Hello, Gloria, I can't help but catch you at the door and ask you directly - tell me now what is this book that you have prepared for us to present at the end of November 2021?
The idea or rather the dream of a book was born more than 3 years ago, but at that time I didn't feel good enough and prepared enough to take this step. I pushed it back in my mind and let it grow and develop slowly. Over the past few years, I have been working on my digital drawing skills, creating illustrations and tutorials (for Patreon) and gradually filling a huge folder with materials.
At the beginning of 2021, I told myself that it was time, that I would never feel completely ready and fearless to publish it, and the isolation this year gave me enough extra time to work on it.
How did you get motivated for it and what were the examples (books and/or authors) that inspired you (I love this Bulgarian word so much) to create this book?
To be honest, “art book” is a rather new and incomprehensible concept for Bulgarian publishers. I tried to find similar books in the largest bookstores, but without success. I will start by explaining what an “art book” is, because I am sure that there will be people who encounter this definition for the first time.
An art book is a collection of works, it can be illustrations, paintings, photographs, etc., in short, an album with the proudest works of a given artist. The first such books I got hold of were “Art of Loish” and “The Sketchbook of Loish” by Lois Van Baarle (my very favorite illustrator), then I discovered “Sketch every day” by Simone Grünewald. Gradually, I also discovered books by Bulgarian artists – “Draw with Angel” by Angel Ganev, “Inspire” by Viktor Kalvachev, “The art of Eliza Ivanova” and “Art of Miro Petrov”. All of these books motivated me immensely and also gave me direction.
Since this interview will be released online before the book, what teasers will you be releasing? Give us some inside information.
I can reveal that the book will be 120 pages with hardcover. There are several sections such as “Creative Path”, “First Steps in Digital Drawing” and “Step by Step” where I show my process of working on my various illustrations. But if I have to be honest, my favorite section is “Learned Over Time”, in it I talk and show about the lessons (and tricks) that I learned over time and practice such as “Comfort Zone”, “Color Editing” and “Social Media”.
Another thing I can reveal is that the book can be pre-ordered until 11/25/21 complete with prints, stickers and a badge from here.
We followed your quest online on your YouTube channel, which step (apart from finding the right door in the NBKM) was the most difficult for you?
Even when I was planning all this at the beginning of 2021, I said to myself “How interesting it would be (at least for me) to see this entire process of creating a book…” and that’s how the “Art of Glory” series was born, in which I share my process in short episodes from planning, finding a printing house, working with an editor, designing the cover and pages, organizing an event and a million other little things that I would never have thought of in advance. And the hardest part for me was writing the texts, because my head is often in chaos and different ideas and concepts fly around, but when you write a text that is for someone else, this text should be readable and easy to understand. This is the moment when I want to thank Juliana Lefedzhieva for the editing and all the guidance.
(This is the place to share that I am a fan of Gloria's channel and laughed through tears at the story about the ISBN, and you can watch her channel and subscribe to it here – GloryArt – b.a.)
Good luck to you and the book, because once it's out, you know, it takes on a life of its own. What would you wish for it?
I hadn't thought about it, but I would really like to wish it to fall into the right hands. I would like it to be read by people who would find it useful.
And finally – what would you say to anyone who is afraid to go into a printing house?
To anyone who wants to publish something of their own, I would say that you don’t need to work with a publishing house, you don’t need to print a large print run, you don’t need to work with the biggest printing house. You need an idea, hard work and a good team.
Thank you and see you at the opening of the exhibition and the presentation of the book. Don't forget – November 30, 2021, “Café Altruist”, 49 Ekzarh Yosif St., 7:00 PM. Wear masks and… what else should they wear? Gloria, you invited them.
With the greatest pleasure, I would like to invite everyone who is interested in digital and traditional drawing (even if they are taking their first steps now) to the presentation of my first book of illustrations “Art of Glory” on November 30 at Café Altruist (49 Ekzarh Yosif St. from 7:00 PM) – here is the Facebook event. In addition to meeting and chatting, showing you the book, there will be wine and something to eat, at least for the first ones.
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