Sabrina Gabrielli
Illustrator
Illustrator
March 2014
In May 2014, Grossett & Dunlap released the first four Nancy Drew books with new covers.
Through special arrangement with Target stores, they were relased exclusively from February to May and
were on store shelves with a special matching display.
The illustrator for these special editions is Sabrina Gabrielli, a young artist from Italy.
I had the great pleasure of corresponding with her. Sabrina was kind enough to sign my books and
included some postcards of her other work which you can see below. Sabrina
gives us a fresh, but classic, approach. Scroll down to read
a Q & A with Sabrina and be sure to check out her website:
www.mynameisbri.com
Nancy Drew display from Target stores advertising the exclusivity of the pre-release of the new Nancy Drew covers at their stores.
The above images are examples of Sabrina Gabrielli's other artwork as used on postcards.
Below is my Q&A with Sabrina Gabrielli as featured in The Sleuth issue #46 from March/April 2014:
1.) Have you lived in Italy all your life?
Yes, I lived in Italy since my birth (except some months abroad for a study exchange during university). My hometown is in the south of Italy, right on the “heel of
the boot": Rutigliano. I moved to Rome when I started university, in the 2000.
2.) How did you become interested in illustration?
I always loved illustrations. I'm more confident with a pencil than with words. Since I was 8, my dream was to write and illustrate books and comics. I remember I spent
hours on my little projects. I would really like to find those old drawings. During my university years, I attended a three year corse of comics and illustration. After
graduation I worked as product designer and art director for 6 years, but it wasn't really what I wanted to do… so I decided to follow my heart and go back to illustration!
I started my career as a freelancer illustrator at the beginning of 2012.
3.) Do you have a favorite medium to work in or that you work with more often?
I had my "watercolor" period, my "bic" pen moment, and a "pastels" time. Now I'm working a lot with technical pens and photoshop (for the coloring part). Since
last summer I started to experiment screen printing together with my husband. It’s awesome creating prints all by yourself!
4.) Were you familiar with Nancy Drew? Did you read them growing up and if so, were they in Italian or English language?
I knew Nancy Drew, but just as character. I started to read ND books when I was asked to illustrate the covers for the new edition. I read the english version.
5.) How did you get chosen to do the covers for the US edition? It must be exciting to see them published.
Mallory Grigg (the amazing art director I worked with) wrote me and she asked me to draw some proposals for the new edition of ND books. I think she noticed some
illustrations of mine on the web. (I was surely lucky!!!) I started to sketch in the autumn of 2012. On february 2013 I was confirmed to illustrate the first four covers.
Well…YES! It is REALLY exciting to see your illustrations published. I'm still jumping for the happiness!
6.) Were you given specific instructions on what they wanted or were you given free reign? How long did it take to create each cover and in what medium?
I had a lot of freedom, no strict direction. The brief was simple: redesign the covers with a fresh and modern style. The ND covers have been illustrated with technical
pens and colored with photoshop. All the textures are hand drawed (sparkles, little lines, gears…) Usually, once selected the sketch, I spent from four to six day
working on every illustration (pencil, ink and colour). Anyway the executive part was short compared to the time waiting for all the approvals!
7.) Do you plan on doing any more of the Nancy Drew covers and what does your future hold?
I really hope I can collaborate once again with G&D and draw other Nancy Drew covers! At the moment my most important and difficult “project” is being a mom of a
one year old little boy. I’ve got less free time but much more energy: I never felt so creative as in this period!
Please, excuse me for the poor english and the very possible grammar mistakes I made!!!
Thank you so much for your kindness and this interview.
It means a lot for me your appreciation!
1.) Have you lived in Italy all your life?
Yes, I lived in Italy since my birth (except some months abroad for a study exchange during university). My hometown is in the south of Italy, right on the “heel of
the boot": Rutigliano. I moved to Rome when I started university, in the 2000.
2.) How did you become interested in illustration?
I always loved illustrations. I'm more confident with a pencil than with words. Since I was 8, my dream was to write and illustrate books and comics. I remember I spent
hours on my little projects. I would really like to find those old drawings. During my university years, I attended a three year corse of comics and illustration. After
graduation I worked as product designer and art director for 6 years, but it wasn't really what I wanted to do… so I decided to follow my heart and go back to illustration!
I started my career as a freelancer illustrator at the beginning of 2012.
3.) Do you have a favorite medium to work in or that you work with more often?
I had my "watercolor" period, my "bic" pen moment, and a "pastels" time. Now I'm working a lot with technical pens and photoshop (for the coloring part). Since
last summer I started to experiment screen printing together with my husband. It’s awesome creating prints all by yourself!
4.) Were you familiar with Nancy Drew? Did you read them growing up and if so, were they in Italian or English language?
I knew Nancy Drew, but just as character. I started to read ND books when I was asked to illustrate the covers for the new edition. I read the english version.
5.) How did you get chosen to do the covers for the US edition? It must be exciting to see them published.
Mallory Grigg (the amazing art director I worked with) wrote me and she asked me to draw some proposals for the new edition of ND books. I think she noticed some
illustrations of mine on the web. (I was surely lucky!!!) I started to sketch in the autumn of 2012. On february 2013 I was confirmed to illustrate the first four covers.
Well…YES! It is REALLY exciting to see your illustrations published. I'm still jumping for the happiness!
6.) Were you given specific instructions on what they wanted or were you given free reign? How long did it take to create each cover and in what medium?
I had a lot of freedom, no strict direction. The brief was simple: redesign the covers with a fresh and modern style. The ND covers have been illustrated with technical
pens and colored with photoshop. All the textures are hand drawed (sparkles, little lines, gears…) Usually, once selected the sketch, I spent from four to six day
working on every illustration (pencil, ink and colour). Anyway the executive part was short compared to the time waiting for all the approvals!
7.) Do you plan on doing any more of the Nancy Drew covers and what does your future hold?
I really hope I can collaborate once again with G&D and draw other Nancy Drew covers! At the moment my most important and difficult “project” is being a mom of a
one year old little boy. I’ve got less free time but much more energy: I never felt so creative as in this period!
Please, excuse me for the poor english and the very possible grammar mistakes I made!!!
Thank you so much for your kindness and this interview.
It means a lot for me your appreciation!