Sol Felpeto is a 26 year old multicultural artist based in Madrid. Her creative studies have led her to develop as an illustrator and painter in her own style called “Poop Arttoons”, a mixture of art, humor and animals. #Interview
KALTBLUT: We are so in love with your artwork! This is so much fun! When and did you start revisiting these famous painting with animals and what pushed you to do so?
Sol: I remember I first started in college. I did my studies in Fashion and Creative Direction, so I had lot of illustration work to do. Luckily teachers gave students enough freedom to choose concepts and techniques. It was all about letting imagination flow and finding our own personal style. Thant’s when I did my first painting “The Lemur Trial” ( lemurs invading the famous front wall of the Sistine Chapel). I can’t think in something that particularly took me to do that, but lots of things: my love for animals, my big sense of humour and my experience in art and design.
KALTBLUT: Why animals?
Sol: Animals have always been around in my life. Since I was 4 year old I’ve found shelter in them, any animal lover will get me. It’s amazing how much you can learn from observing their behaviour and how hilarious it can be sharing your home and time with one “simple pet”. I think they are so much better than humans will ever be. They have a lack of malice, that’s THE big difference.
KALTBLUT: How do you choose which animal will be related to which artist?
Sol: The choice is sometimes based on the relationship the original artist had with that animal; how the message of that artwork can be linked to a particular specie or just on how fun can it be seeing awkward animal cartoons on a classic paintings. The “deepest” work I’ve done so far is about a hardhitted dog breed; greyhounds. I linked them with Frida Kahlo’s work due to the fact that her paintings usually reflect suffering and pain.
KALTBLUT: ..and how do choose which painting you’ll gonna “reproduce”?
Sol: Since I’ve started I have basically been choosing my favourite artists works and fortunately they match with the messages I try communicate in mine. But either way, anyone can interpret art however they want to so it is really easy to connect our personal feelings with art and that’s how it is possible for me to choose between a wide variety of paintings.
KALTLBUT: How did you come with the name “Poop Arttoons”?
Sol: That´s a fun story! It was in college too. I came out with this name to define my personal style. My work couldn’t be exactly classified as Pop Art, nor Classic or Realistic or whatever, so I added an “o” (what do all animals have in common? Poop of course! ) and mixed Art and Cartoons.
KALTLBUT: How does pop culture influence your work?
Sol: Pop culture was the first thing that led me to start drawing cartoon animals. In my first paper sketches from 5 years ago you can find a series of chiguagas characterising pop culture icons. Literally it was what pushed me to what I’m doing now.
KALTBLUT: How long can you spend on one painting?
Sol: The fastest paintings take me around a week of work. The others take me a few days more. The one I’ve spent more time is “The Garden of the Earthly Dogs”, it took me 15 days 8 hours of detail painting. I went a bit obsessed in perfectly copying Bosch’s crazy architecture and filling it with crazier chiguaguas.
KALTBLUT: Who are your favourite painters all time favourite?
Sol: This is a hard one. I do not have favourite artists, but I do have favourite paintings or movements. Painters usually go through many styles along their career that you may not like all. I’m really attracted to colour, it’s treatment and how they make me feel, so I would say Frida Kahlo, Henri Rousseau, Mark Ryden, Franz Marc and Picasso. Every time I see their work it takes me to a warm and happy place.
KALTBLUT: What are you working on at the moment?
Sol: Right now I’m doing a big mural at the skylounge of Hotel Indigo Madrid. I’m painting a “Guernica” about the city. I’ve replaced the original characters by the symbols of Madrid, lions, bulls, cats, buildings,etc. It’s going to be finished in a few days just in time to the skylounge opening. It’s a cool place to chill in summer and see the sunset. I’m also working in my “Picatsso” collection, in which I reflect the tender bond the artist had with his cat Minou. It’ll be exhibited in June, here in Madrid, and later I’ll be taking some of those pieces to Málaga Art Fair, Picasso’s home town.
Contact:
www.solfelpeto.com
Instagram: @solfelpeto
