About me

My name is Cristina Fernández Blanco (KFBlanco), and I have been working in graphic design and, mainly, illustration for more than twenty years.

Probably at home they would have preferred me to study law, but I followed my vocation and studied at the Faculty of Fine Arts at the University of the Basque Country. Although I started working as a designer in a marketing department, my true passions have always been illustration and literature, so I soon began to collaborate with different publishing houses, drawing and designing book covers.

Besides, my passion for plastic arts took me back to university to study a degree in Art History and my interests involve everything related to education and social intervention through art. Through the years I have combined my profession as an illustrator with teaching.

My drawings are the result of combining different manual and digital techniques. I often use photography as well, as I enjoy experimenting and I consider myself a creative and versatile illustrator, able to adapt to the particular requirements of each project.

Any occasion is a good opportunity to continue learning, and although I know that the horizon is unreachable, day by day I keep moving forward with my eyes fixed on it.

Professional Background

1995

I graduated in Fine Arts and started working as a graphic designer in marketing and advertising.

1996

Beginning of my career in the publishing world with the Elkar publishing house.

1998

Art workshop with Marisa González.

I began my long career as a teacher. I started working as a trainer and coordinator of professional training courses in the field of Graphic Design financed by the National Employment Institute.

2000

I began a long period working with teenagers, teaching visual arts and visual communication in Secondary Education.

2005

First season illustrating for Idazle Eskola in the cultural supplement of the newspaper Gara. A very pleasant collaboration, perhaps the longest in my professional career.

2007

Solo exhibition of illustrations at the J.C. Arriaga Conservatory in Bilbao as part of the event "Musika, Artea eta Kafea".

2012

Solo exhibition "Sueños y pesadillas" (Dreams and nightmares) at the Iortia Cultural Centre in Alsasua.

Participation in the event "Siete Colores", concert and projection of illustrations in the Sala Araba of the Fundación Vital in Vitoria, based on the illustrated CD-book resulting from my collaboration with the writer Jon Arretxe and the musical composer Francisco Ibánez.

2016

Management and curatorship of the exhibition "Arbizu 1936-2016, barneko urradurak sendabidean" (Arbizu 1936-2016, healing internal wounds), in collaboration with Arbizu Town Council. A historical memory project, open to citizen participation. As on previous occasions, the amazing creative potential of this town is once again on display.

2019

The number of illustrations published in the Sunday 7K reaches 100, and increasing.

2020

After years of simultaneous teaching and professional illustration, I decide to become a full-time illustrator. I work in my own studio.

2021

25 years of uninterrupted reprints. The book Harresi Handirantz / Towards the Great Wall (Jon Arretxe, ed. Santillana-Zubia, 1996) was one of my first professional commissions and the illustrations I created at that time are still being published.

2022

Participation in the "XI. Arte Azoka" in Alsasua. A great opportunity to interact with other artists and with the public. An injection of positive energy.