10 Questions with Teresa de Aranda
Teresa de Aranda is a Spanish Illustrator currently working from the southern city of Caravaca de la Cruz. Her work is both contemporary and steeped in traditional foundations; full of mystery and fantasy that blends surreal elements with colourful playfulness. It is work rooted in a careful and detailed 'lyric', which shapes scenes that tend to hide inner meanings. Here, our issue 10 cover illustrator let's us into some of her process and the work that gets her most excited.
Could you define the approach or philosophy of your work?
My philosophy is to embrace constant evolution in my work. I neither seek nor obsess over a personal style or brand, because I’ve realized that it naturally exists, it inevitably accompanies you. If you’re someone who is eager to keep exploring, my philosophy stems from love and enthusiasm for this profession. My drawings were initially in black and white, until I opened a small window to colour, and now I feel comfortable using it as well. I try to maintain a lot of creative openness and translate what I’ve learned into an honest graphic space, doing my own thing technically and bringing into my universe. I really enjoy incorporating symbolism and double meanings into my work.
Above: 'I will call you Sadness'
Which piece of work or project have you learned the most from and why?
At the moment, I am growing and learning a lot while working on a comic that I’m developing in secret. I can’t reveal anything yet. I believe this is my greatest challenge. Being a single mother and managing all kinds of survival strategies within the creative world, like offering workshops to children, taking commissions, and finding time for personal projects, is undoubtedly a continuous learning process. Every job brings valuable lessons in growth and evolution.
What are the skills do you think needed of a good art director and how does it help to improve your work?
Knowing how to guide the creative process toward the final goal is essential. It is important to ensure that all elements of the project maintain a coherent and appealing visual language, and that they have the ability to enrich and contribute to the work if necessary. Being clear with parameters and guidelines, conveying confidence, kindness, and trust, and being flexible or open-minded enough to consider different solutions for the same proposal are all valuable qualities. Empathy and attentive listening are also key. In the end, the best results always come from feeling comfortable and motivated, and art directors have helped me make my work bigger and stronger.
Above: 'She Wolf'
How important is research to your work and why does it matter?
Research is indispensable. It means starting the project from the ground up. It acts as a guiding thread between humanity’s collective experience and my own personal perspective. It’s about truly understanding what I am doing. It’s working with informed intent. It’s not working on something superficial, merely aesthetic, or empty. I couldn’t understand my work without prior research, which is also evident when it connects with the audience.
Left: Cactus Lover / Right: The Murcianer No.8 cover
Which illustrator alive or dead do you most admire and why?
Ana Juan is a Spanish illustrator whose work I have always felt a strong connection with. I am drawn to the balance she achieves between the beautiful and the unsettling, and to her very personal iconography. I also admire the atmosphere she creates in her visual storytelling.
What is one part of your working process that you do well, something you could improve and something you wish you never had to do again?
I believe I am very good at composition and balance, ensuring that nothing feels uncomfortable to the eye. I struggle a lot with this and try to do it as well as possible. Everything could be improved—there’s always room for improvement. I would like to continue exploring textures that give the final appearance. Hopefully, I will never take on commissions again that are only for money and don’t fulfil or motivate me enough.
Above: 'Sinners' Spread for Issue 10: Journeys and Destinations
Above: 'The Staring Girl'
What is your favorite film poster and what film do you wish you could have done the poster for?
I love Matthew Peak's poster for A Nightmare on Elm Street, a classic horror film starring Freddy Krueger. Roger Kastel's Jaws is also a great poster. And Javier Jaén's poster for Pedro Almodovar's Parallel Mothers, for its synthesis and conceptualization. I would love to illustrate movie posters for films like Village of the Damned. For this film, I created an analogue drawing using black pencil and bleach. I’m also drawn to Black Swan and other horror movies, and I made an illustration inspired by that film as well.
Left: A Nightmare on Elm Street / Right: Parallel Mothers
Above: Village of the Damned
What film do you recommend to others most often and why?
Let the Right One In (2008), because aside from being a huge fan of vampire films, there’s something in this one that goes beyond the genre. It focuses on a unique way of connecting between beings; it speaks about childhood loneliness, about being different and misunderstood, about the desire to be accepted.
Above: Black Swan
What object from a film do you wish you could own and why?
The typewriter from The Shining for my creative process, and Marty McFly’s self-lacing sneakers from Back to the Future 2.
The great film critic Roger Ebert described film as an 'empathy machine' suggesting it is a way for us to connect fully with lives and experiences of others that we will never ourselves live. With this in mind, what film have you watched that has had the greatest impact on you emotionally and tell us why if you can?
The last film I watched was Frankenstein, directed by Guillermo del Toro. I connect with the character of Elizabeth and her ability to see someone beyond their appearance or nature—finding love in someone who was created by a person who took no moral responsibility for that creation. It has so many layers and such a rich aesthetic style that I would recommend over and over again. ∆
Teresa illustrated the Sinners cover and insert feature for Issue 10: Journeys and Destinations