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Welcome to my website!

I am GUIDA CASELLA an Illustrator based in Lisbon, Portugal, working mostly on Scientific Communication, ranging from Archaeological and Scientific Illustration, to Editorial Infography and generic Illustration. On this site you can browse through my Porftolio, find info about my Services, etc.

Hope you enjoy!


News Roll


I am currently working on...

22 January 2009 | Permalink

I am currently working on a Drawing of the tomb of the Portuguese King D.Fernando I, 16th Century.
Working in situ, in Museu Arqueológico do Carmo, Lisbon, and rendering the illustration later on, in my studio.
Soon the illustrations will be available on my Portfolio.

Interview

03 January 2009 | Permalink

INTERVIEW
Interview with Alex Rodger, a third year student studying for a degree in Scientific and Natural History Illustration at the Blackpool and the Fylde College, to find out as much information about the industry to which he wish to progress.

Alex Rodger: What range of work do you undertake?
Guida Casella: I work in Illustration for all kind of audience within the Heritage Industry. From archaeological illustration of finds, to field drawing in excavations (both in open air, and in studio, preparing the plans and sections for publication).
I also do reconstruction artwork for museum display and educational purposes. Recently I started having commissions to do intuitive maps for tourist routes. Occasionally I do biomedical illustration, or biology illustration for magazines or for student manuals. I have done some work in graphic design (cd and book covers, corporate identity, flyers) and general illustration.

AR: What role do your illustrations play, and who uses them?
GC: My archaeological Illustrations are used by the scientific community (finds illustration and plans and sections) usually are produced for archaeological reports. They document the excavation process and the finds obey to scientific standards suitable for scientific reports.
My reconstruction art, depicts a moment in time from a certain period related to the archaeological evidence. This kind of work is used by designers to produce museum panels, or printed material for a general audience.

AR: How much research is involved prior to completing a piece of work?
GC: For finds illustration there are standards of representation that I have studied in the past years. There are several handbooks relating to this subject, and the Association of Archaeological Illustrators and Surveyor, of which I am a full member, provides guidelines. Basically before drawing a kind of find (pottery, glass, stone, leather, etc) I need to know how it is correct to depict it. It can be useful to see similar examples, and choose what are the best ones, and adapt that style.
For field drawing, I learned with the practice. To the moment I haven´t see a complete textbook that explains all the subtle variations one can come across. But is important for instance to know the site, to understand how the grid is implemented, and how the excavation has been documented so far so we can continue in the same logic.
For Reconstruction art, a lot of research is necessary. I start by seeing lots of images of the same period, both in books and googling images according to keywords. I also see sites of other illustrators (and I have a selection of the best to seek inspiration). Then, I also seek inspiration looking in photographers’ sites, looking for good compositions, or expressions, or feelings aroused by certain images. Intuition plays a role here. But basically you must have a very good visual culture, and know what you like, and what you dislike in order to choose your style. And then you start building your canvas.

AR: What have been the major influences on you in terms of artistic style?
GC: Well, my idols in Archaeological Reconstruction are a few illustrators:
Kennis and Kennis http://home.hetnet.nl/~alad/index2.html
, Kelvin Wilson http://www.kelvinwilson.com/
, Sue White http://heritage-illustration.blogspot.com/
, Libor Balák http://www.iabrno.cz/agalerie/aagalery.htm

I like detailed drawings and etchings. Something that is dazzling to the eye.
A collection of things that catch me are:
For instance Peter Sis, David Hockney etchings, Francis Bacon, Chapman Brothers, Medical Illustration, Piranesi, Frank Netter, Max Brodell, Goya etchings, Jose Posada, Encyclopaedia Britannica…

AR: Is there scope for abstraction or is it strictly scientifically accurate?
GC: In finds and field drawing you should strict to the essential, be clear and communicative. In reconstruction art, the more input you have from contemporary imagery, the best. You are communicating to a contemporary audience, with certain references, and you should have that in mind. You can use all kind of tricks to pass the message and all artifices to catch the viewer, to surprise him, to immerse him in scenery or in the mood you want. There are no limits for the imagination, as long as the illustration completes its purpose.

AR: How did you get into the business?
GC: I was studying fine art, but never really wanted to get into video and installation trend. I liked paper and pencils, brushes, and so on. I always felt attracted to complex images like etchings or 19th century illustrations or to the coldness of scientific illustrations (for instance the instructions for safety they show you on planes).
Then I attended a scientific illustration workshop, where I met an anthropologist that invited me to prepare for publication the field drawing of a burial.
It happened that this was an important find (LV1, Lagar Velho Palaeolithic child burial) and the colour drawing I made was so realistic that it was almost a reconstruction of what was found on the field. A bit of beginner’s luck, I guess, and my commitment and passion about this kind of work led me to continue. The nature of the find (a polemic find that filled international newspapers) made me have visibility and suddenly my name was associated with quality and reached many viewers and potential clients.
The phone started ringing, a bit by word of mouth. And little by little I entered the business. I have been working as a free lance since then (1999) and that allowed me to have a variety of commissions in different areas. Each new commission is an opportunity to give my best and to experience new techniques.

