“Feelings along the sidewalk”, is an exhibition held both online and physically in the Italian cultural institute in Addis Abeba, Ethiopia. It’s been a great opportunity to me to collaborate with other Ethiopian visual artists and to discover the Amharic . Please visit http://tibebbeadebabay.org/ to watch the full exhibition.
For Feelings along the sidewalk project, I used hand lettering, which is something in between illustration and calligraphy, and requires specific skills. With this technique, each letter is unique, it combines and create a balance with all the elements in the canvas. Also, I love to add illustrated elements such as characters or botanical elements.
My workflow always starts with a few lousy sketches. Even if the final illustration were entirely done digitally with a graphic tablet, I think there’s nothing better to pencil and paper for the first stages. For coloring, I use a digital software called Krita, on a Linux workstation. I’m proud to work 100% with open source tools, and I always stress the fact that is possible to be a professional artist by using only open source software.
