One of my favorite quotes is form Bernard Shaw: “There are those that look at things the way they are, and ask why? I
dream of things that never were, and ask why not?”
And a book that really inspired is “The never ending story” by Michael Ende, specially that part when Fantastica has disappeared
and Bastian is about to star creating a new version of it.
A quick explanation on how I work.
Some of my drawings I develop as I go, imagining and choosing things as I am drawing, but others are the result of things I see while looking at my surroundings, it can be an image that
appears as I am looking at the leaves of a tree or the grass or the clouds or the shadow of a lamp or how the light and shade works on the faucet of my sink.
Another way of imagining for me is to just make doodles on paper and see what my imagination makes out of it. It ends up looking like lots of curved lines and sometimes there are so many that it
looks like clouds or something similar. Hard to explain, sorry :-)
About me
I was born in South Africa though I grew up In Spain and lived there most of my life. Currently I live in Portugal.
I draw and paint almost since I was born, I am very passionate about my work.
My given is Begoña Landi Pienaar but I chose Begoña True as my artistic name.
I do illustrations with color pencils and I also do paintings, acrylics and watercolors. I have done commissions for books, publicity for companies and for
individuals.
I mostly do magical realism and naïve art but sometimes I also do realistic art. And of course illustrations for children's books.
I love doing magical realism or what I call Dream Drawing, for when I create this way it is as if I was drawing in a dreamy state of consciousness.
My favorite hobby has always been imagining things, seeing how from a blank page my imaginary world comes to life and playing with it. I think there is so much more
than is visible to the eye, I also love colors, combining them, seeing how they blend and how paintings and drawings come to life.
I have always been an artist, I remember myself drawing since ever. My teachers at school used to whisper among them about the high level of my drawings.
I have also always had a wild imagination, though I kept it mostly to myself, and I used to spend hours playing with what I called my magic land.
When I was round 40 I wrote and illustrated a story I called “My Magic Land” very certain at this point in my life that magic did indeed exist.
I liked it so much that I started asking on the Internet how to publish it, and my first client appeared.
Since then I have illustrated for several other authors. Not all of them got their books published for different reasons, but I've enjoyed all of them. Every story
had something I really liked. Some were great stories, some were very funny, some I illustrated for their sweetness.
Illustrating for children's books brought back those beautiful drawings that reflected my dream world, and the love and tenderness they inspire in me. And it also
changed my paintings, because now I can't stop painting that magical world, even if they are intended for an adult audience.
The second important thing that children's book illustration did was to bring back to me the pleasure of using pencils, in this case colored pencils, and rekindled
my passion for them. I love the texture of the pencil on paper, the smell of it, mixing colors with it, the strokes...
I try to fill my works of art with love and tenderness and try to transmit joy and playfulness as well as imagination. It is something very special to me when I see
people looking at my work and they start dreaming my dream, and telling me all the beautiful feelings my work has transmitted to them.
To me art is an amazing way to reconnect with our beautiful imagination, in that quite and joyful space where the heart exists, entering those magical dimensions
where anything can be created.
Some of the books I have illustrated
According to what my aunt says, by Yvonne Provost
The Monkey Who Vacuumed the Jungle, by Nina Spitzer,
The star people of Isabella by Karen Heins,
My Best Friend Lives Under My Bed, by Dennise Dion
My First Ten Steps by Ingrid Pagliarulo,
And my two books, What a Journey! From All That Was to All That Is, and Isabel and Her Magical World.
Some of the companies I have painted for
Cervezas La Cibeles, beer company,
Yanna Volfinzon, musician,
Coaching Vila Real, spiritual coach company,
Proficoncept, learning academy,
Hostel Madalena, hostel
Faromodular, frame and art shop
Porqnão, natural cosmetics company
begonalp@hotmail.com
Creative-pool member spotlight:
The frail beauty in Begoña True's illustration
It's easy to tell those who have an ardent passion for what they're doing from those who don't. And
it is enough to glimpse at one of Begoña True's illustrations to tell which of the two groups she naturally belongs to.
We caught up with one of the most talented illustrators on Creative Pool to discuss a childhood
passion and the secrets behind her creative process.
Published 15/04/2020 by
Creativepool Editorial by Antonino Lupo
https://creativepool.com/begona-true/articles/member-spotlight-the-frail-beauty-in-begona-trues-illustration.23146
