Such is Life

I had a little creative blockage the last couple of weeks. Nothing important, just something that happens every now and then. Maybe creativity just needs a break from time to time.
Then, recently I was ‘saved’ by a kind canadian art director who offered me a very interesting and fun assignment. Suddenly, inspiration came back. Just like that, wham! The only thing I could say was ‘happythankyoumoreplease!!’ :))

Anyway, I’m working under ‘non-disclosure agreement’, which means I can’t show anything until it’s published. Hush hush. So I thought maybe I could share something else, as it has been such a long time since my last post. Shame on me, I know.
I was looking through my sketchbook and saw something I had not noticed before.

These are some sketches I painted independently (in about 30 min. each) during the last months of 2013. No connection between them was intended, but looking at them now, it feels like it somehow makes sense to put them together in some kind of ‘sequence’, if I may call it like that.

SuchIsLife

Such is the cicle of life, from my humble perspective.

There’s ups, there’s downs… We get lost in them, either wanting to get out of the negative, or trying not to lose the positive. No real peace there, it seems to me.
And then there’s those brief, crystal-clear moments in between, where it seems like there’s no me, no you… No inside or outside. No good or bad, even no world around, but rather everything at the same time and place… Then everything makes sense. I call that peace. And maybe, just maybe, I could also call it love.

Just a little reflection, with no further relevance. Have a nice weekend everyone.

Sequoia Tree · Album Cover

This is the cover and back cover design for the first studio album of Ibiza island’s alternative pop rock band Sequoia Tree. The artwork was created about a year ago, although I wasn’t able to publish it until the album’s release, which was delayed for different reasons. Finally, the record will be released in October 2013.

The eleven tracks included in the album were composed during the last five years, since the band’s formation. Moving between pop, rock and indie, the main themes in the songs are heartbreak, school failure and social exclusion.

Please visit the band’s facebook fanpage for more information and updates. You can also listen to some of the songs here.

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Estas son la portada y contraportada del primer disco de estudio de la banda ibicenca de pop rock alternativo Sequoia Tree. El diseño e ilustraciones fueron creados hace aproximadamente un año, pero no he podido mostrarlo hasta la publicación del álbum, que se fue retrasando por diferentes motivos. Finalmente, el disco saldrá a la venta en Octubre de 2013.

El disco es una selección de cortes compuestos durante los cinco años de existencia de la banda. La canciones, que se mueven entre el pop, el rock y el indie, abordan temas como el desamor, el fracaso escolar o la exclusión social.

No dudéis en visitar la página de fans en facebook de la banda para más información y actualizaciones. También podéis escuchar una selección de las canciones incluidas en el disco aquí.

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This illustrations would be a typical example of mixed-media work. Many different techniques, both traditional and digital, were used in this project, the final result of which being assembled digitally in photoshop.

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Estas ilustraciones serían un típico ejemplo de trabajo en técnica mixta. En este proyecto fueron usadas y combinadas varias técnicas, tanto tradicionales como digitales, siendo el resultado final ensamblado digitalmente en photoshop.

Portada_f

Cover:

The main painting of the wolf, the bushes and the sky was painted using acrylic paints on 370g watercolor paper (see below). Later on, it was scanned and adjusted digitally, adding several digital painting layers, using different blend modes and effects.

The buildings were vector-drawn in adobe illustrator, then adjusted, tweaked, painted over and added to the final composition in photoshop.

The dripping and spatter effects were also created traditionally using watercolor and acrylic paints on paper, then scanned, adjusted and added digitally to the final illustration.

Finally, the luminous dragonfly was 100% digitaly painted in photoshop.

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Portada:

La ilustración principal del lobo, los arbustos y el cielo fue pintada usando pintura acrílica sobre papel de acuarela de 370g (ver más abajo). Más tarde fue escaneada y retocada digitalmente, añadiendo varias capas de pintura digital, y usando diferentes modos de fusión y efectos en photoshop.

Los edificios fueron dibujados vectorialmente en adobe illustrator, y más tarde retocados, pintados y añadidos a la composición final en photoshop.

Los efectos de goteo y salpicaduras también fueron creados de forma tradicional, usando acuarela y acrílico, después escaneados, retocados y añadidos digitalmente a la ilustración final.

Por último, la libélula luminosa fue pintada de forma 100% digital en photoshop.

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Back cover:

The dragonfly drawing was created using traditional pencil on paper, then scanned, inverted and adjusted in photoshop. The background paint texture was also created traditionally, then scanned and added digitally to the composition. The remaining elements were vector-drawn in adobe illustrator.

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Contraportada:

La libélula fue dibujada a lápiz sobre papel, luego escaneada, invertida y retocada en photoshop. La textura de pintura del fondo también fue creada de forma tradicional, escaneada y añadida digitalmente a la composición. El resto de elementos fueron dibujados vectorialmente en adobe illustrator.

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Finally, this is the original acrylic on paper painting:

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Finalmente, esta es la ilustración original en acrílico sobre papel:

Wolf

T-Shirt design ‘Setmana de la Llengua’

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T-shirt design and logo for a school event, an annual celebration of Ibiza islander language and culture called ‘The Week of (Catalan) Language’. I’ll be teaching some art workshops for kids during the event in mid-may as well.

The T-shirts will be sold to help funding the costs of organization.

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Diseño de camiseta y logo para la ‘Setmana de la Llengua’, un evento escolar anual para promocionar la lengua y cultura isleñas en la isla de Ibiza. También impartiré unos talleres de arte para niños a mediados de mayo, cuando se celebre el evento.

Las camisetas se venderán para ayudar a financiar los costes de organización.

9 Questions · 9 Preguntas

9preguntas

This is my contribution to the book 9 questions (9 preguntas), to be published in Spain jointly by two publishers, Dibbuks and Sins Entido. About 33 artists are participating in the project, each one of us answering 9 personal questions on a page with 9 illustrations.
1- What is your favorite vice?
2- What do you think most about?
3- What is your favorite occupation?
4- What would you be most grieved at losing?
5- What is your favorite dish?
6- What confort in life could you most easily spare?
7- What or whom do you most detest?
8- What profession do you prefer?
9- Give a sketch of your love

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Ésta es mi aportación al libro 9 preguntas, que será publicado conjuntamente por las editorales Dibbuks y Sins Entido. Unos 33 artistas participamos en el proyecto, y cada uno de nosotros responde a un cuestionario de 9 preguntas personales en una página con 9 ilustraciones.

1- ¿Cuál es tu vicio favorito?
2- ¿Qué es en lo que más piensas?
3- ¿Cuál es tu ocupación favorita?
4- ¿Qué es lo que más sentirías perder?
5- ¿Cuál es tu comida favorita?
6- ¿De qué comodidad te sería más fácil desprenderte, o te importaría menos perder?
7- ¿Qué o quién es lo que más detestas?
8- ¿Cuál es tu profesión favorita?
9- Haz un esbozo de tu amor