Every now and then we take someone from our branches – an author, illustrator, graphic designer, editor or project manager – and lock them up in the BOT Room for an informal chat! Today it's Claudia Petrazzi's turn...
[Interview by Davide Calì]
I remember some of her first drawings, which I already liked a lot. Years ago we felt like doing a project together, we worked on it for a while, and then, as sometimes happens, nothing came out of it. In the meantime, Claudia has matured a lot and publishers are now fighting over her. For us she’s illustrating Trouille Académie, a series of horror-comic novels written by Bertrand Puard and published by the French publishing house Poulpe Fiction.
Morning Claudia, it’s a pleasure to catch up with you in this series! You’ve really done a lot of things in the last few years. Would you like to tell us a little about them?
Hi Davide and thanks! In just a few years I’ve published lots of books, which I’m very happy about. Maybe because I studied a lot to improve my style and make it more personal. I collaborated with DeAgostini on some very fun non-fiction books; with Sem Editore I illustrated “Nerd senza macchia”, a very beautiful book written by Daniele Daccò; this year, however, my first graphic novel was published: “Clara e le Ombre”, published by Il Castoro and written by Andrea Fontana. This year I also started working on two other series that will be published in 2021, again for Il Castoro.
Up until three years ago you had various jobs in addition to this, then you decided to dedicate yourself exclusively to illustration. Can you tell us what the transition was like?
It was a very gradual passage because I started in 2009, working for small publishing houses, and in the meantime presenting myself at fairs. I’ve always had other jobs to support myself and I was used to working as an illustrator in the evenings, on weekends or during holidays. For a short (beautiful) period I sold crafts on the street and tutored children, I even set up a shopping centre and created trompe l’oeil. In the following years I worked in sales, as a designer for an architect and as a stop-motion animator before deciding to work as a freelancer full-time.
Do you ever miss anything about your old jobs?
Yes, I miss the human contact! Having colleagues, working in public and being able to chat or laugh with someone. In some jobs it was fun even when it got late or we were panicking about deliveries.
Tell us a little about Trouille Académie! What’s it about?
So far, three volumes have been published. They’re separate episodes but are united by the mysterious figure of Claudie Dieuleveut: a bizarre little man who saves monsters around the world. They will end up being part of his Academy of Fear, a kind of team that intervenes to help children who have problems related to the paranormal.
I really like the series because there are important themes behind each story. So far we’ve addressed topics such as bullying, protecting the environment and friendship.
You’re now on the third volume, do you enjoy illustrating this series?
We’re already on the fourth! I enjoy it so much. Poulpe Fictions was the first publishing house to let me draw monsters and scary stories for children, just how I like it.
Tell us about Atomica: what is it?
It’s my nickname, made up partly for fun and partly because I’d been looking for a second identity with which to sign my personal works for some time. I’ve had a project in my drawer for many years that talks in a fictionalised way about how this nickname was born: I’m still working on it now despite the little time available, I can’t wait to finally publish it online.
Usual closing question: any upcoming projects? What are you working on?
As I said before, I’m working on two different series for Il Castoro, one fiction and one non-fiction, in addition to the fourth volume of Trouille Académie. Soon I’ll start working on another book that I can’t talk much about for now and in my free time I carry on with my own projects.