I did a character design test for a new TV series and I became Art Director and Director of the show.       

Being in Italy was a great opportunity to visit Bologna, see the illustrator’s exhibition live and try to make some new contacts. After 4 years, I move back to Spain (but this time to Mallorca). 

Watercolour study

I was conscious that there were no publishers or animation studios there but the island is beautiful. I knew I had to look somewhere else if I wanted to survive so I kept visiting Bologna and tried the Japanese market. I was able to do some illustrations for magazines and a couple of books. It wasn't easy but I also got some animation commissions for the national television (NHK) and worked remotely for a couple of years for a Japanese agency. 

Illustrating out in the wild

I created a book series for a Spanish publisher along with my brother and we managed to publish four books and a very extensive educative method containing plenty of workbooks and lessons. Unfortunately, the publisher went bankrupt and we lost our project.

It was quite dramatic but the only option is always not to give up and keep working.

In 2017 I applied for a job position in Cartoon Saloon in Ireland. I was lucky enough to pass the interview and in December of that same year, I moved to Kilkenny to work as a Design Supervisor. I’ve been working with them since then and I became Art Director.

Working in a studio with a big team is quite different to working on your books alone, but it has so many interesting aspects and you learn many other skills.

During the last seven years, I’ve been quite busy in the studio but I’ve always been drawing for myself and sketching characters and ideas for future books and animation projects. Apart from my commissioned works, I self-published three books and am looking forward to increasing the list.

I recently joined SCBWI because I feel It’s time to tell more stories and I think it’s a great platform to meet other artists and, hopefully, collaborate with new publishers and writers.

My illustration process may vary depending on the project and the technique. I'm focused on characters so I always start the illustrations thinking about their features, attitude and relationships. I used to work a lot with traditional media, especially, watercolour.

Watercolour and ink

I like that watercolor and ink require some time to dry and you can use that time to think about how to improve the piece and breathe. I like putting all the illustrations on the floor, close my eyes for a bit and then open them and feel the impression. How the colours work, the shapes and how they flow.

Getting your hands dirty, listening to the pen scribbling and touching the paper are very nice feelings for me. Now, due to my schedule, I work mostly digitally. I have a completely different mindset and attitude in front of the computer or tablet. It´s a very safe environment with endless options and the option to undo is very convenient. I just like drawing so I always have fun creating content no matter the technique.

About the style; it’s something that just comes with every illustration you do. The more you make the clearer it is.

I’ve never looked actively for a style but when you look back you can see some recurrent characters, shapes and colour that are now part of your personal vocabulary. My only premise was to always try a new thing and do things honestly.

What I’ve noticed also is that is usually the audience who recognizes your style more than yourself. I have to say that when I was looking for a publisher, that variety of styles brought me more failures than successes. The time has passed and I feel grateful about that decision to stay motivated and open new opportunities with a 360º perspective that I can now apply to all my projects.

My influences and preferences have changed over the years. Probably, the earliest influences were from Spanish comic authors like Ibañez, Vázquez or Escobar. Then some international comic artists arrived: like Moebius, Hergé, Uderzo, Franquin or Mike Mignola.

After comics, illustration took over and my first influences here were Sempé, Ronald Searle, Quentin Blake, Tove Janson, John Teniel, Arthur Rackham and Bryan Froud. Most of the authors published by Bohem Press, many of them from Eastern Europe, influenced me a lot and were the main reason to visit Prague.

Exploring the Japanese market, brought me new influences and artists to admire like Gomi Taro, Chihiro Iwasaki, Tadahiro Uesugi and Koji Yamamura among others. I always got a lot of inspiration from classic painters such as Peter Brueghel or Jeronimous Bosch as well as Velazquez, Goya, Rembrandt or Vermeer just to mention a few.

Movies (not only animated) have also influenced me, especially science fiction or fantasy movies like Labyrinth or The Dark Crystal.

Illustration Gallery

 *All Images: Fran Bravo

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You can follow and see Fran's work here:

Website: www.franbravo.com

Instagram: @franbravoart

SCBWI: https://www.scbwi.org/members/fran.bravo

Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/franbravo/

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Ell Rose is the Illustration Features Editor of Words & Pictures.

Find their work at fourfooteleven.com

Follow them on Instagram and X/Twitter

Contact them at illustrators@britishscbwi.org