We all grew up listening to stories. Stories that made us dream and learn, stories that scared or calmed us, stories that were crucial to discover the world and understand our context. Many stories were an expression of our own identity, and helped us attach or detach from the culture we grew up in.

Humans are storytellers by nature, and gathering to tell stories is part of our shared experience in this world. Whatever relation you had with those stories, there's no denying that they are part of who you are, of who you became.

In this laboratory/workshop, stories will be an excuse, or even better, a catalyst, to learn and explore with different illustration techniques; they will serve as a foundation that allows us to explore, go through our own processes, find our style and produce various results. We will dive, brush in hand, through the world of storytelling, and we will celebrate the rich diversity of backgrounds we have in our Master's Programme, by illustrating and reinterpreting the stories that are close to our hearts, and that reflect our identity.

From watercolours, coloured pencils, markers, gouache, ink, and charcoal, all the way to linoleum carving, embroidery (yes!, needle painting is a way of illustration), and collage, images can be created in many ways. Which one is your favourite technique? Which new one do you want to experiment with? The lab will start with watercolours, and then we'll move on to explore other materials you may have at hand.

Our final project will be an illustrated book of the story of your choice, as well as some products derived from your illustrations.

Note: For this lab, you will need a sketchbook for your process, moodboards, notes and initial ideas; watercolour paper, a small watercolour set, brushes and pencils (you could borrow them from fellow students who took my workshops in past semesters), cotton cloth for cleaning your brushes, some cups for water, ink fineliners, pencils and coloured pencils, as well as any other materials you may want to experiment with.

We will also explore some digital tools, so you will also need to have a computer with Photoshop and Illustrator, or any other image editing software of your choice, as well as InDesign (or a similar software) to create the book.