Story of a Cover: Marcela Restrepo

JA August 30

The September issue of Meanjin – loosely themed on what it takes to make a city – is about to hit the shelves on Sept 1. In this vein, Sydney artist and illustrator Marcela Restrepo has designed a beautiful Melbourne-inspired cover for our Spring edition. Spike sat down with her over the digital divide to find out how it came to be.

Can you take us through the creative process for the September cover? How did you move from early ideas to finished product?

Even though I’ve been to Melbourne, I took a quick research trip with Google Earth to many of the representative and cool areas in Melbourne, looking for graphic elements and places that would help to give identity to the drawings. Then, with a list of possible elements, I started working on ideas and compositions in my mind. I always do this to decide the angles I want to use – sometimes, even after drawing an element, I realise I should redraw it from a different perspective or change it for another element just because its shape doesn’t work out well with the rest.

Describe your tools – what did you use for these illustrations?

I drew all with pencil on paper, using a lot of eraser too. Then I worked on the composition on computer and started moving things around until I felt it looked right.

Then I started working on the colours and textures with watercolours, goache and other techniques, and finally put it all together in Photoshop.

What’s the hardest thing about capturing a place on paper?

The hardest is to capture the atmosphere and feeling of the place. Sometimes it’s easier to show the place in a playful way for it to be believable.

Finally, what styles, designers or eras most inspire you?

I never know what to answer when I’m asked this question. I like so many different artists; I couldn’t tell my favourites.

For example I love Paul Klee’s and Chagall’s paintings because I find they have some sort of warmness, naiveté and freedom. I really admire that capacity to let go and forget all the rules, and techniques that look hard as well as basic and warm.

At the same time I love graphic artists/designers like Saul Bass or Milton Glaser, who are always coming out with smart ideas (there are many smart editorial illustrators nowadays). Also, being a graphic designer, I love typography and letters as graphic elements. Sagmeister is a designer I admire who knows how to explore with letters and words.

I love and admire so many styles but usually enjoy anything that is completely different to my style and what I do.

Having said that, and because I am not that academic, I’m not sure if inspiration really comes from designers and styles, or from the experiences I have everyday and things that surround me.

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