The illustrator was born on May 22, 1969, in Ljubljana. After completing a secondary school for design and photography in Ljubljana, he continued his studies at the Academy of Fine Arts, in the field of Design. Recognizing that a classical approach suited him better in confronting fundamental artistic problems, in 1991, after completing two years of Design, Stepančič decided to study in the Department of Painting, where he graduated in 1996 under Prof. Gustav Gnamuš with a cycle of pictures of four elements and Prof. Marko Uršič with a theoretical philosophical work, Alchemists and Painters. Since then, Stepančič has devoted himself particularly actively to illustrating books for young people. He also collaborates increasingly with the periodical press, both for the young (PIL, PILplus) and other readers (Albert, Playboy, Nova, Literatura). In addition to painting, he cultivates other related art forms: comics, cartoons, and puppets. The expressiveness of his illustrations is clearly influenced by his painting skills, from the underlying colors and composition to the size of formats, which is in line with the author's conviction that painting and illustration go hand in hand.

Stepančič has so far illustrated almost a hundred books, co-created many comic books and had several independent exhibitions in the sphere of illustration. More >>