Interview with Aurora Maeno - the artist behind our winter illustration!

Y: Tell us a little about yourself and your work, your artistic style and chosen medium, anything about your art that you feel is important.
A: Hello! My name is Aurora Maeno and I am an Italian-Japanese illustrator, passionate about winged creatures, nature, folklore and space. In my day-to-day life, I dedicate myself to different jobs, some of which are: teaching Digital Colouring at ACME, the Academy of Fine Arts in Novara; private collaborations, for fanzines or publishing, as well as self-publishing. Sometimes I enjoy helping out as language support for events (Italian-English-Japanese), whether paid or as a volunteer. In short, I do a bit of everything. If I get a nice opportunity, I jump at it, and if there is a need for help, I am happy to lend a hand.

To be honest, I wouldn't know exactly how to define my artistic style. Perhaps it could be defined as Euromanga, although my main influences come from 19th century illustration; from the Golden Age, to naturalistic-scientific illustrators such as Anton Seder and Ito Jakuchu, to Ukiyo-e, particularly the Shin-hanga movement. So let's say I take a lot from the classical world of illustration, although graphically I am closer to today's oriental comic taste.

As for the medium, I really like working traditionally, although I have been using digital means more in recent years. I don't have a specific technique of preference, as I always alternate so that I remain stimulated and enjoy everything. Indian ink, coloured pencils and watercolour are the ones that give me the most satisfaction.

Y: What is the art scene like in the area where you live, or where you come from?
A: Coming from academic art studies, there has always been a gap in understanding what is actually meant by Art: for most of the new generations, Art includes everything that is creative, but for those who have had a certain type of education and have a somewhat closed mentality, Art is a vocation for the few and exclusively includes what concerns past media and techniques, a mixture of hyperrealism, contemporary and avant-garde abstract. So I don't really know what to answer, because the art scene includes different realities, each of which believes that its is true ‘Art’. Taking into consideration the various facets of Art, I would say that the area I come from somewhat supports all aspects of it, both through the events and the publishing and gallery realities present, as well as those of education.

Y: What prompted you to enter the world of digital art? How did you start your artistic journey? Tell us about your course of study. Did you study anything specifically related to art or did your interest stem from something else?
A: I have been drawing since childhood. I did my first painting when I was two, during kindergarten, and I always doodled everywhere: a real nightmare for both parents and teachers. In high school, I attended the First Artistic High School in Turin, in what was the Visual Arts specialisation, and then threw myself into the world of formulas and calculations in Cinema and Media Engineering at Turin Polytechnic. I tried for two and a half years, but in the end I gave up my studies. I started again at the three-year degree course in Art Graphics at the Albertina Academy of Fine Arts in Turin, and then continued at the two-year degree course in the same subject, adding the FIT 24 CFA for teaching and a workshop in goldsmithing. Art Graphics includes all chalcographic and non-chalcographic techniques, so I would basically be an engraver/printer, with a preference for etching and non-polluting techniques, such as printing with tetrapaks and impressioning with anthotypes.

Education aside, which is mostly classical, as far as illustration and comics are concerned, I consider myself self-taught and rather ignorant of what the professional rules are. I admit that I have not read any books on handling and storytelling techniques, which is why I find myself somewhat embarrassed with friends, colleagues and yes, even with my students, because I do not know the specific designations or dynamics of storytelling in comics or illustration, other than those that are generic or known through short tutorials. However, I am a keen observer, an avid, punctilious reader and a critical analyser. This has allowed me to learn partially and chaotically what others may have learnt more thoroughly and with the right classifications in private or specific schools. In the end, I would say that I have a broad knowledge due to curiosity, but it remains superficial. This is why I do not call myself an artist, illustrator or cartoonist. I just draw!

When I draw, I go on the spur of the moment, by feeling, then once I've laid the foundations, I try to detach myself from the work and look at it as if I were a reader: what works? What doesn't work? What can be improved? Why? This way I can have an objective view of my work and adjust it where possible, within the possibilities of my limited abilities. In a nutshell: feeling and instinct first, then logic. As far as digital is concerned, I got my first graphics tablet when I was 16, I think. I couldn't afford big softwares at the time, so I used Krita and Gimp. Then a geeky friend managed to pass me Paint Tool SAI and there it was love at first sight, without SAI I struggle to draw digitally: it has a rendering of brushes and fluidity that reminds me a lot of traditional. Now I have the licensed version, fortunately!

Y: Art is a challenging, yet extremely satisfying field. What impact has it had on your life so far?
A: Art for me has always been an emotional outlet, a means of communication and self-discipline. I'm not good with words, in essays if I got a pass it was a party. Even now I still make a lot of mistakes with verb tenses and syntax. Very often I cannot communicate everything I would like and in the tone I would like through words. Drawing, on the other hand, helps me express myself better, synthesise and organise my thoughts. In recent years it has become my therapy. I feel the constant need to draw, sometimes I think it has become an obsession, a blessing, a curse, I don't know.

