I was born in Florence in 1977 and have had a passion for drawing ever since I was a young child. Some of my all time favorite characters include Giannino Stoppani (THE DIARY OF GIAN BURRASCA), ALICE IN WONDERLAND Pippi Longstocking and Cosimo (THE BARON IN THE TREES).

 

I come from a large family, and my illustrations were a way for me to transform my tiny bedroom into a palace, a forest or even a space ship.

 

I’ve always loved getting lost in artwork, and of course creating my own. I attended the art high school in Florence and even with the horrible 5:15am wakeup call; I followed each lesson with passion. I went on to University graduating with a degree thesis in Theatrical Costume. This gave me the possibility to enter behind the scenes of the Florence Community theatre where I would be mesmerized. Even to this day sets, costumes and makeup still bewitch me.

 

After a brief pause in the world of restoration, I had a strong desire to return to my roots of drawing. Wanting to incorporate another passion of mine, cartoon animation, I enrolled a the Nemo NT Accademy of Florence. Three years later I left with a degree in cinema animation, and a baby on the way.

 

Along with becoming a mother, I began working at Cartobaleno studio where I participated in the creation of various TV cartoon series for RAI television. I worked there for three years.

 

At the same time I was working on cartoons I began exploring my interest for illustrating and decided to enter a contest (for the first time, at the last minute!) for the "Città del Sole" called “llustrator of the year - 2011”. I won the competition and was asked to design their 2012 calendar.

 

In 2012 I was selected as an annual Italian illustrator and in June of 2012 my second daughter was born.

 

2014 was a very eventful year. In March 2014 I was selected by a magazine, “Illustrati” by LOGOS, and in July my first book for EMME Pub. was released. I was also working on three other books, all with release dates in 2015. These titles included a book for the Einaudi group, an album for TOP THAT publishing and the first volume of a new kids series for Greenwillow books.

Barbara Cantini