We are so excited to welcome Elena Pancorbo to the Lake family. Elena is a Spanish illustrator with a deep love for portraiture, pastels, and capturing emotion through faces. Drawing since she was little, her illustrations are deeply personal; a way of expressing her innermost feelings and inviting others to see themselves reflected in her work.
Her coloring book Together Anywhere is now available in Lake, and the moment you open it, you will understand why we had to have her here. Portraits full of beauty, emotions, and little details to get lost in. It is the kind of book that makes you slow down and actually breathe. Elena herself puts it best:
I hope my illustrations offer you an escape and allow you to dedicate some time to peace and quiet.
We reached out to Elena with a few questions to get to know her better, and here is what she had to say.
Q: You work with pastels, pencils, and you even paint with acrylics on wooden boards. Which one is your favorite medium and is it also the one that you most often use?
The technique I use most is mixed media. I mix pastels with colored pencils; I'd say it's the technique that gives me the results I want. But I love oil and acrylics. They're techniques that require more time, but they allow me to achieve a realism I feel more connected to.
Q: I saw on your website that you're offering your art as tattoo designs, which is really cool! What made you decide to go for it?
Tattoos are a form of expression that defines me. I have several tattoos I designed myself; I even tattooed myself. I think they're two very closely linked worlds in my artistic imagination, and often the characters I draw have tattoos. It's a way of adding more history and character to my illustrations.
Q: How does it feel to see people coloring your work in Lake?
It's wonderful, it makes me happy that people like my illustrations and that even one person dedicates their time to me, whether it's coloring this book, buying my prints, etc.
A few coloring pages from Elena's book in Lake titled Together Anywhere.
Q: We couldn’t help but notice that women are at the heart of most of your portraits. Is there a special meaning behind that for you?
Not exactly, I also like to draw boys. But, I find characteristics in the female figure that I know well, shapes and looks with which I identify. In the end, it's what I know, so to speak, and I think there's a lot of beauty in the female figure and much more to explore.
Q: When you start a new portrait, where and how do you begin the process?
I like to work with photographic references; I dedicate a lot of time to finding a character that fits what I want to express. As long as it's for personal illustrations.
In the case of commissioned portraits, I tend to work more automatically and focus on the idea I'm given.
Q: What is one thing (for instance a book, a person, a film, a place, etc.) that has shaped how you see creativity?
It would be very difficult to think of every single thing that has inspired me and brought me to where I am today. Every event in an artist's life shapes how they see and feel things. Right now, the pillar that sustains my creativity, my mind, and my inspiration is the love of my life, my son, and this has never happened to me before. What he makes me feel is so overwhelming that it's difficult to put it all down on paper.
This is how some of us (the employees of Lake) colored Elena's drawings.
Elena's coloring book Together Anywhere is available now on Lake for iPhone and iPad. Tap here to open it and start coloring. Open Together Anywhere in Lake
