My studio sits on the first floor of my beloved house in the Tuscan countryside. I live and work among the cornfields – it's the perfect location for peace and inspiration. I did consider moving into a wood, but I'm worried about becoming too isolated.
In the back of the main room there's the office of our studio manager and my art dealer and sister Gloria Bianchi, and a smaller room for my assistant, Riccardo Pieruccini, where my collection of action figures is also located.
We all work in the same environment, but each has a separate area to concentrate and to listen to their preferred kind of music. I like pop, rock, hard rock and heavy metal, although the genre I'm into right now is classic British prog bands such as Pink Floyd, King Crimson, Jehro Tull, Yes, Gentle Giant, Genesis and Peter Gabriel. But occasionally I listen to classical, new age, jazz and prog metal.
For about 15 years I'd begin working after dinner and carry on until morning. It was when I felt most productive. This all changed last year, when my first kid, Sebastian, was born. Unlike most parents, whose work is interrupted by the birth of a child, it's given me extra strength. I'm more motivated to further my career – and to work a more regular and steady daily schedule.
I tend to start drawing in the morning, between breakfast and lunchtime. I get back to work right after lunch and go on through the whole afternoon.
At around 7pm, I go to the gym for my daily workout: I've dropped 11kg in weight in the past seven months. Spending all my time drawing at a table seriously affected my physical health.
Simone Bianchi is a comic book illustrator who's worked on titles such as Batman, Green Lantern and Wolverine. This article originally appeared in ImagineFX magazine issue 103.
