Sit Down With Our #090 Featured Artist

Claudia Guariglia

Featured Artist / #118 ScrawlrBox 

Hi, I’m Claudia, an illustrator and mixed media artist from Italy but based in London.Ever since I can remember I’ve always loved drawing and being creative, to the point that one of my favourite presents I got as a child was actually a big box of art supplies. Of course they were nothing fancy, but still, those drawers filled with cheap pencils, markers, paints and more held a world of creative possibilities for me to unlock.Fast forward to now and not much has changed: I still love drawing, playing with shapes and compositions, getting messy, and hoarding art supplies!

Some of the themes I like to focus on in my works include the little things, romanticising life, and playfulness. I am very passionate about colour and I want my pieces to be cute, uplifting, a bit silly and have a little whimsy, something that I really try to actively incorporate in my life. I believe that anything creative we do is an extension of ourselves, so I try my best to put my true self in what I make.

Other passions include music, fashion (especially vintage), social matters and caring for the planet, which are also all things that influence my practice.So far I have worked on book covers, private commissions, illustrations for branding, and I have illustrated a book on friendship, which is to this day one of my proudest moment.I also love to be creative in other ways, like doing crochet, bits of diy, and I have taken up tufting recently which has been an amazing way to reimagine the way I make art.

We love your super colourful vibey style! How did this develop into what is it today?

Thank you! It’s certainly been a journey.

I used to look at other artists and be jealous of their very distinctive styles, wanting one myself but always felt like I could never quite get there. In the end what did it was, well… trial and error, and practice. Groundbreaking, I know. I’ve done a lot of experimenting with different art supplies, techniques, styles. I would look at other people’s works and try and figure out their technique, what I liked about their pieces and would maybe want to incorporate in what I did, and what I could leave behind. But also just looked around me, paying attention to what inspired me in my daily life, colour combinations that would catch my eye, maybe a specific moment/feeling that I wanted to share, or make a joke about. Now I’ve narrowed down how I like to work, what colours I like to go for and so on, it’s easy to be consistent as they are themes, elements, sentiments that I gravitate towards naturally.

 At the same time I do still like to play and experiment, as you never know what new aspect to your creativity you might unlock next!

All the outfits you draw are dreamy! Would you say it reflects your personal style?

Thank you :) It definitely reflects my interest in self expression through fashion, although my personal style when it comes to clothes is constantly changing, based on the time of the year, if I have a specific obsession with a certain colour or vibe, and so on. For example, recently I have been going through a massive “baggy clothes” phase, which is a first for me. The way I see it it’s all part of creative play.

What do you enjoy drawing most?

I’ve always loved drawing people, in fact growing up that’s all I would do. I was absolutely obsessed with creating characters, picking their hairstyles, outfits, all the little details that would make them different from each other. I still have old sketchbooks filled with so many of them!
To this day I’d say portraits are still up there amongst my favourite subjects, but I also very much love drawing plants/flowers, little everyday objects like a cup of tea or some cute little trinkets, and just playing with shapes and decorative elements.

We see you also create digital artwork. Do you prefer digital or traditional drawing?

I enjoy both for different reasons. Digital can be very convenient in many ways, as it means you can easily try out different compositions, colour combos and so on without having to get all the tools out or making a mess.There is, however, something very special in physically making something with your hands, so I would say I do prefer traditional.


What are your dream combination of supplies?

I love to work with anything bright and bold. Paint pens and gouache are definitely up there when it comes to my favourite tools to work with, they’re super fun to use, versatile, and they go very well with dry media like pencils or pastels which you can layer on top to add more depth and texture. In general I’d say I like to have a fairly even base layer, be it paint, coloured inks, or a brush pen, and then add details on top, maybe with a waterproof black ink, or something blendable like pencils or crayons.


Is there a certain supply you think you might have too much of but can’t bring yourself to throw away?

Honestly? I have a bit of everything, and not enough time to use it all! I have so many pens, pencils, paints; art supplies just make me happy and I love trying out new things so it all adds up. Just recently I got some new markers purely because I’d never seen them before and I just HAD to try them.

What is your favourite way to use the Lyra duo brush pens?

I love the brush end sooo much. It’s super versatile because you can easily fill in larger areas, but the flexible brush means it works for small details too, and hand lettering, which I very much enjoy doing. Also they’re not messy so I like using them in my sketchbook if I’m looking for colour inspiration or different ways to layer media.