Gaia Bordicchia Illustrations

Rainy Days

2013-05-05T17:36:00.000+02:00

It's May already and I forgot about the blog, I gave up on a new portfolio site for now and on Tumblr. I have been working a lot though, so hopefully this is a good excuse!
This is an old drawing, maybe some of you will remember it. It started as a watercolour and traditional collage and was then forgotten on my old external hard drive. I found it and heavily reworked it in Photoshop. The original never really met my expectations, but now she's quite a character. Maybe, she has a story to tell. For now we're both enjoying the rain, hoping spring will last a little longer...

Pandistelle

2013-05-05T17:35:00.001+02:00

At the beginning of this year I was called for a very fun project!
Pandistelle, one of Italy's most famous cookies turned 30 years old. To celebrate, Barilla alonside the nice people of creative agency "I Mille", called 12 artists to illustrate every month of the new year for their online magazine and Facebook page. Mine was for the month of April.

Anne of Green Gables

2013-05-05T17:34:00.001+02:00

After illustrating "Tartarin de Tarascon" for Eli Readers, this past November the publisher called me again. This time to work on "Anne of Green Gables." The cover was my favourite piece, but here is also a small selection of the interior pages.
I worked on the illustrations in a slightly different way. The lines you see on the characters are the actual pencil lines of my roughs. I wanted to use a stronger graphite rendering, but time was against me. Hopefully on the next book!

Matilda

2013-01-11T22:35:00.000+01:00

Happy New Year!

2013-01-03T18:09:00.001+01:00

This past 2012 was especially kind to me and I was almost sad to see it go...

New books coming out in the next few months (one I'm especially proud of!) others are keeping me busy while I write this post. Apart from work though, I hope my new year will be filled with good things and yours will be too.

I hope you'll chase bright ideas, discover new shiny interests, go on adventures, read good books and have enough time to sit on your favourite chair and relax. Happy 2013!

La princesse au petit pois

2012-11-16T12:41:00.001+01:00

"The Princess and the Pea" was one of my favourite fairytales as a child. This summer I had the opportunity to illustrate a book for Editions Auzou based on this popular story. It will be published in January 2013 and will be part of their series of classical fairytales for young readers, called P'tits Classiques.
It was a pleasure to work with Editions Auzou again. They gave me permission to include these illustrations in my portfolio, even if the book will not be available for sale until the new year. More illustrations coming soon!

Click for a larger view

La Patisserie

2012-11-16T12:41:00.000+01:00

This year I was very lucky to be involved in several lovely projects and commissions. One of them is for sure my collaboration with french company La Marelle. I've always been a big fan of their products. The print quality is excellent and they work with some of my favourite children's book illustrators, like Nicoletta Ceccoli and Marie Desbons. I was very pleased when they asked me to illustrate two sets of cards, a notebook and this lovely coloring book. You can find them all on their website ---> here

Mermaids

2012-11-16T12:40:00.000+01:00

This past spring I was commissioned by Galison/Mudpuppy to create a new set of finger puppets with several cute mermaids, a merman and a seahorse. Creating a perfectly matching front and back image was not an easy task! While I love working on picture books and stories, I find these small licensing projects fun and challenging. I hope I'll have a chance to do more in the future. These little mermaids will be available in January 2013.

It's a secret...

2012-08-20T12:39:00.001+02:00

This past summer I created this illustration that will be used as the cover of a secret diary.
It will produced by french company, La Marelle and will be available on their website in January.
In the meantime, you can check what is already for sale on my page ----> here

Lost in details

2012-08-09T16:37:00.000+02:00

I'm busy finishing a book for Casterman Jeunesse and it's full of tiny details! Still a bit to do, but it's getting there. It will be available for sale next spring. Sharpen your eyesight and be ready to look for those lost and forgotten objects or for a very elusive soft toy ... More soon!

Luna waits.

2012-07-02T14:34:00.000+02:00

Patience is a virtue I don't have. I become restless every time I walk into a waiting room or a post office. If I expect an email, phone call or parcel, after a short amount of time, I always consider a bad scenario (the AD hated my roughs, I'll loose my voice by the time the phone rings, the parcel with contracts will be eaten by Morlocks.)
Yet, my friends think I am the opposite and sometimes they push me in one direction or another. Maybe because I tend to be very patient with those I care for. I can wait for quite a while.
The past six months were all about work and friends. Old ones returning, new ones and those who have always been near (answering my crazy emails or talking to me on skype during late nights of work.) In a case or two I got tired of waiting and I left, feeling as if I had nothing more to say or give. Maybe they will return one day.

On a work related note, "La Strada di Cioccolato" is finished and in the hands of Edizioni EL. It will be printed later this fall. I'm looking forward to a much needed holiday and then I will go back to work with a fresh mind.

Two nice book projects came in from France in the past three weeks. I'm very happy and excited for both, as they are very different. One is quite challenging, I'm working on the layouts at the moment.
My experience with children's publishing in France is very positive so far. Beautiful books, very nice teams of editors and a lot of creative freedom. The boardbook I've illustrated for Editions Auzou earlier this year, will be published next Fall. You can see a little preview here.

