21 May 2018
Today, we are bringing an exceptional guest to our interview series: Juan Carlos Paz (also known as Bakea). Juan carlos works as a freelance art director, illustrator, and even sculptor. After years of working with some of the most important advertising agencies on Spain, Juan Carlos left all that behind to focus on illustration, and has developed a unique and personal style and universe of his own (Bakelanasland). We met Bakea at 2017's edition of Ilustrasal and we were eager since then to interview him for our blog.
Tell us a bit about yourself: how did you end in the illustration and design?
Hi! I'm Juan Carlos Paz, I was born on Puertollano (Ciudad Real) on 1984, and I love drawing!
I've been drawing everything everywhere since I was a kid, so it was clear to me that I wanted to focus my career towards that.
When I finished art school, I opted for a college degree on Advertising and PR. After that, I worked for 5 years on big spanish advertising agencies, but came to realize that it wasn't what I really liked. So I began to draw more and more, and show my work on Internet, trying to work as a freelace illustrator some day. And luckily, I got there!
As you told on your talk on Ilustrasal 2017, your presonal projects evolved in some kind of "brand" that gave you a lot of visibility and brought clients, projects, and comissions. Can you tell us about how this happened?
Yes, I would say that it's more of a personal style rather than a brand, and that makes my work easily recognizable.
When I worked for advertising agencies, I was asked a lot to "copy" the style of different illustrators, and I realized how important having personal work and style is for an illustrator. Also, there's some work of experimentation and research to find a style you like and you feel comfortable with.
Who are your biggest influences and the artists you most look up to?
A lot of them! From current artists, I love Mark Ryden, Gary Baseman, Jack Sacks, Glanderco, Grand Chamaco. Also, being around friends who work on illustration inspires me a lot. Diaz Faes, Wearbear, or Nose, are friends but also very inspiring.
From classics, I love Grant Wood, Henri Rousseau, or Dalí.
What qualities does a client and project need to have for you to feel comfortable and motivated?
The most important thing is that I need the project to be interesting. Being interested in a project makes everything more simple, and gets you more involved. When this happens, everyone works towards the same objectives, and the final result is always way better.
You've got a strong presence on Social Media. How do you manage your social networks, and how much time do you spend on them?
Well, not so strong, I would say! I invest less time on them than I should. Nowadays, social media is super-important and deserve a lot of attention. Because of my particular style, I take a lot of time to make each illustration, and that makes me post less than I would like.
And last, but not least: any advice for aspiring illustrators just starting up their careers?
Don't give up! You've got to experiment with different stuff, and look for a style that clicks with people, not only with yourself. I began drawing black and white Hell Angels and now I draw colorful monsters!
Thanks a lot, Juan Carlos!
02 May 2018
Following in our interview series, we bring you young talent Jhon Ortiz, who we had the pleasure to meet when he won the jury award of the Cinema Challenge we celebrated last year. Though Jhon's main focus is in 3D animation, as you'll see in the interview, he also works on 3D modelling, illustration, and other disciplines.
Tell us a bit about yourself: how did you end in the illustration and animation world?
I’m not sure of the moment I decided to become an artist. I always enjoyed painting and drawing, but I did it just for fun, I never connected it with a professional career. I remember watching the Saturday morning cartoons as a kid: Merry Melodies, Looney Tunes, and Hanna-Barbera where among my favourites.
I was a kid bqack then and knew zero about animation, they were just fun characters to me. I think everything changed for me when I first watched Toy Story: I knew what I wanted to become since that moment, even if it’s difficult to tell your family you want to earn a living with animation.
Even if I knew it was not my thing, I decided because to study journalism because I thought that way my parents would be less anxious about me having a degree, and would let me dot what I wanted after. At university I met a friend who was as mad as me about animation. I remember us going to a Motion Graphics course, and things flowing fast since then: one course led to another, and my will to learng grew more and more until leading me to 3D animation.
You work on a variety of fields: illustration, 3D modelling and animation, even some UX and UI Design. Is it easy to combine the creative side with the technical side? Do you think that more artists should do that?
John Lasseter once said that "art challenges technology and technology inspires art". I think both things, art and technology, walk hand in hand. Creativity is one of the most important skills of a human being. The technical side helps us execute and make real what we imagined, but I don't see it as two separate things, but as a whole process.
The skills I have in those diverse fields come from different situations, and each artist walks a different path and finds different obstacles. In my case, I always was a self-learner and being able to sketch, concept, model, and rig a character gave me a lot of freedom and independence.
Who are your biggest influences and the artists you most look up to?
I'm influenced by a lot or artists: Genndy Tartakosky, Nate Wrangg, Mike Yamada, Dice Tsutsumi, Gop Gap, Elioli, Julia Sarda. And I could go on! Nowadays, just opening instagram or pinterest makes you discover new great and talented artists.
How do you manage your social networks, and how much time do you spend on them?
