My work for the project Freibad will be exhibited at the Nami Concours 2026 in Seoul, as it is part of the Shortlist. I just sent prints of the five illustrations I submitted to South Korea, Seoul. I am so grateful for this opportunity and to be on the shortlist alongside so many great illustrators. The silent book Freibad will be published by the German publishing house Kunstanstifter in 2027.
I wrote about how I developed the book for the student magazine Samt (from HAW Hamburg) and would like to take the opportunity to share the text, so here is the creation process of Freibad.
Last summer, I sat next to the diving platform at the outdoor pool early one evening im Hamburg and drew. That's how the diving pool became the setting for my story. At first, there were only three drawings depicting the moment before a man jumped from the diving platform. He looks up at the diving platform, climbs the ladder and looks down from the platform on all fours, looking worried. At that moment, I didn't know exactly what would become of it later.
I developed this short sequence into a story for a silent book competition organised by a Portuguese publishing house. I didn't have a specific idea in mind, but simply put one picture after another and one scene after another and observed what emerged naturally. It was an intuitive process in which I didn't want to force the flow of the story. I sketched out ideas for images, moments I wanted to show, and put them in order. This resulted in a storyline that could then be further developed and shifted.
When I think of outdoor swimming pools, I hear the splashing of water, bare feet on wet stones, muffled conversations at the edge of the pool, flip-flops and screaming children romping in the water. For me, these sounds are inextricably linked to the place. But in my pictures, a monochrome has prevailed that I wanted to consciously explore. Because when I look at my pictures, I don't hear these outdoor swimming pool sounds. The man is a silent observer, and so are the readers. A sense of melancholy pervades the pages and leaves room for interpretation. The first draft of the book spanned 40 pages and accompanied the man before the jump, during the jump and as he emerged from the pool.
In conversation with Kunstanstifter Verlag, I realised that something essential was missing from my story so far. Something surprising, a new perspective that would provoke more thought. And so I continued the story underwater, incorporating a large part of it into the middle of the book. This is what happens: the man dives into the water, lets his gaze wander over the bottom of the pool, sees an orange-red shimmering dot and dives down to it. It is a small fish, and soon there is a whole shoal of them. At first, the man is overwhelmed. What does this mean? Why are the little fish looking at him? Are they threatening him? No, do they want to tell him something?
His previously ashen skin turns rosy. Meanwhile, the next diver gets ready on the diving platform and dives into the water. The school of fish disperses, becoming a large cloud of colour that grows smaller and smaller until it disappears. The man stays behind, climbs out of the water, his cheeks rosy after a unique experience. The pages have more than doubled (approx. 100 pages) and the content has gained a second level.
This year I created a small christmas illustration to send to publishers, business partners, colleagues and friends. I took a whole day to try out new things and just have fun. I turned on some Christmas music with my studio colleagues, placed a plate of christmas bisquits in the middle and got started. I finally tried out pan pastels and mixed them with wax crayons, coloured pencils and gouache. Later, I animated the picture so that the christmas lights on the tree glow and the snow falls.
What an honour to be part of the Illustrators Exhibition 2025 in Bologna. My illustrations for the book Same Time Next Week, wich will be published by NordSüd and NorthSouth Books 2026, is displayed alongside the works of many talented illustrators. In 2024 I already was part of the finalist list with my book Ich kann von Glück reden published 2024 by Coppenrath Verlag.
I was particularly proud of the words Chris Haughton from the jury found for my pictures. He especially praised the perspectives and the special features of the narrative. Illustrators are everything in one: cameraman, costume designer, prop master and so much more. He noted that my pictures are structured like ‘cuts’ in a film, thus reinforcing the narrative style.
It was my second time at the Bologna Children's Book Fair, and I am overwhelmed by the variety of picture books in the world. It was exhausting but worth every step, and I am already looking forward to Bologna next year.
My work was not only on display at the Illustrators Exhibition, but also as part of the unpublished picture book showcase by dPictus. Here, I had the opportunity to gain valuable experience and present my work in conversations with international publishers, which I greatly appreciate.
Thank you Bologna, see you next year!
In 2024 I went to Venezia to visit the Biennale. At that time, it was almost unbearably hot in Venezia, and we hopped from exhibition to exhibition. Fortunately, I like getting up early, so my friend (who studies interior design) and I took advantage of the first cool hours of the morning from 6 a.m. onwards to sketch in the empty little alleys. I focused on the details of the Venetian buildings as well as the boat traffic and small alleys. We also took a trip to the Lido, sat by the water and drew people on the beach.
The art we saw inspired me on many levels, and spending a whole week in Venezia was a unique experience.
But I would also like to mention other circumstances in Venice. The locals are gradually leaving their own city because they can no longer afford to live there and it is difficult to find work outside of tourism. Tourism is a dilemma: on the one hand, the city thrives on tourism, but on the other hand, it is also destroying it.
Foto: Greta Scharfe
Here is a closer look at my sketchbook
Foto: Greta Scharfe
