Natalia Sanabria is a contemporary fashion Illustrator.

Working mainly in fashion, publishing and editorial, Natalia Sanabria is influenced by fashion designers like Meadham Kirchhoff, Tsumori Chisato and Prada. Equally, she’s inspired by artists like Gustav Klimt, Toulouse Lautrec, Degas and Egon Schiele because they could make women look powerful yet delicate at the same time. These influences show through in Natalia’s work. Based in Costa Rica, she was always drawing as a child and later became interested in fashion illustration, making collages from magazine images. During her studies she perfected her anatomy and became an illustrator. She collects Barbie dolls, brooches, pins, origami and other strange things. If she could live in another era, she’d choose Paris during the days of the Moulin Rouge, or the 1980s with its big hair and make-up.

Training

Natalia studied graphic design and painting at the University of Costa Rica.

Approach

Natalia likes her illustrations to have a base in realism, but then adds to them with splashes of colour or, sometimes, a little collage work. This she fits around the hand drawn elements, as though it’s a puzzle that needs to be solved. She’s currently experimenting with coloured graphite pencils that blend well with watercolours.

Style

Her style is delicate, youthful and feminine but with some attitude, and Natalia likes to bring personality to each illustration she creates. By mixing pencil drawn elements with splashes of colour and collage, she’s able to change the tone – strong characters are given an extra dimension or quirkiness that lifts an image.