The art of illustration is a discipline which, as many other art forms, gives you the possibility to test your ideas, drastically change them and maybe go back to your starting point. It allows you to create and destroy in a never-ending process, through different styles and languages in constant evolution and transformation.
Lucio Schiavon, illustrator and Graphic Designer with a background formation at Accademia delle Belle Arti and Fabrica, never slows down. Schiavon is always looking for something new: lines, strokes, instrumentation. This is what makes him stand up, and what we like about him. We can see his hand dance and move on the paper without any rules – except for his own – while he tells us about promenades at Castello, Giudecca and Sant’Elena.
As of today, it is easy to feel a little Venetian, even if you land in the city for the very first time, because of the instant emotional pull that makes you love Venice unconditionally. It is a city always under the spotlight, where you can never be at the centre of attention as Venice snatches it from you, like a real protagonist does. It bewitches you and enraptures you.
By listening to Lucio and by looking at him as he was drawing, we thought he is a bit like Venice itself: unmatched and outside of the box. For some part carrying his Murano origins and for the other being his origin himself, he drifts away from the label of “Venetian illustrator” to embrace the beauty of all cities, because “it is only when you leave your borders that you learn to understand and love your nest”.
On one hand, we have his collaborations with Fondaco dei Tedeschi, the reusable bottles for Ca’ Foscari and the illustrations for Barena. On the other, the live sketches with the skateboards of Settestrati, his works for Agenzia Armando Testa and various book covers. Among his prizes we count the International Motion Art Award in New York and the Inter Film Festival Short Movie in Berlin, 2015.
A piece of advice for inexperienced illustrators? Remembering that talent is not only being able to draw, but also nourishing your own personality. It is a concept that transcends the mere action of “what you do” and lands on “what you are”. Do not be compliant, make a difference with your character, beyond your technical abilities. In the end, be a nice person.
After all, our friendship with Lucio grew fonder mostly thanks to how our personalities met one another.
