Francesca is an Italian artist with a love of travel

Francesca Cosanti is an Italian artist with a love of travel. She enjoys both the travel itself and the inspiration she can get by visiting new places or going back home to the countryside. Francesca has been drawing since she was a child, and after high school, she decided to study illustration and animation at the IED Rome.  Francesca mainly works digitally, in Photoshop and Procreate.

During her studies, she started illustrating greeting cards for a small Italian company. Now a freelance illustrator, working with various publishing companies and advertising agencies, Francesca is an award-winning illustrator, a member of the Association of Italian Image Authors, and has published several books in Italy and abroad. Although Francesca loves illustrating books, she hopes to gain more work in editorial and advertising.

In her free time, Francesca dedicates herself to her passions; food, swimming, books, travel, theatre, and photography. She also loves taking long walks with her dog, Pina, and chatting with her three cats. Francesca enjoys reading as a way to escape from reality and get new inspiration. When working, she enjoys watching a movie or TV show in the background.

When did you start illustrating?

I had a great passion for drawing since I was little, but I officially started illustrating after high school, in the first year of the European Institute of Design

Who has been the most supportive in your illustration career, perhaps your teacher, family, friends?

Absolutely my family and my husband, who is my number one fan and my best friend too.

Did you always think art was something that was going to be a major part of your life?

Yes, always. When I was very little I loved taking photos, especially of animals and my stuffed animals, and I was never tired of leafing through my parents' big, heavy art books. They smelled so good and familiar…I didn't know in what form, but I knew that art would always be present in my life.

What is your favourite subject matter to illustrate?

I love drawing animals above all else. It amuses me and puts me at ease.

How would you describe your style?

After many changes of direction... my style is simple and colourful, but I like to add details, architectures and textures.

What is your favourite collaboration to date?

I really enjoyed collaborating last year with Lattes Editore which deals with scholastics, because it left me free to express myself at my best, it entrusted itself completely to me and therefore I managed to produce illustrations of which I was widely satisfied. But, even if it was a small collaboration, perhaps my favourite collaboration was, some years ago, with SUD EST DONNE, an association that deals with violence against women, because I was able to test myself by dealing with really important topics.

What interested you about being represented by Illo Agency?

First of all because I really enjoyed interfacing with Amy during the ItsMe Mentorship Program. But also because I like Illo's philosophy, the way of giving visibility to its artists and the clients it chooses.

Do you have a favourite author, film director, or designer?

My favourite author is Fred Vargas, I love her noir books, one of my favourite film director is Wes Andersen, especially because his colour palettes are truly inspiring, my favourite artist is Niki de Saint Phalle (I don't know if we can call her a designer, but she had her own vision for everything)

Are you working on any personal projects you can share with us?

Yes, these days I launched a project of mine, which is really close to my heart, on Kickstarter. The project is called “DOGS FROM THE WORLD - A lovely collection of our best friends portraits”. What I want to create is a book full of portraits of dogs and their human friends from all over the world. A collection with dogs,  noses, eyes, paws, ears, people, bellies, hands, colours and so on. In last years, especially in 2020, to bring some happiness, during the pandemic, I started this series of illustrations. I thought about how much happiness gives me spending time with my dog ​​Pina, looking after her, playing with her, learning to understand her and teaching her to understand me. I thought about how many people would do for their dogs and I started the first commissioned portraits until I decided to try to develop a project. Since I was too busy with work I had to left it on standby for a couple of years and started again recently. I really hope I can complete this successfully!

Do you listen to podcasts? If so, do you have a favourite?

I haven't tried podcasts yet, but I think they would be useful to me while I work, since I usually put on a film or a TV series, but in the end I don't watch it, I just listen to it :)

If you’d like more info, please contact: [email protected]

At illo agency, we pride ourselves in representing a collation of global illustrators, distinctly diverse in creativity and uniquely celebrated by like-minded clients across a range of commercial markets.