I don't have a strong influence in social networks, and I usually post stuff when I got some spare time to illustrate. But I don't really schedule myself for it, there are times where I make stuff and won't post it. I don't try to keep it up-to-date, I just draw and post stuff for fun.
Finally, any advice to those who are starting to work in illustration and 3D art?
It's hard advising when I just got started! But I think what matters is to be constant. You've got to see things like a marathon, not a 100 meters race. Hard work wins over talent when the talent does not work hard! If you are passionate about it, don't stop working on that, and don't be afraid of asking what you don't know and don't be afraid to show what you do know: the most talented people I know are the humblest.
Thanks a lot, Jhon!
23 Apr 2018
Following on our now quite extense interview series with artists and illustrators, today we are bringing you Shycheeks! (or Sara). Shycheeks is from Valencia, our home town, and a true Drawfolio veteran (she is with us since 2014!). We love her work, so an interview in our blog was due. As you'll see, Sara mainly does digital illustration and comissions for books, events, or firms, and also her own production and items, which sells online and on art fairs.
Tell us a bit about you. How did you decide to work in art and illustration?
I’m in love with comics and animation since I was a child so I never left drawing. I had the chance to do artistic studies in my hometown before university and then I went to Valencia to study Fine Arts. After that, a one-day workshop runned by Laura Pérez and Io Bru in Valencia was really inspirational and helpful to me as they told us a lot about how to start, build a portfolio, find clients and contact agencies, attend events, legal paperwork… All those important things that we need but wasn’t told in my university. A bit later I started to study illustration in ESAT where I found really interesting classes such as the Carlos Ortín and Malota ones. Ever since, I started my adventure of drawing, sending emails, attending events and meeting new people. Until now I’ve done commissions for books, events, little companies and videogames and now I’m spending most of my time doing my own merchandise and selling it at conventions and also online.
How is your process? Do you mix analog and digital tools?
In my early years doing Fine Arts I bought a Wacom Bamboo, so while I was mostly drawing with traditional tools, soon I got used to draw digitally even from the sketch. A lot of people doesn’t believe me when I say that I enjoy drawing most rather than painting. I use to draw everything a couple of times before starting to use color, but it’s true that I use to pay a lot of attention to my color palettes and I use a limited number of colors. I always use Photoshop and I’m the kind of person that uses lots of layers, but I try to keep them arranged in folders so I don’t get lost.
Who are your biggest influences and the artists you most look up to?
Recently I shared an influence map in my social media. I love the stylised characters and scenes painted by pre-raphaelites, artists like John William Waterhouse, Dante Gabriel Rossetti or Frederick Leighton. Now I see myself so influenced by the artstyle of Samantha Mash, Sara Kipin, Emily Carroll and Emily Cheeseman. I hope to draw illustrations as beautiful as theirs sometime.
Also, you are so active in social media. How do you manage that and how much time do you spend on it?
I like to pay attention to any new app, web or software, but it’s nearly impossible to spend time in all of them at the same time. While some time ago I was mostly using Facebook or Tumblr, now I prefer Instagram or Twitter. Or while I was using Deviantart and Behance some time ago, now I have more presence in Drawfolio and Artstation. I try to post on Instagram every two or three days and everyday in the stories, while I post the same on Twitter but with more interaction with other artists and friends. It’s hard to control what every algorithm wants from you in every social media, but most of them just wants you to be as active and using their possibilities as possible.
What positive and negative sides do you think the internet and new technologies have in your field?
On the positive side: to me as an introvert person helps me to reach and meet more people, to show my work anywhere and specially to find information about everything so easily. I don’t need to face anyone to get the email of an editor, I can ask directly to any artist how have they done anything or my illustrations can reach hundreds of persons in a day.
On the negative side: there is a constant pressure to keep posting and producing art content to share in your social media and there is a high risk to get addicted to earn more and more likes and followers. You must try to avoid that and focus on drawing and to not compare yourself with others. Also you must learn to deal with some people that doesn’t know the value and effort of what you do and came to you asking for free drawings or use your work with no credit or license...
Finally, any advice to those who are starting to work in illustration?
I encourage them to start showing their work with no fear even if they don’t have so much confidence yet. People like to see your work process and your art progression, not only finished works. I would say them not to undervalue their work and to help others understand the value of your work, time and effort. And specially I would say them to cheer their artist friends and send them lots of love!
Thanks a lot, Sara!
22 Feb 2018
At Drawfolio, we are always improving our product based on what you tell us. As you know, since quite a bit of time you can connect your instagram profile to show your latests images as a regular gallery in your portfolio site. But since instagram started allowing non-square pictures, a lot of people were telling us that the instagram galleries in their sites were not looking great in some templates of Drawfolio.
We worked to unify the look of the instagram galleries, and now they look great independently of the template you are using in your site.
For any doubt, question, suggestion or problem, please contact us at uservoice or write us at [email protected].
23 Jan 2018
Time to get back to our interview series. We were a bit busy organizing the Cinema Challenge Expo and also travelling to Ilustrísima and Ilustrasal, so sorry for that!
