Face This: Cecilia, please tell us who you are and what you do.

My name is Cecilia Carlstedt. I live in Sweden with my man and two kids where I work professionally as an illustrator.

Face This: Can you tell us something about the process of your artwork?

One of my favourite subjects to draw is portraiture, so when I was given a range of photographs of the children, the pictures immediately inspired me to draw them and incorporate a portrait in the design. After painting the faces in ink I scanned them and started the intuitive process of making the design together with the lovely drawings of the children. I usually mix technique and styles in my own work so combining my work with theirs felt totally natural.

Face This: How is working with kids’ drawings different from working with artwork from ‘other’ clients?

It just made me very happy working with material that was done for the sake of drawing, showing dreams and thoughts straight from the mind and heart of the kids. A refreshing break from the usual more business minded briefs.

Face This: Why did you decide to work with us and what did you think of creating art-work with drawings from Indonesian kids?

I liked the unusual idea which encourage creativity to help improving the schools in Indonesia. It was a project I felt I could relate to and hopefully contribute something to, and also at the same time benefit from myself, creatively. I liked the idea of ‘meeting’ the kids through their drawings and co-creating the artwork with them.

Face This: What did you like to draw/paint the most when you were a kid yourself?

People.