However, this summer, when Edita Vainauskaitė traveled to Italy, she did not yet know that the fourth book would not provide closure.
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After meeting with the Italian author Paolo Murano, it became clear that the collaboration, which has produced four joint works, will continue. And in Italy itself, the Lithuanian’s work attracted the attention of other writers she met there, according to a press release from Edita’s team.
From pencil in Lithuania – to four Italian books
Edita Vainauskaitė, who lives in Panevėžys, creates hand-drawn illustrations, portraits, and also engages in photography. In recent years, her creative path has crossed Lithuania’s borders – her works have begun to be used for the covers of books by the Italian author Paolo Murano.
Today, there are already four such joint publications – “Narguilè al mirtillo nero,” “Cambia te stesso, cambia il tuo mondo,” “Flirtaholism – Dipendenza da validazione,” and “CARMY.”
In the publications themselves, the Lithuanian is officially credited as the cover illustration author – “Illustrazione di copertina: Edita Vainauskaite.”
However, for Edita, the number of four books is not the most important thing.
“When a person chooses your work for the first time, they trust you. But when they see the final result and come back a second, third, fourth time, and then offer to continue collaborating, that’s a completely different feeling. Then you realize that the first choice was not accidental,” she says.
Creating the cover starts even before picking up the pencil
Although the reader first sees the final image, Edita says that one of the most important parts of the work happens before the first pencil lines.
Before creating the illustration, she has to delve into the book – understand its main idea, emotion, and what the author wants to convey to the reader.
Only then does the drawing begin: “I can’t just draw what I think is beautiful and decide that it will be the book cover. First, I have to understand the story. What is its main idea? What is the emotion? What is the most important thing in the whole book? Only then do I think about how to tell all this in one image.”
According to her, this is where one of the biggest challenges of this work lies: “The author has the whole book to tell their story, and I have one image. The person sees it even before starting to read. Therefore, it’s not enough for the drawing to be just beautiful – it has to connect with what is inside the book.”
Therefore, the most special moment comes not when the pencil is put down, but when the already published book is held in hand:
“When you see your drawing on a real book, and when you open it you find your name, the feeling is completely different. You realize that the work, which started in Lithuania from a blank sheet of paper, has become part of a real publication in another country.”
The meeting in Italy became the beginning of a new stage
This summer, Edita herself went to where her works had arrived much earlier than she did – to Italy.
There she met Paolo Murano.
After four joint books, the author proposed to continue the collaboration. According to Edita, the author’s appreciation was especially important to her, that her illustrations met the needs of the books, and that in creating them she was able to understand and convey the main ideas of the works.
“I didn’t go to Italy to bring back a new order. I wanted to meet and enjoy what we have already created. Therefore, hearing that a person who has already seen the result of four joint works wants to continue collaborating was a very pleasant recognition,” the woman explains.
The collaboration already has a continuation, but Edita cannot reveal its details at the moment. At the author’s request, information about upcoming works and the illustrations being created for them is not yet disclosed.
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“I can only say this – our story does not end with four books. I still have to keep quiet about what is being created now,” says the Lithuanian.
Other authors in Italy also became interested in her works
However, the offer to continue collaboration was not the only surprise of the trip.
In Italy, Edita met writers who came from different parts of the country. Conversations about already published books naturally led to their covers and the Lithuanian’s work.
Some newly met authors began to be interested in her other works, and the topic of possible collaboration arose in conversations:
“It was unexpected for me to see that the already published books started to act like my business card. People take the book, see the cover, ask who created it, want to see other works. Then you realize that sometimes one project can really open doors to another.”
Edita does not want to announce specific names or possible new projects yet.
“I don’t want to talk about what I can’t show yet. I much prefer to present a finished result one day,” the woman says.
“My drawings reached Italy before I did”
Looking at the whole story, Edita says today she is most amazed not by the number of four books, but by the path one drawing can take.
It all starts from a blank sheet of paper in Lithuania.
Later, the drawing becomes part of the cover of an Italian book. The Lithuanian’s name appears in the publication. One book is followed by another.
And finally, the creativity leads the author herself to another country:
“My drawings reached Italy before I did. When you sit in Lithuania at a blank sheet of paper, you can’t know who will one day see your work and where it will take you. This whole story has beautifully shown me that art has no borders.”
Asked why, in her opinion, Paolo Murano continues to choose her work, Edita does not want to compare herself with other artists:
“I couldn’t say that I am better than others. Art is very individual. For me, it’s important not only to draw beautifully but to understand the story written by the person and then interpret it in my own way. Maybe people feel that in my works.”
The four published publications are now a tangible result of this story. But after the meeting in Italy, it became clear that they are not its end.
The collaboration will continue. It is not yet possible to talk about new works. And the acquaintances made in Italy left more unanswered questions.
What will happen next? Edita answers briefly for now: “First, I want to create. Then I will show.”
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