We interviewed Pablo Salvaje, author of the illustrations of one of the most spectacular books of the year, Alma Animal, published by Mosquito Books .
Born in Seville in 1988 and based in Barcelona since 2013, Pablo Salvaje has combined his studies in Performing Arts and Interpretation with the world of illustration and manual printing.
Pablo considers himself a printmaker: he organizes and teaches printmaking workshops at La Selva (his studio) as well as prints on canvas, drawings for publishing houses or handmade furniture. 
The artistic childhood of Pablo Salvaje
PLOM: Did you draw as a child?
When did you start drawing? PABLO: Everywhere and at every moment!
At school, at the doctor’s office, in the car or on the bus, on the way to town, I always had my notebook and pencil case full of pencils.
At my grandparents’ house we always had post-it notes and colors to make little works of art when we went to see them. PLOM: You grew up in a family print shop.
How has that influenced your formation as an artist? PABLO: Growing up in a family dedicated to the visual arts, I imagine that it sweetens the path and enriches the process in which you are searching and finding yourself.
As an artist, I think it has been the best land where I have been able to cultivate myself.
I am always grateful for it and I keep it in mind.
Arrecife, by Pablo Salvaje, one of the 5 prints (special edition) of Alma Animal that we have in our SHOP.
“My work is inspired by this natural environment that surrounds us where we can innately appreciate beauty.” Pablo Salvaje
Crafts, handicrafts and art
PLOM: Who introduced you to the art world? PABLO: My father always took me to the theater, to the movies, we watched dance and we loved to discover performing arts festivals.
That awakened a certain sensitivity in me.
But with my mom I went to all the activities in town and we spent hours preparing for carnivals, Christmas or popular festivals.
I always remember that place full of colored cardboard, strange papers, materials everywhere and many people together creating… Big and small!
I loved that! PLOM: When did you start drawing / painting / printing / engraving seriously? PABLO: I used to draw, but I wanted more.
I especially liked to get ink all over myself, work with paper, cut out and create shapes.
In that continuous search, about 10 years ago, “new technologies” appeared in the world of handicrafts.
This made the work of engraving and printing easier and more accessible with new materials that allowed me to be free and wild in a field as orthodox as this one of the gouge and the press.
For about four years now I have only dedicated myself to this, although I wish for more hours a day to be able to express myself in other languages. 
Muda, by Pablo Salvaje. Print (special edition) by Alma animal. In the SHOP.
“I believe that whoever is dedicated to the art world never stops working. Everything around us inspires us, moves us, drives us to continue”. Pablo Salvaje
Pablo Salvaje has superpowers
PLOM: Do you believe in the Superpowers of Art?
When did you discover that art transforms the world and people? PABLO: Art excites, surprises, provokes, amuses, makes you think… And, as you say, it transforms the world and people.
How can I not believe in the superpowers of art!
Moreover, being aware of what my work provokes in others makes me more confident in my message when expressing myself, and I never want to stop doing it, or at least try to keep it in mind. PLOM: When and how do you like to work?
In the morning, in the afternoon, in the evening?
In your studio, outdoors?
In silence, with music?
Accompanied by friends, surrounded by animals? PABLO: There is never a beginning or an end.
I love to work in my studio alone at night.
I sit in a cave when everyone is asleep.
And I feel free accompanied by my music.
Although, during the day, a walk in the countryside, a breakfast with my friends, or the page of the book I’m reading can turn into a new project.
Something awakens my creativity and the engines are activated.
I believe that whoever is dedicated to the art world never stops working.
Everything around us inspires us, moves us, drives us to continue. 
Migration, by Pablo Salvaje. Print (special edition) by Alma Animal. In the SHOP.
“To grow as an artist the opinion of an 8-year-old is the richest, the purest, most sincere and unfiltered.” Pablo Salvaje
Children are closer to nature
PLOM: Do you think children like your work?
Why? PABLO: Children are more connected to nature than adults who are not so young.
My work is inspired by this natural environment that surrounds us where we can appreciate beauty innately.
What Mother Nature gives us and that in itself is amazing.
The plumage of an animal, the texture of its skin, the colors of the stones and leaves or the shapes that a branch suggests to us.
These are elements that connect better with children because they awaken their wildest, most animal side. PLOM: What interests you more: the opinion of an influential critic or that of an 8-year-old child? PABLO: To grow as an artist, the opinion of an 8-year-old child is the richest, the purest, the most sincere and without filters.
But criticism should have no age.
If it is born from kindness and enrichment it should always be constructive, whether it comes from your mother, from your best fan, from your little niece, or from the most important gallery in Barcelona.
Pablo Salvaje invites you to get your ink stained
PLOM: What is the best thing about your activity as a teacher in the workshops you organize? PABLO: The opportunity to approach for a few hours to the creative universe that each person has inside.
When these people arrive at the studio they have everything ahead of them to become children again for a day.
And when the ink comes out, no one wants to finish!
These people who come, trust me and allow themselves to enjoy and learn something new in life, whatever their age, are the best part of my work as a teacher. 
Cortejo, by Pablo Salvaje. Print (special edition) by Alma Animal. In the SHOP.
“Things with love take time and calm, and with Alma Animal I discovered that patience is the best companion”. Pablo SalvajePLOM
: Where does “SALVAJE” come from? PABLO: It’s a way of seeing the world, a philosophy of life.
To face things with grit, to activate your senses, to awaken your instinct to take advantage of your resources, to trust in something that moves many of us and that we are not alone.
It is believing in your path and not feeling weird, feeling wild.
The Animal Soul of Pablo Salvaje
PLOM: Your book, Alma animal, published by Mosquito Books, is a marvel.
How long did it take you to make it?
Tell us a little bit about the whole process of creation… PABLO: Things with love require time and calm, and with Alma Animal I discovered that patience is the best companion for projects as big as this one.
Each page is handmade and with all the love in the world.
Each text has a clear intention.
Each illustration leaves to your imagination a reflection about our relationship with the environment and its consequences.
And to do something like this we had to learn a lot first.
There are more than 300 animals carved one by one by hand, which we would later transfer to ink and paper in the first sketches.
We even set up an experimental laboratory to get textures and resources even from our own prints!!!!
My partner, Anna from Feelink, composed, laid out, colored and gave shape in the digital layout to that universe that I had been creating during the first months alone.
Undoubtedly, Anna was a key piece.
The company of people like her in creative processes like this are the light that gives you divine warmth. 
Kaleidoscope, by Pablo Salvaje. Print (special edition) by Alma Animal. In the SHOP.
“Our offspring are the light of tomorrow that we are lighting today.” Pablo Salvaje
A tip for our offspring to grow up healthy
PLOM: What do you think of PLOM Gallery? PABLO: I have the feeling that few people think about children when we talk about art, like that strange belief that art is elitist, something for grown-ups or something “serious”… Bringing the art world closer to the little ones as you do in Plom, I really like it!
I wish I had had a contemporary art gallery for children when I was a kid.
Luckily, I still am.
And we’re in the same city!
Thank you for doing something like this.
It’s such an honor to be there. PLOM: Do you want to add anything? PABLO: To teach our children to express themselves through art is to give them the freedom to create a more peaceful, poetic, free and wild world.
They are the light of tomorrow that we are lighting today. 
