Inside the charming and colourful sketchbook of illustrator and animator Carlotta Notaro

Carlotta Notaro is an Italian freelance illustrator and animator who combines analogue pencils with digital colours in Photoshop. She has worked on a lot of very different projects and with a mix of clients, such as the BBC, GIPHY, HP, Barilla, and many Italian publishers.

When she thinks back on her path, she tells me, "I've been drawing for as long as I can remember!" She recalls, "growing up, I started exploring different mediums – pencils, watercolours, acrylics. As a teen, I taught myself how to use Photoshop by mashing random buttons, and after high school, I finally enrolled in an Illustration & Animation course at IED. I had a lot of fun, because for the first time I was asked to draw stuff as homework," she adds.

Under the guidance of professional artists, she was taught to use various software, such as After Effects, and to refine her voice. "But at that time, I was also taking some things too literally. For years after school, I didn't sketch freely because I was taught that, as a professional illustrator, all my drawings had to have some important message behind them. Of course, this is not always the case; sometimes you just need to draw some flowers, a sunset, or a cute dog! But it took me a long time to realize that!", Carlotta says.

On Carlotta's website, you can find a whole section dedicated to her traditional sketches. "I created this page because I felt it wasn't right to leave all those fast sketches out of my portfolio; I was hiding a big part of my work from the website viewers and clients," she says.

Then adds, "I guess what differentiates a 'sketch' from a 'finished artwork' is simply the speed, not the level of detail. I say this because I consider most of those sketches finished as they are, with no need for extra work or refinement. I try to choose sketches with this quality for the page!"

I ask her about her relationship with her sketchbook, "We have a toxic relationship, but we're working on it with our therapist", Carlotta laughs.

"I don't draw every day in my sketchbook. I sketch every day, but not necessarily in my sketchbook: mostly on Post-its and loose paper, which I then glue onto my sketchbook pages if they come out particularly cute. I would never tear off pages from my sketchbook, though! That feels very wrong for some reason. It would be like tearing off a page from a novel because you find that part boring."

When she thinks of her favourite times and spots to sketch, she prefers weekends and days off, in her local park or at her parents' house.

"My favourite tools are Promarkers, often mixed with coloured pencils (I have a soft spot for waxy Derwent watercolour pencils, but I often use whatever comes my way)", Carlotta says, then adds a handy tip: "If your alcohol marker is running low and you still want a streak-free coverage, first draw a thin layer with a (waxy) coloured pencil of a similar shade, then colour over it with your marker. The ink will mix with the wax like magic, and you'll have a nice, smooth color again!".

Regarding outdoor sketching, she says: "I try to choose a very limited palette. The most important thing is to have a light, a medium, and a dark colour, then a black permanent marker. The first three can be random hues (the sky could be green, who cares), but if they all have different brightness and contrast well, they will eventually work together. This is also a nice way to find new, surprising colour palettes!"

I ask Carlotta how she deals with the first-page pressure, "I avoid it by drawing on the second page", she says jokingly. "I must admit, though, that this only delays the problem. You have to deal with that first page sooner or later, and if it comes out ugly, it's not a big deal! You're not saving the world, a sketchbook is your lab for trying new things, not a portfolio", she adds.

"When it comes to performance anxiety and paralysing fear, one thing I find effective is to set a timer (10-30 min). It gets me started like nothing else. You don't even have to finish on time; it just helps you start doing something."

Carlotta is mostly inspired by nature. "Colours and patterns in nature are definitely my biggest inspirations for sketches and digital drawings", she says.

I ask her about her favourite sketches of all time, "There's this sketch I did from a photo of my dog, Maya, peeking through the kitchen window. The sun was setting, the sky had an unreal colour, and the whole house was bathed in this pink light. The pic was already great, so I didn't have to do much work!

"I also like this page I drew after a trip to Germany (again from a photo). It's a view of the Drachenfels Castle."

"I sketched it very slowly over the course of many hours: at the Düsseldorf airport, then at the layover airport, then on the last flight, then on the train back. It kept me awake and strengthened my memory of the place."

Carlotta often combines analogue markers and pencils with the best digital art software; she starts by drawing on paper and then adds colour in Photoshop. "Over time, my style has developed and now I mainly create digital collages using my ever-growing archive of scanned textures (pencil patterns, ink dots, brushstrokes, parts of my old illustrations…). I basically assemble different elements, such as a quickly painted sky or some trees drawn in pencil, to create my final illustrations. It's a technique that has the speed of digital art, but still keeps the warmth of traditional tools", she specifies.

At the end of our conversation, Carlotta shares a few more thoughts on her sketchbook practice, "I'd love to be more consistent with it! I must confess I sketch far too rarely, and completely stop when I'm juggling several projects at a time. I'd love to develop a more regular routine."

Then adds: "Also, I'd love to experiment a bit more with techniques. Now that I've found my favourite tool combo with pencils and ink, I tend to rely on this safe choice a bit too much. I'd love to pick up things I've abandoned, like opaque acrylics/gouache, or linocut, which I used to love. I'll make it a priority, it's good for the soul"

If you're inspired, see our roundup of the best sketchbooks for artists, and you'll also find digital sketching on iPad and the best tablets with a stylus are a great way to draw on the go, too.