What I would like my ‘Art’ to be for others is serenity, calm, introspection, curiosity. In short, I would like people, when they see my work, to have a sense of tenderness and happy melancholy. Yes, it is an oxymoron. It's a bit of a strange concept, but I don't know how else to define it.

Y: Does your art allow you to support yourself economically? If not, is that a goal you have or not?
A: When I was young, I wanted to be a cartoonist. As I grew up, I realised my limitations. I have accepted this reality, so I just draw without ambition, in the hope that my works will be appreciated for what they are and that they will be able to leave something behind for those who look at them. I draw what I like, and what I want to communicate. Being a disillusioned idealist, tied to values that are perhaps a bit old-fashioned, I use drawing to convey messages for the purpose of dissemination and comfort. Since I realised my limitations, I have also felt freer from the expectations of others, but especially from my own. That is why from an ambition, Art became for me air to breathe, a cure from what oppresses me. Since then, I think my works have abandoned the virtuosity that kept them weighted down, and have taken on a more genuine aspect. With this progress, what started out as a hobby has perhaps become one of my main activities, although mentally I still consider it a hobby and not a job, because it helps me take a break from everyday life. For the time being I seem to be able to sustain myself/support us financially, and also have some savings.

The creative world is very precarious and flexible to tastes and fashions, so I have no certainty of what it will be in a few months, or a few years, who knows! I have the constant fear that what I create is not enough, neither in quality nor in content, that there is no longer any interest in what I propose. But even if disinterest should appear in the future, I will continue to draw anyway. As long as the garden produces what I have cultivated over the years, I will harvest. And if there is no more harvest, then I will think of alternatives. Life is a continuous change and adaptation to the conditions that arise, so setting oneself a single goal can become obsessive, harmful, restrictive. It is counterproductive for both personal and artistic growth.

Y: What platforms do you use to promote your work? Do you think they need to be fixed and improved in any way?
A: I am not a great promoter, I admit that. At the most, I can ‘plan’ the order or type of content to be published, but basically it's all a bit cut and dry. I have sometimes drawn what I had to publish 10 minutes before the post. I'm not really an example for too many things, even though from an external point of view it looks like I'm organised! I mainly use Instagram, then Twitter/X for the fandoms I'm connected to. I recently started using Bsky. I have a Facebook page, but I'm using it less and less. There are a few things to improve on the platforms (from image protection, to the type of content) and you always have to pray that you are lucky to come across the right algorithm. In short, it is very challenging.

Y: Have you ever had problems with copyright and its management?
A: I don't think so? Regarding the sharing and use of the images and content I publish, I have found them randomly on Pinterest or shared on other platforms without credits, but I put my name on everything now, so even without credits I hope that somehow those who are interested can find me that way. I know of some artist friends who are much better known than I am, whose designs have been taken to make merch that is then resold on other platforms, so there you have to be a bit more vigilant. Even when I finalise production with factories, I always make sure that the producer doesn't leak the designs. Then I don't know if there is anything out there that is sold randomly - the world of the web is so wide and fast, that it is impossible to have control over what is shared.

Y: Are you in favour of Artificial Intelligences using your art to enrich their database?
A: I will be blunt: NO. I am not in favour at all. If others are OK with them using their work, OK, but as for mine, I don't want them to become fodder for the AIs. I can understand if they are used for private purposes, i.e. only out of curiosity or for studies that are used exclusively in the personal sphere, but I do not accept that they are exploited for commercial and communication work. It is disrespectful to those who for years finance and dedicate themselves to studying and developing their own path, as well as those who make a living from creativity to be able to afford a piece of bread at the end of the month.

Y: What would you change about the current art scene if you could? What do you expect from the future of art?
A: If we stay in the aspect that includes Visual Arts, I hope that they will soon be included in the concept of Gallery/Museum Art. There is a basic prejudice that Illustration is not Art, but for those who accept it as such, they do not accept Comics. And again, for those who consider comics to be Art, there is a discriminatory veil, in that they only consider Art Comics (the classic one that is becoming somewhat obsolete) as Art, and denigrate manga. But even here there is an even broader discourse to be addressed and developed, because the majority of the comic strip industry is not the same as manga. But even here there is a broader discourse to be addressed and developed, because most of the time those who speak of manga refer to its purely graphic aspect. But manga is a narrative technique. The graphic aspect is a separate thing, and with all the contaminations and hybridisations that the current and world generation is developing, limiting such original and personal styles to categorisations is reductive and belittling.

I therefore hope that, as in other nations of the world, Art can encompass all its facets, without limitations, but still maintaining a certain level and taste. What is creative, should be considered Art indiscriminately.

Y: What do you think about the management of artist alleys at comic conventions nowadays? Are there any experiences you would like to share with us?
A: I might get controversial and problematic. I will try to restrain myself, but there is so much to say, and so much to take action on. I will limit myself to talking about Artist Alley in two main aspects: the community of participating artists and the organisational part.

