I’m Ana Varela, a Portuguese watercolor illustrator based in France.
My work sits at the crossroads of folk art, medieval illumination, mythology, and literature, rendered in soft, pastel palettes with a focus on figurative, narrative imagery. I’m drawn to the symbolic and the ancient: the recurring archetypes in fairy tales, the heroes of Greek epics, and the strangeness of dreams.
I graduated from the Faculty of Fine Arts of Lisbon in 2015 with a BA in Drawing, which opened pathways into arts education, film animation, comics, and illustration. I currently work as a graphic designer, which lets me keep my personal art practice free and explorative.
My work has been recognized in painting and comics, including First Prize at Drive-In Art Seixal (2011) and an Honorable Mention at Amadora BD Festival (2019) for the short comic The Mountain.
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