a chat with poster artist florencia fuertes

We cannot stop staring at the wall. Why? Well, it's got this cute-as-(strawberry)-pie frankie fellows bonus poster stuck to it. We had a chat with the Argentinian-based poster artist Florencia Fuertes about her sweet illustration, creative process and more! 

Tell us a little about your art and creative style. Most of my artwork is created digitally. I add some analogical media, and I really like using textures for my illustrations so they have a retro look about them. My creativity is very much inspired by ‘70s and ‘80s style – I’ve always loved the clothing and music of that era.

When and how did you first begin making art of any kind? Like most illustrators, I’ve loved drawing since I was a little kid. I had a random hiatus from drawing as a teenager and didn’t get back into it until I went to college to study graphic design. During the pandemic, I decided to use a lot of my newfound indoor time to draw on my iPad. Illustration has been a refuge for me over the past couple of years. I can spend hours creating and barely notice the time passing!  

How did your artwork (now featured as a frankie poster!) come to be? This artwork was inspired by the well-known strawberry dress by Lirika Matoshi. I’m no fashionista, but I do have an interest in creative fashion and I love cute things and this dress is the perfect culmination of those two things! When I saw the real dress, I knew I had to draw it. I also love the look of pumps with socks, so I knew I wanted to incorporate them with the outfit.

Where do you find inspiration and creative motivation? I find lots of inspiration by looking at photographs or watching music videos. I’m also a big K-pop fan because of how visual and graphic it is as a genre. I enjoy drawing things that happen in my everyday life, like, for example, when I got my drivers license and could think of nothing else but all road trips I want to go on! I created an artwork with a car driving down a road full of flowers, in between magical mountains. 

What’s next on your ‘to-draw’ list? I recently got back into photography as a hobby, so I’m really looking forward to working on an illustration/animation of an old camera. I love the look of old, vintage film cameras.

Where can we see more of your work? You can check out my work on Instagram at @florfu.