“I was always the guy in the back of the class drawing cartoons” — Meet Fabio Ludesi
When Fabio Ludesi and his wife Patricia boarded a flight from São Paulo to Toronto in 2016, they weren’t running away from anything—they were chasing something. The couple had grown restless in Brazil. “Our lives were good,” Fabio says, “but they felt… stuck. Predictable. We wanted something new. We wanted an adventure.”
That spirit of adventure would carry them thousands of kilometers away from home, from the frenetic pace of life in Brazil to the multicultural maze of Toronto. Then in 2023, they made another bold move—this time to Sarnia, a city that felt quieter, safer, and more grounded.
But to understand how Fabio ended up here—working as an illustrator, designing murals and caricatures, and following his lifelong artistic passion—you must go back to where it all started.
Fabio grew up in São Paulo, Brazil’s largest city. As a teenager, he enrolled in a High School with a computer training specialization. The dream? To become a video game developer. “Arcades were just starting to pop up all over Brazil,” he recalls. “I thought, ‘Maybe I can do that. Maybe I can make games.’” At first, he wasn’t sure he had the technical skills. But as the lessons progressed, he began to realize he could program—and enjoyed it. But even then, creativity was never far behind. “I was always the guy in the back of the class drawing cartoons,” he laughs.
In Brazil, access to university is competitive. Students must write a national entrance exam, and depending on their scores, they’re placed in various top public universities. “It’s our version of Harvard or Cambridge,” Fabio explains. “It’s intense and very competitive for a national standpoint.”
Initially, he was accepted to a smaller public university in Computer technology. But a few days later, his father woke him up with exciting news—Fabio had also qualified for one of Brazil’s top engineering programs. He enrolled and eventually became a production engineer.
Fabio worked primarily in two roles, first as a yard planner at the Port of Santos—the largest harbour in Latin America—where he coordinated container logistics for massive cargo ships. “It was high-pressure, 12-hour shifts. I started dreaming about containers and the numbers on them!” he says with a chuckle. Later, he became a traffic engineer in São Paulo, focusing on the safe and efficient movement of people and goods throughout one of the busiest cities in the world.
When Fabio and Patricia decided to move to Canada in 2016, he assumed he could continue his engineering career. But he quickly discovered that his Brazilian credentials weren’t recognized. “I would have had to go back to college for three years besides tests to validate my diploma just to work in my field,” he says. “ Too expensive for us at the time”.
Noticing his disappointment, Patricia asked him a question that would change his life:
“Why not try your dream and become an artist?”
He enrolled at Seneca Polytechnic in Toronto to study 3D animation. It wasn’t easy. He was older than most of his classmates, faced a language barrier, and often had to work twice as hard. “On the second day of classes, I spent 12 hours in the lab,” he says. “And later, I slept there for three days because my home computer couldn’t handle the software.”
The program turned out to be heavily focused on technical animation tools, not traditional illustration. So he pivoted once again—this time to a program in independent illustration, where he rediscovered his love for drawing and storytelling.
Today, Fabio works as a freelance digital and traditional illustrator for articles, books, portraits, advertisement agencies (Posters for movies, etc), and sometimes caricatures, creating bold, satirical, and hyperrealist works. His art has been displayed on utility boxes in Toronto, and one of his pieces was featured in a large mural and also an animation about Tax Fraud commissioned by UBC Built - Toronto.
He describes his style as a blend of digital caricature and satire, often with a touch of exaggeration and emotional depth. “Sometimes I feel like just drawing for myself, and other times I work on client commissions,” he says. “It depends on the day—and the story I want to tell.”
But the industry is evolving. With the rise of Artificial Intelligence, Fabio notes that many studios are opting for AI-generated art. “It’s cheaper, sure,” he says. “But it lacks the human touch. If someone doesn’t have an illustrator’s eye, they may not notice—but the standard is lower.”
In 2023, he and Patricia left Toronto behind. They wanted something quieter, somewhere they could feel safer and more at home. Patricia had heard of Sarnia, so Fabio drove here with a friend to scout it out. He spent the day exploring, sending Patricia photos while she navigated from home, telling him where to go. Later, they returned together and made the decision: Sarnia would be their new home.
Now settled in the community, Fabio is taking commissions and building his presence as an artist in Southwestern Ontario. To explore Fabio’s work or commission a piece, you can find him online—both through his website and Instagram, where his passion for art, colour, and character truly comes to life.
"Humans of Sarnia" founder Art Connolly is a man fuelled by curiosity and a passion for connecting with people in Sarnia. Inspired by the renowned “Humans of New York” series, with a camera in hand, he captures the very essence of the individuals he encounters, preserving their stories through his lens. Follow his series on Instagram and Facebook.