AR: Did you do any university degrees or art courses or are you self-taught?
GC: A bit of both. I never miss a chance to learn more, to attend courses, workshops and conferences. Learning is highly addictive. And I am a bit workaholic. But everybody is self taught in a way. Once you learn something it changes you, and you never go back.

AR: How many people does your company employ?
GC: Me, myself and I.

AR: What is the structure of your company? (Managing director, team of illustrators etc.)
GC: Well, I am a several headed monster. I am the one who attends meetings, I am a manager, I am the one who makes coffee and cleans the studio, I am the one who makes research, the one who does the illustrations, and the one who controls the bills, and the one who writes the contracts. I am the boss and the employer. Sometimes is hard, sometimes is funny. I am a very hard boss to myself, and is difficult to ask for vacations, and salary increase. And so on. But I always compliment myself in the end of the day, and say- You have done a great job, congratulations.

AR: How do you designate specific jobs within your company?
GC: Scientific Illustration, and Reconstruction. I have a folder to each client, organized by dates, where I keep all the information, billing, drafts, and copies of the work.

AR: Do you ever work alongside or in conjunction with other artists, businesses or companies?
GC: Sometimes I work with designers, that will put text and layout in my work. Most often I work with archaeologists, or teams in excavation. I also work with an Illustration agency who makes the bridge between my work and a client. I also work with printing companies to digitize large formats, or print large formats.

AR: How do you publicise your business?
GC: The printed artwork is my best business card. Good relationship with the clients, makes them want more work from me.
Sometimes I do a mailing, maybe a Christmas card, or some printed postcards.
Recently I started having a more proactive attitude, and actually contact potential clients, appointing a meeting where I show my work and cv.
Being member of the AAIS http://www.aais.org.uk/ , or the Illustration Agency Who http://www.who.pt/ gives you visibility in the web. The blog www.archil.blogspot.com or webpage is also good. Writing articles in specialized magazines, or presenting papers or posters in conferences is also a good way to meet people.

AR: Is there any organisations or events that you are part of, visit or promote at?
GC: I am a member of The Association of Archaeological Illustratos (AAIS) and we have annual meetings, and I am presented in the website. And I am in an Illustration Agency ( Who.pt) who does all the work for me, promoting my portfolio near potential clients. I am very happy with their work.

AR: What do you look for in potential employees?
GC: Excellence in visual presentation. I look for clients that already want the kind of work I aim to produce. If a potential client is not interested in good images I have nothing to offer to him.

AR: Where do you typically receive commissions from?
GC: Archaeologists, Museums, Editors, City councils, Magazines and Newspapers.

AR: How much interaction is there between yourself and the client?
GC: A lot of interaction. I am the hand that materializes what he thinks / visualizes. I need to understand what kind of image he wants, perhaps showing several examples in order to understand what he is looking for. Then I always show and discuss a draft before finishing an artwork. Any doubt at all should be discussed with the client. And finally there is the completion of the business contract, with invoice, payment and deliver of work.

AR: How much control and direction of the piece is left up to you?
GC: That is agreed previously. In a meeting, prior even to making a budget estimate, I try to know the maximum information of what is pretended. According to that, I can suggest some directions, and eventually convince the client about a certain solution. Somewhere in the middle of what he wants and what I can offer. But then, that’s the nature of any kind of communication.

AR: How much knowledge of a subject do you need prior to starting a piece of artwork?
GC: The more knowledge you have, the best. In my first commissions I spent a lot of time researching a subject. Now I am more aware of the plethora of this business, and I go straight to the point.
But then again, that’s the best part: when you do some research (increasingly mostly through the internet) and seek inspiration, and get in the mood of what you will be drawing in the next days.

AR: What research do you do?
GC: Every morning after checking my mailbox, I spend about 10-20 minutes reading through some websites (I have a few google alerts with keywords, and I receive some feeds through google reader), or browsing the news related to Cultural Heritage to be informed about what’s going on in the world, and where my services can be useful. I subscribe a few listserves on archaeology so I am up to date with things that might interest me, like courses, conferences of possible new commissions.
Then I do my work (usually illustration, which can involve research of images). For each new work I start a new learning curve, and the subjects vary. I can be researching typography, layout, history, landscape, survey methods, art materials, or just business stuff like podcasts on self employment, inspiration techniques, business outreach, and so on.

AR: How do you get your work to your clients?
GC: I hand a printed copy of the illustration and a CD or DVD with the digital illustration.

AR: How do you see the future of painting in this increasingly digital era?
GC: I think the computers don’t work on their own yet. The human factor is always the principal. You need to have your brain well trained in image reading to do images, to produce images. If you don’t know the principles of painting, composition, visual psychology, and the effect of images in people, then you can do nothing with a computer. The digital era is here to help us to gain time so we can spend that time learning more things. It is just another tool. A very good one.

New Site online

03 January 2009 | Permalink

Welcome to my new site, powered by indexhibit. From now on this will be my main portfolio agregator. Hope you enjoy it!