Irene Fenollar is an illustrator from Valencia. She is currently  finishing a Masters at the University Politéctina of Valencia

Do you prefer to work from your own ideas or storyboard?When I create personal projects I follow my own ideas. I’m very intuitive and experiment very much with forms, textures and colors. When I create a work for a client I am more careful, and prefer having a script as detailed as possible. I have the script nearby always, I read it often and remember the aims of the work. I always try to do the best possible, even if I don’t like the topic.

Is illustrating for an animation a different process than for static images, do you have to simplify them a bit? To create an animation is very different to making a static image. In general the process that I follow in a static image is: I look for images and articles about the topic that I am going to depict, and near to what I want to express. Then there’s the phase of design and study of composition, in which I try to form my ideas in many sketches until I find the one I’m looking for. The last step is the digitalization of the handmade drawings and I usually color with a graphical tablet.

To create an animation the process is slightly more complicated because you must add the preparation of a storyboard, and study the movement. Every character must have a different personality according to his or her physical and psychological characteristics, and it must be reflected in his or her way of acting.

Are blogs and other social media important tools for sharing your work?Yes, I think it’s very important because it offers you the amazing possibility of showing your work worldwide. It is a great advantage to be able to communicate with other designers, artists, or companies of any part of the world, particularly for creative fields. Without Internet, and especially without blogs, it wouldn’t be possible.

Your favourite illustration and why?My favorite illustration of all those I have done till now is ‘My obsessions’, I think I have expressed the tension without losing empathy.

And the last meal you ate….

Sushi.