There's also another "french surprise" that I can't say much about for now, but will be revealed in September. I hate to keep this under wraps and I usually don't write this sort of mysterious posts, but it's a small dream come true for me. I'm very happy about it!
September will also be busy on the italian front, as I will be working on a new title for EliReaders.
This time, a classic for their Young Adult selection. It's an exciting project, that will give me the opportunity to draw more grown-up characters and explore new colouring techniques.

A crazy, non-stop six months so far. I'm grateful, happy and surprised... I've waited for good things to happen and they finally arrived.

The Chocolate Road

2012-05-31T18:10:00.002+02:00

"La Stada di Cioccolato" is a story written by Gianni Rodari, a very popular italian author. It's the tale of three little brothers who find a road all paved with chocolate, while playing in the fields. They eat all the chocolate until they get lost. A mysterious man with a cart all made with cookie dough takes them home in the end.

This little book is published in Italy by Edizioni EL, as part of their pocket size series "Una Fiaba in Tasca" and it's sweet in every way... You can find it here and this is a selection of the illustrations I did for the book.

Doctor Fox & Friends

2012-05-31T18:05:00.001+02:00

New cards for La Marelle! Available now ---> La Marelle

Vanille, Framboise & Noisette

2012-05-31T18:00:00.001+02:00

New cards for La Marelle! Available now ---> La Marelle

Blue Lady

2012-05-31T17:57:00.002+02:00

This is one of the illustrations from the book "Tartarin de Tarascon" published by Eli Readers in March 2012. You can see more illustrations from the book in the Featured Projects.
I enjoyed this piece very much and I decided to give it a space of its own.

Cloud 9

2012-05-31T17:52:00.002+02:00

Happiness. In italian the equivalent is "toccare il cielo con un dito" or "touching the sky with your finger tips". I especially like the french expression "boir du petit lait", maybe because I like milk so much. I will draw something based on this french idiom too. Until then, this is Cloud 9!

In this illustration I used a very detailed pencil rendered base and I've added digital colour and textures with Photoshop. You can see the original drawing in the Graphite Section.

Miss Doll

2012-05-31T17:43:00.000+02:00

At the end of 2011 I've illustrated "Miss Doll Birthday Party" published by Clean Slate Press in New Zealand. Here is a selection of illustrations from this little book. The author of the book, Joy Cowley liked my characters so much, that she has created a series of short stories. The full series of 15 new titles will be completed at the end of 2012 and will become one or Clean Slate Press new Programs for Early Readers. The new characters for this little series continue their adventures and meet new friends!

Cakes and bunnies.

2012-04-20T12:53:00.004+02:00

Small things in progress... It's hard to stay infront of the computer when it's spring outside. I've been forced by the rain and wind during the past few days, but this is my favourite season and it never lasts long enough!
I will try to update this blog more often now. Tweet less and blog more? Let's see if it works. What would you like to see? Leave me a comment and help me get into blogging again...

Au Marché

2012-04-11T16:56:00.002+02:00

To the market! This past spring I've illustrated a small board book for Editions Auzou called "Au Marché".
It's a book for very small children, teaching them the names of the vegetables and fruits and showing the colours. It is sold inside a cute shopping bag. The shapes come off the page so the children can play with them or pretend they are grocery shopping at the market.
It was a simple but lovely project and I am very pleased with the final product! A nice touch from the editor Laura Levy is the coordinated tag with the season and months for each produce.
You can find it on Amazon.fr -----> here


Click for a larger view

Evita

2012-03-27T18:57:00.010+02:00

Elegant, strong, beautiful and charismatic. Sadly, this project is not going to the final stage just now, but who knows if me and Evita will "meet" again in the future? I certainly enjoyed drawing her eyes and the jewelry!

Fire and Snow

2012-02-20T13:36:00.005+01:00

I meant to work on a new portfolio website during January, but time is flying. I'm busy finishing a new book for Edizioni EL . This is a small detail. As you can guess, it is one of Andersen's fairytales. More news soon!

I will be in Bologna for the Book Fair at the end of March. If you are a publisher and would like to meet me and see my portfolio, please get in touch!

Buon Natale

2011-12-08T15:13:00.007+01:00

I often create small illustrations to wish friends and those I've worked with happy holidays. I've decided to group them all into one place and see how they will evolve over time. This polar bear was a very lucky one, because it brought in most of the work I did during 2012.
Here's what happened so far in 2013!

Gone Fishing

2011-08-15T17:42:00.007+02:00

A promo image for Summer 2011. A fun way to tell all my contacts that I was leaving for a short but much deserved break! This illustration is half digital and half traditional. I've added colour and textures in Photoshop, using a very detailed pencil rendering. You can see the original drawing in the Graphite Section.

Pollicino and Bologna

2011-03-20T15:41:00.005+01:00

I'm almost ready for the Book Fair in Bologna. I leave you with Pollicino (Little Thumb - Le Petit Poucet) and his bread crumbs!

Piccola Sirena - Little Mermaid

2011-02-17T09:55:00.007+01:00