The cute, colorful characters of illustrator and designer Luli Bunny

Today we’re talking to character designer and illustrator Lucila Livschitz (AKA Luli Bunny). Channeling her love of animals and nature, she’s illustrated many children’s books and designed dozens of Momiji dolls for the iconic brand.

Check out the full interview below, and be sure to visit her website and Instagram to see more of her adorable work!

---

Tell us about yourself. What do you make?

Hello! My name is Lucila, AKA Luli Bunny, and I am an illustrator and character designer from Buenos Aires, Argentina. I work as an illustrator for books and magazines and as a character designer for publishing, toys, and stationery.

I love creating cute colorful characters, with fauna and flora being a big source of inspiration for designing them.

What do you consider your best or favorite work?

Difficult to answer, but when it comes to books, I love the book series I illustrated for Mo’s Daughters, based in the Netherlands, where I mixed both of my passions and designed the main character of the series (a curious little scientist name Cato) and illustrated three different adventures of her ‘doing science’ at her house.

Another book series that I loved working on was for YoYo Books, based in Belgium, which used 5-finger glove puppets to help young readers discover the animal world in a playful way.

Read also: Best children’s book illustration classes

When it comes to products, I love designing for Momiji, a company based in the UK that has always had a special place in my heart and for whom I have created over twenty doll designs.

It’s so hard to choose just one Momiji, but Wish Upon a Star is one of my favorites, though I have to admit that each one of them is special because of its power of telling a story within itself, and also the way that they connect with people and make everyday life joyful.

Tell us about your workspace

My actual workspace is in Buenos Aires, Argentina. It’s not very big, but I love small cozy places. It has changed a lot over the years, from being full of toys everywhere, to a minimal workspace (how it looks nowadays).

I like having important objects to inspire my day-to-day work and always have my sketchbook and 0.5 pencil near me to sketch or write ideas.

I have some special corners that I’ can share here with you’ve shared above. 😊

What is your favorite software, tool, or material to work with?

I am mainly a digital artist and work with Illustrator, Photoshop, and a Wacom Cintiq tablet.

I still sketch by hand, my doodles are tiny but I love the feeling of “downloading” an idea onto paper before going digital.

At the moment I also find myself experimenting with paper cutting which I really enjoy as a traditional medium.

Get started: Best Adobe Illustrator classes online

How long have you been illustrating?

I have been working as an illustrator across different media formats for over 10 years.

There have been a lot of changes and platforms during this time but it has been an interesting evolution when I compare my first work to where I am now.

How did you develop your personal style?

I get asked this question often and I never know the answer, haha!

I think it evolves as we do as humans; it was not really a search but a natural change that occurred over the years.

I sometimes feel that ‘personal style’ is like taking photos of ourselves at different times. There are times when we look the same but some things change, sometimes everything changes on the outside but the core is the same and people relate to it.

What is the most challenging aspect of your craft/business?

I think that would be what I like to call the ‘low tide’ periods. When you really want to draw but cannot come up with anything and just stare at the blank paper.

Those moments can be particularly hard because you feel like giving up, though a soft voice inside your head is telling you “This too shall pass.”

But we must never forget that water is always moving and the wave will come again and then it’s your time to surf.

Any advice for beginners?

It will sound cliché BUT don’t give up, and be curious.

It takes time, it takes effort, and we may feel so rushed by the fast pace that the world sets us at that we might forget that we all have our own time to grow and develop.

Keep on illustrating, do what you love.

Who/what inspires you? Any shoutouts to fellow makers?

My pets were always a big source of inspiration, nowadays my dog brother Mortimer.

Music is another important one, especially Beck.

I enjoy the work of my friends at Estudio Kudasai and all the lovely illustrated products they create, and Jenny Lelong’s colorful world and happy characters.

Interview: Illustrator Jenny Lelong’s “naive pop” style

Anything else you’d like to share?

One from the present: I am currently working on my first picture book as both author and illustrator and hopefully will be able to share it with the world soon. Is something that I have been working on for some years (and here I go back to a previous reply: don’t give up).

The pandemic had a huge impact on my work and now I am navigating the aftermath.

One from the past: I never thought I would become an illustrator, I have created characters since I was little, but wanted to become a vet. Nowadays I find myself drawing cute animals so I like to think of it as an evolution, and a mix of two things that I’ve always loved.

---

Check out more of Luli Bunny’s work on her website and Instagram!