Our new feature aims to bring you illustrative delights from far flung corners of the globe starting with Mexico.
We will be embarking on a journey around the world stopping off in various locations to explore the visual treasures and talent of the artists working proactively to promote their illustrative work within each location.
We were recently made aware of a thriving illustration scene in Mexico thanks to the Mexican Illustrators blog ilustradorasmexicanas.blogspot.com.
About the Mexican Illustrators blog
Mexican illustrators is a place where the creativity and talent of Mexican women can be expressed. A non -profit group whose goal is to bring together women working professionally in the illustration field in order to disseminate their work and achieve more exposure, allowing the world to discover the richness of colour, techniques and worlds that each artist has to contribute.
Silvana Avila on Mexican Illustration
I think Mexican illustration is defined by the colour mixture, textures and a very strong or contrasted lines as well. In our cultural traditions the use of vibrant colors is a constant and i think that’s why a lot of illustrators reflect that mixture of colour and texture in their works. Because we grow and live surrounded by these colors. Concerning the contrasted lines, I think this is because Mexico is a country of contrasts cultural, economical, ethnic…
Silvana has kindly suggested a couple of her favourite Mexican Illustrators for Creature to publish, one girl and one boy.
Ixchel Estrada
Ixchel was born in Mexico in 1977. She studied graphic design and illustration and has been working as an illustrator ever since. She has worked for many publishers and has had many children’s books published in Mexico and other countries. She also creates handmade toys.
You simply must visit her website, it’s an animated collage which highlights her quirky handmade toys and collage based illustration work brilliantly. The use of bold forms and colour give her wok great impact, this along with the narrative elements in many of her images displays the influence of Mexico’s rich and vibrant culture upon her work.
Duncan tonatiuh
Duncan was born in Mexico City and grew up in San Miguel de Allende. He’s currently working on two new picture books and regularly uploads new illustrations, inspirations and current events to his blog duncantonatiuh.wordpress.com
His work is influenced by Mixtec writing originating from the indigenous people of Mexico. The Mixtec used imagery and the relationships between pictorial elements to denote the meaning of the text. Duncan adopts the flat presentation with lack of perspective and earthy colours used in these Codices and merges with more modern day cultural influences to give his unique style. We look forward to seeing how this style develops.
Thank you to Silvia for helping put this article together. As well as highlighting artists from every corner of the globe we hope this feature provides some enlightenment into influences of art from eras past on modern day illustration.
Useful links relating to Mexican Illustration:
ilustradorasmexicanas.blogspot.com
Mexican Illustrators facebook page
A flickr group for mexican illustrators
Wiki – Mexican art origins – The Mixtec
http://ilustrandoenmexico.blogspot.com
We are stopping in Mexico for a while to enjoy the cultural delights. We wait for the wind to take us to our next, as yet unconfirmed, destination. If you have any suggestions as to where Creature should stop next or are aware of a thriving illustration scene in some far flung corner of the earth then please get in touch: creature@creaturemag.com