For me, the difference between travel photography and travel drawing is...
"... is that drawings allow you to portray things that are otherwise not very visible. I can work with text and comments, capture the essence, leave out what would be a distraction and add what is missing. Besides, the lovely thing about drawing is that it lays no claim to objectivity or reality. It has been filtered, so to speak, while with photographs one often has the feeling: that’s the way it is."
When I draw...
"... then I always try, above all, to tell stories, and with humour. If drawing on the spot, I identify a particular section or detail that I would like to capture and then try to further reduce the scene down to its essence – through comments, reduction or exaggeration. What’s also great is that the actual process of drawing continues over a longer period of time. If I spend 15 minutes or two hours sitting somewhere, something is bound to happen while I’m there and I include this in one way or another in the illustration. On the other hand, if I am drawing at home and trying to reproduce a situation from memory, then I think about what I can use that would best convey my impressions to the observer. This is even further removed from reality and is more the deconstruction of an idea."
I have been inspired by the drawings of...
"... Sempé and Saul Steinberg – and not only on my travels. I think I am relatively classical in my style of drawing. What I also really and truly like about the two is their subtle humour and humanity, an interest in other people, and in how astonishing people are. I am happy when I can convey just how amazed I am by people and culture, how extraordinary or also how wonderful."
I would still like to travel to...
"... Cape Verde, for example, and capture the country’s music. I have been thinking for a while now about how I can combine my work with my love for music. I discovered the music of Cape Verde while living in Lisbon; I am totally moved by the more recent music, above all. I would like to find a way of collaborating with musicians: How I, as an illustrator and storyteller, can not only react to music, by designing a cover, for instance, but how we can genuinely create something together."
My travel literature on my next trip will include...
"... will probably include a thriller or a novel from and about the country that I am travelling to. One learns so much from someone who tells about his country."