Of the former, I have an ambiguous view. I'll preface this by saying that I always try to stay as far away from communities as possible, because I don't like to group, as it feels a bit elitist to me, or maybe it's because of little traumas I've had with friends and at school in the past. Basically I'm someone who hops around here and there and likes to meet new people and change the air. For Italian conventions, however, I have a closer circle of artist friends with whom I find more comfort and affinity. For foreign events, on the other hand, I generally get on well with everyone, the artists who participate express a lot of enthusiasm for what they do, and I appreciate that very much. With the others I get on well, they are very nice, but sometimes I hear a bit of drama anecdotes from which I want to be excluded, at most just to know what happens, but as an outside observer.  From what I have heard from others and what I have sometimes perceived, perhaps there is a little too much competitiveness between artists, envy or jealousy, a kind of ambition perhaps a little too much for whoever gets to do or earn something first and then have exclusivity. 

As for the organisational part of Artist Alley, I could go on too long. I will try to be brief, generalise and organise my thoughts, but there is so much, too much to say, mostly problems. First of all, I am noticing that in the last year, the amount of artists applying has increased compared to when I started. Which of course leads to selection for most events, unless you are a friend of a friend, or you know the organiser, you get the picture. One of these cases, I won't name names and I won't go into detail because you would immediately understand which event I am referring to (but those who follow me on social media already know about certain dynamics), is for a convention that I only manage to attend because a friend of mine is pretty much a secret genius. For other events it is a constant barrage of e-mails, especially for free places, because for the Self Area, basically, you just pay.

There is an organisation for a series of very good and well-structured conventions whose Artistic Director of the Artist Alley is rather difficult to find unless he likes you, which is why I often go directly to the organisers of the Self Area, who are quicker and more efficient, even if you have to pay for the stand. In general, apart from this series of conventions, places in Artist Alley are not free.

Another con in my area in particular is known by all artists for having the worst organiser. He is immediately recognised for his less than friendly and humble ways, and for rules that have no logical basis. Other events just don't respond, people remain in limbo for eternity, even after sending like 10-20 e-mails. In a nutshell: so much demand, so little response, unless you are an affiliate or a friend of affiliates, there is always a bit of a strange ride.

A couple of years ago I started exhibiting in Europe. I started at this event in France, one of the main ones in Paris, thanks to a group of veteran artist friends from foreign conventions, who had invited me to go with them. This event already had a complicated application process the first year I participated, but from year to year it became more and more ridiculous. Since last year, to apply in the hobbyist spaces that cost less (so to speak, because 700-800 euros is still the minimum participants must pay), they require you to send in a portfolio, to testify that you have a job that is not that of an artist that takes up at least 26 hours a week, a salary receipt no older than three months, a residence document (rental contract/gas and electricity bills), if the residence document is not attested to you you must also send the documents to which it is attested and a certificate confirming that you live with this person, ID, etc. Some documents we would not even be required to share for a matter of privacy and especially because it has been known that personal information has been leaked to the public. This is not legal. Otherwise, if you don't get accepted in the hobbyist area, you go to the professional area, but we are talking about a minimum of 1600 euro stand, which is a lot of money to invest.

Apart from this particular convention, the others abroad are mainly based on selection, due to the large number of applications they receive. On an organisational level, they are perhaps a little better managed than the Italian ones, even many months in advance of the actual event. Some events include entire halls solely dedicated to artists, which is unthinkable for an Italian event. On this subject, however, there are a few small, but very well-run conventions here in Italy dedicated only to artists and illustrators. Most of them are in lesser-known cities or towns and unfortunately go unnoticed because they coincide with larger commercial events.

I am not of the opinion that conventions in general will be able to sustain the ever-increasing demand for participation, especially if they limit themselves to having the same exhibitors and the same spaces, without giving more importance to artists. And artists will also need to have a qualitative leap in their production, if they want to make a living from this, as the offer increases, but the availability of those who support is limited. Sometimes, unfortunately, I seem to perceive that people produce just to sell or to get notoriety, with a loss of quality and a homogenisation in the products on offer that stand out little from the commercial side. I apologise for being so critical and judgmental in this respect, it is an observation as an outsider (like when I draw, I just disassociate myself from what the context is and analyse it as it presents itself to me).

Having said this, I will conclude, although there is still much to be said and examined. I am infinitely grateful to those who for years or who even just recently have been supporting me and my work as a designer. It sincerely heartens me to know that there is someone who likes my work and is enthusiastic about the quirky and super niche projects I propose. I hope that they can leave a positive mark on other people's daily lives. And that they stimulate knowledge and understanding.

We would like to thank Aurora infinitely for sharing her point of view and her precious experience with us, in the hope that it may be useful to you should you wish to approach this world. If you're interested, you can see more of her work at this link. We wish you a happy holiday season!

Yako.