30 Jun 2016
We met Mercedes Bellido at Les Arts PRO 2016, and after listening to her views about the illustration profession, we just knew we had to intreview her. Mercedes is from Zaragoza, but lives at Madrid, where she combines illustration work with her own unique style, art direction for fashion firm Kling, and an intense activity on social media (specially Instagram).
Tell us a bit about yourself: How did the road began for you to get into art and illustration?
I decided to study Fine Arts at Cuenca and that was the igniter for me to take risks and devote myself to painting and illustration.
Where do you find inspiration for your work, and how do you melt your sources of inspiration to create a unique style like yours?
I get inspiration from different things and sources. I got clear referents like Henri Rousseau, David Hockney, Aleksandra Waliszewska or Giorgio De Chirico, but I don't get influenced only by painters or artists. I get inspiration from childhood memories, things that draw my attention during the day-to-day, or books I've recently read. The most important thing is to find the way to make these ideas real and make them your own.
Aside from your personal production, you also work as Art Director at the fashion firm Kling. Does it get difficult to alternate both worlds? What are your views on the relation between illustration and fashion?
It gets really difficult to get all the time needed. But with lots of effort, persistence, and good time management, it is possible to get everything done. The most important thing is a good motivation, it is impossible without that.
Illustration always has had an important role on fashion, from mannequins and sketching new clothings, to prints and patterns. I think illustration and fashion go really well together and results are always interesting.
You've got a strong social media presence. How much time do you spend managing your personal brand? Do you think the influencer phenomenom is a temporary fashion or will become a new profession?
I spend much more time that I'd like in social media. Social media is a powerful tool to spread your job and portfolio, but they consume an insane amount on time. It's not only posting stuff, but replying to comments and also keeping an eye on people's reaction to things.
I think bloggers, tweetstars and instagrammers will be fashionable until the next hot thing comes up. But right now, for me it is just like another job.
What good (and bad) things do you feel the Internet and the new technologies have brought to your field?
I think Internet is key to show your work and access content everywhere. A negative aspect can be that your work is more easy to steal, but that's a risk you take before playing the Internet game. The most important thing is to keep working and using Internet in an addecuate fashion.
And last, but not least: any advice for aspiring artists and illustrators just starting up their careers?
I guess my advice would be: lots of effort, set up your own little goals to prevent burn-out, and seek a personal style to be comfortable with.
Thanks a lot, Mercedes!
27 Jun 2016
As you know, we keep on working to improve the experience of the people visiting your website, to increase the chances of them becoming your clients!
In particular, some of our templates show all the item from the navigation menu when it is viewed from a mobile device. This can be good when you only have three or four items in your menu, but can be a real bummer if you have more, as people will have to scroll down to see your work most of the time.
That's why you can now enable Show collapsable menu in mobile devices in Appearance - General. This way, people visiting your site from a mobile device will see a collapsable menu just like these examples. Cool, right?
For any doubt, question, suggestion or problem, please contact us at uservoice or write us at [email protected].
23 Jun 2016
On this new interview, we bring you Coco Dávez, illustrator and painter from Madrid who develops an intense work on the publishing sector, personal projects, and brand projects due to her relevance on social networks like Instagram. We met Coco on Les Arts PRO 2016, and couldn't resist to interview her. Hope you enjoy!
Tell us a bit about yourself: How did the road began for you to get into art and illustration?
It was thanks to the motivation given by photographer Dan Gil and the work opportunity given by Rodrigo Sánchez (art director at El Mundo newspaper). Being able to work with them made me truly believe I could make a career as an illustrator.
You've being working on the publishing sector from the very start of your career. What qualities does a client and project need to have for you to feel comfortable and motivated?
I kind of feel a bit privileged on that, because I've always been given a lot of freedom. There may be some constraints, but I always have lots of freedom when drawing for them.
