Verdura's Character Series

"A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away... oh no! Wait! That’s another story."

This story takes place in a galaxy much closer and not so long ago. Apparently there is an unknown world where the Vegetables live similar to humans. With their own cultures and languages, customs - just like us."

No-one had heard about these nutritious creatures, until "Verdura" came along. You are invited to learn more about them, but beware! They seem harmless but their behaviour is still unknown."

We asked Lucas how he came up with the amusing idea and where these food illustrations are taking him next.

CA: What inspired you to do the character series?
LS: I have always liked to draw, but I wanted to do something different and new, but at the same time fun and understandable for everyone. Then I thought of pop culture characters like Michael Jackson, Darth Vader, Lady Gaga, etc combined with vegetables to create funny caricatures of them ... but something was missing here, I had to add a twist to this series, so I thought to combine the characters and vegetables in such way that generates a play on words between them. And that's it!

CA: How did you go about selecting the food to illustrate?
LS: This was very hard, but fun! ... First I created a giant list of pop culture characters of any genre (movies, music, fiction, etc.) then I started to mix the vegetables with the characters in the search of funny combinations. After a while of trying different variations (and a little help from friends) the result was a great list of new characters.

CA: What are your plans for the illustrations, is it just a personal project or will they be used for t-shirts, prints etc?
LS: This idea emerged as a good exercise and at the same time (if the end result was good) to generate a little self-promotion. Fortunately, the process was quite fun and I think it's an idea that can be exploited in different ways. For example now I'm working on the paper toys of this characters... and of course I'm open to hear different proposals :)

CA: How would you describe your illustrative style?
LS: It's simple. I like to start with a clear sketch, then, when the idea is well defined I draw the final lines with illustrator and my wacom and then add colours and texture with photoshop.
I cannot find a category that describes exactly my style, but I can say that there is no trick, simply hard work.

You can check out more of Lucas Savelli's work here.