Interview #16: Rosalia Radosti, from theater to graphic novel
'Theater taught me a lot, so many things that are very useful to me today in drawing and comics, like...'
* Note to my Italian friends: Clicca (QUI) per leggere l’intervista in italiano!
Happy Sunday friends!!! Today I’ll be interviewing an artist I admire a lot, especially for the expressiveness of her characters and the stories she creates, which are never boring. I’m sure you will love her! :)
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Rosalia is an Italian illustrator and comic artist with a background in theater. You may already know her for the famous graphic novel Selvaggia that she personally wrote and illustrated. I was completely amazed by this story that seemingly looks like a fairy tale but actually is all upside down! So today I will finally be able to ask her a few questions and learn more about her artistic process and vision.
✿ Hi Rosalia and thank you for joining forArtists. Could you tell us what was your artistic path that led you to where you are today?
It was a curious and tortuous path, because I loved drawing but for a number of reasons I still preferred to give it up for a more physically active discipline like theater, away from the eyes of my family. For about ten years, or more, I didn’t draw at all.
Theater taught me a lot, so many things that are very useful to me today in drawing and comics, like composition, directing, script writing, and character acting.
At the age of 33, I was quite knocked out with mental health, and drawing was the only thing that gave me relief, calm and joy, although I soon realized that I couldn't draw at all, I didn’t have any skills. Thanks to my husband who gave me the time to be able to stop and figure out what I really wanted to do with my life, I began to study, and here I am today, exactly ten years later, doing a job I love so much!
✿ Your theater background has also influenced the expressiveness of your characters. What figure traits do you focus on the most to create a believable expression?
Yes, as I said it has been essential for me, and I realize this only now that I do comics, where I can push on the acting.
I don't really know where I start from, after 18 years in theater it has become an almost instinctive aspect. For sure for me though, there is no such thing as good facial expressiveness unless I start from the back and the torso, where all the emotions and what you feel in your stomach reside. Then that feeling comes to the face, I don't really know how to explain it… But anyway, the important thing is not to limit yourself or censor yourself by thinking, “oh no, this expression is too difficult!”
✿ What was the moment when you felt ready to work in the art industry?
I think you never have a realistic sense of whether you're ready or not, sometimes you feel like you are and you're not, and other times, as in my case, you never feel ready.
I've had professional colleagues tell me this about three years after I started drawing again, and, subsequently, other professionals in the field who felt that comics was the best context for me. Of course, you're not always lucky enough to have nice people who talk to you honestly and unselfishly; I was lucky.
✿ What would you recommend to beginner artists who want to take that extra step to be considered professionally?
I think the real leap forward is when you learn to understand what the editor is asking for, and to be reliable, both in terms of technical skills and deadlines.
Of course, we all know that while doing a job you can get sick, or have impediments that lengthen the delivery time, but generally being precise and on time, being able to accommodate corrections without feeling offended, and being firm but polite when they make you lose your temper, are things that make a difference. Of course, this is just an opinion based on my experience, but I think these are essential qualities for a professional artist.
✿ How did the story for your graphic novel Selvaggia come about?
As I think for writers far better than me, it starts on its own, by a series of simultaneous associations of ideas. I came up with the image of her with the bow, pretty much the way you see her on the cover, and she brought her story with her.
✿ What is your process for creating a comic page?
It's really hard to explain it. I have an idea of action in general, I have a scene in mind all at once, then I try to figure out the rhythm of it so that I can break it down into several pages. I never think of the single page, I always think of emotional blocks: in this scene they’re angry and then they run away. Well, what is the rhythm of the anger? I know I have to spread it out over a certain amount of pages and I try to follow my gut by doing horrible drafts with characters that are almost stickman :D
✿ What does style mean to you? And how important is it in the publishing world, in your opinion?
For some people, both viewers and publishers, it is very important. It matters little to me though, as long as style does not become limiting. I care more about storytelling style and content. In fact, one of my favorite comic artist is Jioke (Giovanni dall'Oro), who is criticized for having little stylistic technicality, but composition, direction, and acting are perfect, and the stories hit me hard. To me he is a true artist!
I think the important thing is to be authentic. Then, someone will see your value even if you don't have a very pop style.
✿ What art tools do you always use?
Lately I mostly use basic procreate brushes, but I find that Marco Guadalupi's brushes are the only really good ones if you want the realistic effect of traditional tools.
Regarding traditional art, I’m very basic. I love Tiger's drawing blocks with the black cover and a classic soft lead pencil. For watercolors, on the other hand, I find that paper is crucial and you need to buy good paper. A good price/quality compromise may be the Arches paper, but the top tier is Sennelier.
✿ What has been the worst and the best project that you worked on so far?
The first book I illustrated: I took a job before I found out the budget was unsustainable and out of ingenuity I didn't know how to give it up. There were so many problems and many things I didn't like in the process and when the book was finished. Never again!
On the other hand, I had the best experience with Rebelle publisher because they respect the artists' vision without interfering by changing story or characters.
✿ Ideally, what would you like to change about the art industry and the current situation of the artist?
How mental health is being approached. Whether it's self-esteem excess or scarcity, or lack of it. If we would take care of it more, it would prevent both bullying incidents, even among professionals, and the art block of beginner artists who have a lot of potential. What you do is not all you are.
✿ Thinking about a big project such as a graphic novel, how do you research and organize references? And what is the subject for which you need them most?
The reference one is a big job for me. I sort everything so that the references are in a folder along with the studies I did looking at those references. Then I create pdfs to have everything together.
I mean a lot of images are duplicated over and over again to have them in front of me at any time during the drawing process. But I'm also very messy for other people, it only makes sense if you know what path my brain takes.
✿ Can you recommend any books or courses, which helped you a lot?
Mmmh I don't know… For doing comics a good filmmaking textbook with visual examples can be very helpful, especially the editing part. Another very useful thing is to study nonverbal acting.
✿ What are you currently working on?
At the moment I’m resting because it’s been a very difficult year, but I have several things going on, one of which is a comic/comedy graphic novel. Who knows!
☆☆ To learn more about Rosalia's work you can visit her Instagram, or support her on Patreon.