We know you are quite an influencer on instagram. How do you manage your personal marketing on the Internet? Do a lot of brands get to you for collaborations? How does working with brands feel?
Actually, most of my time is focused on social networks. Sometimes I end spending more time on them rather than drawing, I guess it's a new appendix attached to all artists from XXI century. You've got to reinvent yourself, and right now my biggest source of income comes through Instagram, so I really take care of it. And also, as you say, it gives lots of visility towards brands; working with them is also a pleasure. Some projects with brands may be a bit more constrained, but they always give me a lot of freedom on any action.
Who are the artists that influence you the most?
Hopper since I was a kid, then came Picasso, Calder, Hockney, Eames...
What good (and bad) things do you feel the Internet and the new technologies have brought to your field?
Visility and free publicity is definitely positive: we can reach anyplace, anytime. I don't see much negative on them, maybe the time they consume from us. But these are new times, and you got to adapt to them.
And last, but not least: any advice for aspiring illustrators just starting up their careers?
Don't ever stop trusting on what you do, and make mistakes constantly: great ideas are born from mistakes.
Thanks a lot, Coco!
09 Jun 2016
We can't help ourselves: when summer arrives and weather becomes warmer, we suddenly feel the urge to make discounts to everyone!
As it is traditional in Drawfolio during the summer months, you can have a 30% discount on your first year of PRO Plan, to make it more easy for you to have a great portfolio website that will get you opportunities and new customers.
You just have to use the discount code SUMMER16 on the last step of "Upgrade my account" form.
09 Jun 2016
For this new interview, we talked with illustrator and manga-influenced comic author Jessica Mars. We met Jessica after buying her self-published comic Hey Sister!, an spiritual sequel of sorts for japanese manga Worst, but with a really interesting plot twist. We liked it so much that we wanted to interview her as soon as possible, and here is the result!
Tell us a bit about yourself: How did the road began for you to get into manga, comic and illustration?
I've been drawing and reading comics since I was a kid. I always wanted to make my own stories, but everything ended up becoming a unfinished project. Some years ago, I finally decided to go for it, and here I am!
Who are the artists that influence you the most?
There are many artists and work that has been an influence to me, not only style-wise but on many other aspects of the creation of a comic. Some of my favourite comic artists are Matsumoto Taiyou, Otomo Katsuhiro and Inoue Takehiko. And I've added Hugo Pratt to that list lately, too.
On your comic works, you are in charge not only on art, but also in writing, script, characters... Can you tell us about your process on this?
My stories usually begin with an idea I want to tell to people, and then they become comics (or illustrations) because that's my medium. I create a story from that idea, set up a timeline and define setting and characters. There's not a fixed order for this process, it sort of happens at the same time. When all of this is done, I begin sketching the comic storyboard and then work on the final comic after that.
You have made a strong bet for webcomics and self-publishing. What advantages do they have versus traditional distribution, and what do you think of the future of self-publishing?
The strongest advantage of self-publishing, on my opinion, is being free from go-betweens. No editors, anyone will condition and change your creative work.
The future of self-publishing depends a lot on people engagement. We the authors who self-publish ourselves are equally skilled as the ones published commercially, but in comic-book events they won't give us any visibility. Unless people begins to understand the quantity of self-published authors who need a space to show their work, the future looks tough.
What good (and bad) things do you feel the Internet and the new technologies have brought to your field?
New technologies are the real power-tool for self-published authors in order to show and distribute their work. It may come with some plagiarism or work stealing, but Internet gives a broad horizon of options to people who don't work with publishing firms and lets us reach lots of customers who we wouldn't be able to reach any other way.
And last, but not least: any advice for aspiring illustrators and comic authors just starting up their careers?
The only advice I can give is: don't give up, keep drawing, and try to work on what you really want to work. Don't get influenced by negative comments, as there will be always plenty of them. The sooner you realize that, the better. But the most important thing is: don't stop drawing!
Thanks a lot, Jessica!
