Interview with CitlaFlor

This was a fun chat with CitlaFlor, as she’s known online, with a lot of laughter. If you like having something on in the background while you draw or cook, this is a great video for that.

We talk about all sorts of things, like illustration heroes, favourite colours, what things are most challenging to draw, and she even reveals her soft spot for drawing animal butts…

Originally from Mexico and now living in Austria, Citla is a scientist by day and an illustrator at all other times. Her art journey started a few years ago, when she was pregnant. Armed with an iPad, she dived into drawing, and it’s been her creative outlet ever since.

Citla talks about how she didn’t grow up as the “kid who always loved art.” Instead, she developed her skills as an adult, proving that it’s never too late to start something new. She emphases how drawing became a daily necessity for her, helping her balance work and life, and how she’s always learning —whether it’s ceramics, making sketchbooks, or creating stickers.

I love that she encourages anyone who says “I can’t draw” to just start small, draw what captivates them, and make time for it.

Since we both agree that drawing is not about perfection, let’s embrace the imperfection of this interview we conducted late on a Friday night in December 2024:

Helpful Information:

Here are all the links to the people we mentioned as well as all the picture-books we talked about. (All book links are affiliate and take you to Bookshop.org, which supports independent bookshops in the UK.)

Sandi Hester - artist: her YouTube channel is lovely.
Beatrice Alemagne - author-illustrator: Harold Snipperpot’s Best Disaster Ever
Beatrice Blue - art director and author-illustrator: Wonder
Rebecca Green - illustrator and author: Madame Saqui
Oliver Jeffers - author-illustrator: What We’ll Build 
Poopikat - illustrator: her website

CitlaFlor’s own links: Portfolio, Substack, Instagram, Etsy, Pinterest

At 52:10 Citla alludes to that fact that I deleted my Instagram account. If you’re curious, I’ve written a blog post about it.

To see a regularly-updated list of all my interviewees’ favourite picture-books, they’re all here.