On Rebelde, Giovanna Grigio plays Emilia, a scholarship student from Brazil who is accepted to Elite Way School because of her exceptional musical abilities — and, let’s face it, her undeniable fashion sense. But when she’s not stalking the halls as EWS’ resident Regina George, the talented Grigio likes to draw in her spare time.

Giovanna Grigio

Grigio has a separate Instagram account for this hidden talent called @escondegrigio, which translates from Portuguese to “hidden Grigio,” to showcase what she describes in her bio as her “naughty doodles.” Her first post, back in November 2018 was a self-portrait (septum piercing and all). Translated, her caption reads: “I think a drawing of my face is maybe the best way to start this from here.”

She goes on to explain in the same post that she created this art space “for us to exchange ideas about art, in a different place than we always do.” Recounting how she has drawn her whole life, she describes her zest for the visual arts as one of pure fun and passion. She writes: “I’m from a family of artists, animators, painters, tattoo artists... and there’s me, who picks up some papers and I do my doodles.”

Well, the doodles she has shared online have blossomed to 63 in total, to date. Her drawings on @escondegrigio often center on celebrating the female form, her friends (or, shall we say, her “models”), and figures that inspire her, including Freddie Mercury, or, as she describes him, “Our eternal Killer Queen,” and her “favorite painter,” Frida Kahlo. Grigio drew her Frida after visiting the artist’s house, and the post features a video chronicling Grigio’s process, from initial doodle to finished piece. It’s like flipping through Grigio’s personal sketchbook.

Her sketches also pull from pop culture, particularly Disney animated films. One drawing features the character of Mulan, captioned with a memorable line from the eponymous movie: “The flower that blooms in adversity is the rarest and most beautiful of all.”

Giovanna Grigio

Yet Lilo & Stitch is the Disney flick that resonates the most with Grigio’s imagination, as she reveals in a post dated June 23, 2020: “I think of all the animated movies I’ve ever seen, the one that delights me the most in terms of character design is Lilo & Stitch, I’m very inspired every time I review the movie, and sometimes new designs like this are born!” She has featured drawings inspired by both the titular alien, Stitch, and Lilo’s older sister, Nani, on her page.

She also pays homage to her previous acting roles in her art, as when she drew a doodle of her character Samantha Lambertini, whom she played first on Young Hearts and later reprised on As Five. “Anybody who knows my work,” she writes in the post from April 2019, “knows this girl from this doodle. Samantha was and still is one of the most beautiful things that ever happened to me.”

While Grigio enjoys her drawings simply for the thrill of creating, she does take her art seriously. She reveals in her posts that she began attending art classes to hone her craft in 2019. In a video from February 2019, she shares that she learned just how many drawings you need for only one second of animation (fun fact: it’s 21 more than in the flip book she has from her class). And in a May 6, 2019, post, she offers a glimpse into the class itself, posting a portrait of her peer donning a My Chemical Romance T-shirt. Her skills have also led her to design original characters of her own, like a cartoon girl “going out walking alone” ready to take on the world and a woman living Grigio’s fantasy of sipping a coffee in Paris.

Giovanna Grigio

Grigio even nabbed a professional gig in 2020, illustrating the cover art for Dois Quartos’ single “É Difícil, Porra,” which can be streamed on Spotify. Grigio calls the opportunity “by far one of the most special things that happened to me this year,” as it’s the first time she has ever created commissioned art. “I couldn’t be happier and prouder!” she beams. The band shared the artwork on their page as well, praising their “favorite chiquitita” for agreeing to draw the cover. Grigio famously played Mili in the reboot of Chiquititas from 2013 to 2015.

Although Grigio has not shared any more naughty doodles on her page since July 2021, the essence of the account really served as a vehicle for her to express herself in a “hideout” of sorts. As she says in a post from February 2019, “The name is not hide for nothing! It’s really my hideout, something I had just for myself, but that’s ours now.”

You can view more of the artwork that inhabits the escondido mondo of Giovanna Grigio on her Instagram account, @escondegrigio. Here’s hoping she visits her hideout with new art soon.