We are really proud to have met Fabio Vettori , the famous designer and illustrator of artistic puzzles .
Yes, indeed! We were fortunate enough to meet him at the 25th edition of the international trade fair for stationery, office supplies, creativity, and toys, held in Bologna from November 10 to 12, 2021.
You can’t imagine our great joy when he asked us our names and started drawing…
…to draw freehand, us, and the ants!
You can’t understand! Or maybe you do, if you’re passionate about illustrations and know Fabio Vettori ‘s art, and especially his way of communicating little stories through sketches and lots and lots of ants .
We took the liberty of asking him what the Ants in each illustration represented, and the answer was: We are ants ! Each of us can identify with one of the infinite number of little ants that work, travel, rest, sing, love, and so on.
For us art puzzle lovers, and already followers of some famous illustrators like Mordillo , it was a truly exciting and stimulating encounter. And certainly a wonderful motivation to absolutely include some fun and challenging puzzles by this great Italian illustrator , and very distinguished man.
Ants are found in every one of his works; they’ve been a part of the artist since high school, and they’ve never left him. According to artist Fabio Vettori , ants were the perfect little creatures to bring his landscapes to life, but above all, to imbue his ideas with warmth.
So he starts drawing them about 3cm high, usually in profile, awkward and very stiff.
The trust of family and friends and the opportunity to exhibit his work in various shows allowed him to continue drawing them for almost 40 years, thus managing to make them softer and more dynamic over time. They now have a movable head, a body, and expressive eyes.
Through his illustrations, the illustrator depicts a world of humanized ants, behind which lies a true identification of the vices and virtues of our world.
So, as I said before, we are the ants!
The Italian illustrator’s puzzles may seem very easy to make, but we assure you they are one challenge after another. Many of his drawings are done on black and white ink boards. This makes assembling the pieces much more complicated, as there are fewer reference details to divide the pieces and organize the work.
Among the artist’s most famous puzzles is the 1080-piece Paris puzzle , almost entirely black and white with colorful details such as hot air balloons bearing the French flags and little red hearts symbolizing Paris as the city of love.
Another famous puzzle is the Rainbow , a symbol of hope, also black and white with the addition of colors and lots of ants. And many Italian and foreign cities are represented in its own way.
A great artist, whom we want to continue to support and admire.
See you soon, with the Fabio Vettori puzzles !
