Create a Travel Sketchbook Without Leaving Your House, with Powerpaola

The illustrator and graphic novelist shares her daily rituals in Buenos Aires, in this episode of the Domestika Diary series

Artist, cartoonist and award-winning illustrator Powerpaola’s creative references extend far beyond her adopted city: Buenos Aires. But she’s also very at home in in her ‘village’.

Whether globe-trotting or strolling around her neighborhood, the Colombian-Ecuadorian artist always records her unique view of the sensory stimuli she receives in her journals and sketchbooks.

In this Domestika Diary video, Powerpaola invites us to accompany her around Buenos Aires, shows us her studio and chats about her creative process.

“I love drawing wherever I find myself: at home, in a waiting room, on a plane, with friends, on my own,” she notes. Experimenting with all kinds of self-expression has allowed her to develop a thoroughly eclectic style. As well as enjoying creating at home and in her shared workspace, she goes out to walk and sits in cafés to sketch, come up with ideas and try out new formats.

That said, she prefers solitude when she’s working on a comic strip. She needs to focus on the narrative, on every aspect of her characters, and on the universe she’s creating. That’s how one of her most famous graphic novels: Virus Tropical came to life, before being made into a film by Colombian director Santiago Caicedo.

Powerpaola finds time to write, meditate and ride a bike even when she’s super busy. “I love losing myself in the city. It’s my therapy. I always discover things that help me relax,” she adds.

Love this video? Remember Powerpaola teaches you how to capture the present and create an unforgettable travel diary by combining drawings with narrative in her online course: Travel Journal: Illustrate Your Reality.

English version by @studiogaunt

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