Finding a balance between delicate line work and bold, striking imagery is a a difficult thing to achieve however it’s something that Spanish born Lola Beltrán has mastered. She talked to us about her screen printing background, love for classic Hollywood cinema and the illustration she created for The Great Guillermo.

How would you describe your style?

A comic style from the 50’s and 60’s with a modern twist. I always tend to work with a very reduced palette, 1-3 colours max, easily translatable to screen printing.

Which Guillermo Del Toro film have you decided to base your book cover design on and why?

The Devil’s Backbone. When I was a teenager I didn’t really have much access to computers or the internet as I am originally from a very little town in South Seville, Spain. I spent many hours a day renting videotapes and watching the same movies again and again and I remember being bemused by Guillermo del Toro’s aesthetics in this particular movie and many others. The desert yellowish and brownish palette reflecting the Spanish scene from the post war era was a very common image in my daily life surrounded by yellow dust and crazy cultural traditions.

How much of the film did you watch before getting a clear idea of how you were going to approach this illustration?

As The Devil’s Backbone it’s one of my favourite movies from the early 2000s I didn’t have to watch it again. I had a clear idea of the most remarkable elements and characters to fit both my style and the artwork without being too obvious.

How different was your design process knowing that the final image was going to be interpreted as a screen print?

Pretty much the same as I usually do. Screen printing is with no doubt my preferred printing technic and it’s been like this since I started illustrating. At that time I used to have a screen printing setup at my studio so I forced myself to work whilst thinking of the printing process, that’s why in a unconscious way I still end up using that kind of method.

Is this the first time you’ve made work in response to a film?

No. I love Old Hollywood Classics and always try to reference and pay tribute to the movies and actors/actresses that I love.

Which 3 tools could you not live without?

Wacom, photoshop and black ink.

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