It’s true, kids and young people have a strong imagination. But their heroes, those who fill pages with books and comics, have a face thanks to the expert work of talented professionals. Illustrators who hide the child that is inside them behind a pen. Eternal Peter Pan.

Gianluca Folì has been dedicating his time and art to shaping characters in fairy tales and kids stories for fifteen years, including publications and international collaborations.

Born in Marino, a town in the Castelli Romani, he started drawing when he was 5 years old and since then he has never stopped.
Immersed in nature and greenery, every day he takes inspiration from what surrounds him, from reality that is filtered through a simple but effective technical process.

First of all, Gianluca notes down his idea on a piece of paper or with a photograph, no matter how beautiful it is, the important thing is that he manages to keep the feeling of that moment. Then he moves on to the pencil sketch, practically his best friend. Last step, but not least, he adds the color.

Gianluca Folì’s works range in different fields and worlds, there is no limit. But books for children and young people give him the opportunity to express himself at his best because he knows he is addressing an audience that has no schemes, no prejudices. Each of us has the memory of a drawing of a book that he read as a child and surely the characters illustrated by Gianluca will be the memory of someone childhood.

Here we propose a series of drawings taken from L’orso con la spada and La scimmia by Davide Calì, Re Micio by Roberto Piumini, Fiabe a cavallo by Italo Calvino and In viaggio con Lloyd by Simone Tempia. To see more of his illustrations you can go to his website or his Instagram profile.