A Q&A Interview with Fátima Ordinola

Fátima Ordinola is a Peruvian illustrator currently living in Cambridge. Her book, Our Love, is a delightful addition to the canon of ‘love books’ and recommended by Books for Keeps.

We’ve counted more than a dozen different animals in Our Love. What draws you to illustrating animals and what does it allow you to do in this book?

I have a very strong connection with animals. I had a dog for 16 years and she was the best company ever. Now I live with a cat and she’s an unstoppable source of inspiration. So, I think every time I see an animal, there’s a need to draw it in my sketchbook because I enjoy observing them so much: drawing their eyes, shapes, tails, paws – it’s something that fascinates me. When I went to the Colchester Zoo and different museums to research for Our Love, I looked at my sketchbook and realised that my story was meant to be for them, because I admired their connection, and I discovered the joy of drawing something that I really love.

Your bio explains how you use traditional materials – chalk, pencils, ink, watercolour and collage. Can you tell us a bit about your technique, with reference to Our Love in particular?

When I started working on Our Love, I tried lots of materials. I couldn’t just pick one from the beginning because I was in the experimental phase that my teachers encouraged me to try, and I’m grateful for it because now I can dive into my workspace with the liberty to let my ideas flow without worrying too much about the result. Looking at my drawings with different materials made me take a step back and choose which one I thought will work best for my story. And even though it took a lot of hard work to try watercolour, ink, chalk pastels, etching, dry point, etc, it was necessary for me to decide the best texture and style for my animals.

Which illustrators do you admire and who would you cite as an influence?

I admire lots of illustrators and writers. When I started this journey of becoming a picture book maker, I read a lot of books by Isol Misenta, an author from Argentina who has written and illustrated plenty of books. My favourite book from her is It’s Useful to Have a Duck, because it’s funny, creative and it’s a concertina. When I discovered that book, I fell in love with the idea of creating a story in a different format. I thought, ‘This is the best thing ever; I want more books like this in my life, and I want to learn how to make them’.

You studied at the prestigious Cambridge School of Art. Can you tell us a bit about what it taught you and the most important things you learned about creating picture books?

I always say that if I could do the MA in Children’s Book Illustration again, I’d do it without hesitation. The course changed my life in every aspect. Living away from home, family and friends sometimes can be very lonely, but every day that I learnt something new, it was an affirmation that I was in the right place working to make my dream come true. The most important things that the course has taught me were to work hard doing plenty of artwork, keep my sketchbook filled with observational drawings and make stories that are true to myself.

What advice would you give to new illustrators?

Try different activities in between making book projects: watch movies, documentaries, read, listen to podcasts about other’s artists processes, cook, go for a walk or a run, meet new people, talk about books, read your project out loud and rest. There’s so much happening during the process of making a book that for me, it’s the things I do outside my workplace that keeps me motivated and inspires me to go back to my desk and draw. Never lose the curiosity to see and enjoy the world around you.

Our Love by Fátima Ordinola is published by Post Wave, £12.99 hbk.