For me, the difference between travel photos and travel drawings is...
"... above all, time. I can take a photo in a fraction of a second. While drawing, I need between two minutes and two hours, depending on the details. As an illustrator, I deal with a subject quite differently. I have to look very carefully and offer people the opportunity to watch me work. As I sat and drew on the streets in India, Haiti or Nigeria, people could look over my shoulder and ask what I was doing – and I could ask them questions, too. For me, drawing was always a door opener to the people and their stories."
When I draw...
"... I look closely and discover what interests me about the subjects, which I often choose subconsciously or on a whim. I experience a great deal about the world and also about myself. Sometimes I’m totally immersed in myself while drawing; then it’s like meditating. But sometimes I’m annoyed the entire time, because the drawing is turning out differently than I imagined. I’m also learning to live with mistakes. Sometimes, when I “misdraw,” the result is something completely new."
On my travels, I was inspired – in part – by drawings...
"... by comic artists I’ve read a lot. Hugo Pratt, for example, and his Corto Maltese. But also Joann Sfar; not all of his books speak to me, but Pascin is very spontaneous, sometimes just thrown down, because Sfar doesn’t make preliminary drawings. I’ve borrowed a lot from that. Otherwise, I’m inspired by the drawings of the people around me, my studio colleagues, friends, and often also the local artists."
I would like to travel...
"... to the US and to more African countries and capture the great landscapes and less touristy places. Most of all, I’m interested in regions where other people may not want to go. I like the friction."
On my next trip...
"... my travel reading will include a book from the country I’m travelling to."