Let's Talk Illustrators #389: Lorenzo Sangiò

It was such a pleasure talking to Lorenzo Sangiò about The Night Giant, written by Lorenzo Coltellacci! Take a sneak peek with me behind the process of illustrating this sweet book with a giant heart (and an actual giant!).

About the book:

Not everyone believes in the Giant. After all, he only comes out at night when everyone in the village is asleep. But those who believe see signs of him in the morning, such as benches stacked into a tower or roofs that have changed overnight. One child claims to have seen him using cars as roller skates! No one is sure where the Giant goes during the day or who he really is. But they do know he'll be back again soon for more mischievous play!

Let's talk Lorenzo Sangiò!

LTPB: How did you become the illustrator of The Night Giant? What were the first images that popped into your mind when you saw Lorenzo Coltellacci’s text?

LS: Lorenzo Coltellacci reached out to me a few years ago, sending me the text. Normally, I don’t take on manuscripts directly from authors because I usually work with publishers. Accepting a text from an author means working on it without the certainty of publication, and then having to search for a publisher. But partly because at the time I was still at the beginning of my career, and partly because I found the story truly beautiful, I decided to give it a try. Some time before, I had illustrated a book set in Scotland, and I wanted to draw the architecture of a small Scottish village again, so the first images I imagined were all about the setting. Then came the design of the giant.

LTPB: What did you find most difficult in creating this book? What did you find most rewarding?

LS: I think the most difficult part was the fact that the book is set at night, but it is aimed at very young children. So it couldn’t be “too dark.” I found a balance by using an ultramarine blue, which makes the scenes feel nocturnal but never dull. The most rewarding part was illustrating the landscape bathed in moonlight and placing this big, goofy giant in relation to it. Another challenge was choosing the cover. At first, I had designed a more classic cover, in line with the interior of the book, but the editor at Palomita (the original French edition) asked me for something more graphic that would fit better within their catalog. So I changed the cover, putting the giant in the foreground with a yellow background. For the Italian edition, however, we decided to use the cover I had originally chosen.

LTPB: What did you use to create the illustrations in this book? Is this your preferred medium? How does your process change from book to book?

LS: This book was created entirely with watercolor and a bit of colored pencil for the outlines. For many years I worked primarily in watercolor, but more recently I’ve been using gouache more often because it helps me achieve brighter and more luminous colors. Over the years, I’ve experimented with many techniques: colored pencils, watercolors, inks, gouache, graphite, and digital. These explorations have helped me get to know myself as an illustrator. Today, I mainly work with two approaches: watercolor/gouache, and graphite/digital color. Depending on the project, I choose the most suitable technique. My mainstay remains watercolor and gouache, but sometimes (especially for a series of books I illustrate for a French publisher), I work in graphite with digital color. This allows me to switch things up a bit and avoid falling into a repetitive routine.

LTPB: What are you working on now? Anything you can show us?

LS: Funnily enough, I’m actually working right now on another book that’s entirely set at night! It’s the second time, after the giant book, that I’m illustrating a fully nocturnal project. I can’t reveal anything yet, but it will be published in France next year!

LTPB: If you got the chance to write your own picture book autobiography, who (dead or alive!) would you want to illustrate it, and why?

LS: If I could aim high, I’d say Richard Scarry! He is no longer with us, but he shaped the childhood of so many of us. Several colleagues have told me that my work reminds them of this great master’s poetic world, and I think that’s the most beautiful compliment I’ve ever received.

Imagining my own life translated into Scarry’s universe fills me with joy.

A GIANT THANK YOU to Lorenzo! The Night Giant published earlier this month from Kids Can Press!

Special thanks to Lorenzo and Kids Can for use of these images!

This post contains affiliate links. For more information, visit my policies & disclosures page