It was on the latter conference, Ilustrasal, were we met María Simavilla. Maria is from Salamanca and works as illustrator for editorial and publicity projects, with clients such as Anaya, Edelvives, SM, or Edebé. After seeing her talk at Ilustrasal, we knew we had an awesome interview waiting to be done. And as you will see, we were exactly right!
Tell us a bit about yourself: How did you end into art and illustration?
Rather than "ending" there, I never left! I was one of those cheeky kids (although my mom says otherwise!) that always knew what she wanted to do when she grew up. But I never knew how I was going to make that love for art and drawing happen in the professional world. "Working" always sounded bad to me, I just wanted to make drawings (more or less like nowadays!). But of course, I had to earn a living sooner or later.
But luckily, I found illustration as a professional medium during my college degree. I studied Fine Arts at Salamanca and took contact with illustration thanks to the subject that Miguel Ángel Pacheco taught. It was love at first sight (with illustration) and began working to be part of the profession. I remember that on my last day of class, Pacheco told me something like: "You could be an illustrator, but you'll have to work a lot". And I thought: "Well, if it's that all, let's go!". That's what I did and keep doing ever since.
What are the artists that influenced you the most?
Something I always had in mind during my studies is the strong determination to not be like anyone else in particular. So that's why it's a bit difficult for me to name artists that influenced my work. It is inevitable to be influenced by work from your peers on a technical level, because we are always learning from each other, but I think having your own voice is key.
When I finished my degree and while I worked to build a strong portfolio, I ran a blog about illustration where I also featured great illustrators I love. All of them were great influences and curating all that work and pictures were a great exercise, and I learnt a lot from that. But aside from that very diverse sources, I think the authors that most had an influence in me were the ones who illustrated my favourite childhoods books. Specially english illustrators like Quentin Blake or Patrick Benson, who illustrated my beloved "The Tough Princess". But I think this influence is more on "character" rather than visual style: it is on the characters and the atmosphere they are walking in. It is something subtle that is always present in my drawings.
Your production is mainly digital: can you tell us more about your process? Do you blend digital and traditional techniques?
The first steps of the my process are still traditional, or at least I try them to be. I always sketch on pencil if I'm not running short of time, in which case I'll sketch on the graphic tablet right away. But I need to keep touch on paper, and it's true that I'm more eager to get my hands dirty and make things far away from the screen these days.
When I've scanned these sketches, I colour them, and the process of doing that resembles inking on a light table. I use the sketch on a layer for reference, and re-draw and colour on Photoshop. Some years ago, I would do that "re-drawing" process on Illustrator and then export to Photoshop to add textures and details, but as my works has evolved I've found myself using Photoshop only and leaving vector stuff aside. It is more exciting and I feel like I have a lot more freedom this way.
You work mainly for the editorial sector. What is it like? What qualities does a client and project need to have for you to feel comfortable and motivated?
The editorial sector is a huge machine that moves insanely fast and I'm just a tiny part on that mechanism. I'm sometimes overwhelmed by the speed in which the publishing market operates nowadays, both as a consumer and illustrator working for editorial projects. I've got the impression that the industry releases far more publications than the average consumer can cope with in a life, and that's great and awful at the same time, because I don't know if this pace is sustainable at all.
I worry about that because I'm one of the people making a living on that, and I'm trapped on the rythm of this great consuming machine. But I'm also worried about the amount of good stories (illustrated or not) that may go unnoticed because of the speed of the market. Deadlines feel tighter and tighter, and that always takes a toll on our work. I feel we sometimes are feeding an unsatiable beast.
That would be the ugly side of it, but of course there is a bright and romantic side: telling and sharing stories. Sometimes beautiful texts come to you, and illustrating them is more a gift than a job. Even with the tight deadlines, you remember why you are doing this and make amends with your profession. If the project is managed by a great publishing company that cares about the work and trusts you, then everything goes smoothly. I had the chance to work with great editors that gave me freedom and trusted me. That's key to me for being creative, be motivated, and enjoy the process. And that, of course, shows up in the final result.
Aside from the spanish market, you also worked with projects abroad. How is the experience? What differences do you find between Spain and other markets?
I work mainly for the spanish market, my collaborations abroad have been more casual. Right now, I'm working on a project with a Norwegian publisher and the most relevant difference is budget. Work abroad is better paid than in Spain, that's a fact. That's why I feel we have to do as much as possible to work on international markets, even if it can be hard to begin. I know other kind schedules and deadlines are handled, but that's something I'll have to discover myself bit by bit. Let's hope!
And last, but not least: any advice for aspiring illustrators just starting up their careers?
For starters, the one that was first given to me: work, work a lot, and don't feel discouraged on rejectments and closed doors. Don't work for others, for likes, followers, editors, or agencies.. be selfish and work for yourself, for your own enjoyment. Do not try to be like someone else, be like the person you see in the mirror: yourself. And always be patient!
Thanks a lot, María!
