Hometown: Madrid, Spain.
Location: When I finished my studies in illustration, I moved to Den Haag, Netherlands, and lived there for two years. Since 2014, I’ve lived in Sintra, Portugal.
Duration: Four years.
Projects: I often illustrate album covers, film posters and pictures for animated videos.
Career path: At first, I was interested in designing clothes for live theater and movies, so I started out studying fashion. But I realized that I didn’t like the “vogue world”—it wasn’t for me. I just wanted to paint from my imagination or depict stories and history, so I switched over to major in illustration. I learned that there are two paths as a professional illustrator: 1) you can work for a company, publisher or illustration studio; or 2) you can work in your own studio—in my case, my house. So I took a deep breath and chose the second path. Freelancing is very hard work. Sometimes your work doesn’t get praise, and usually you don’t earn too much money—but you have the opportunity to make your own projects.
Influences: For many years, I was influenced by fantasy stories with princesses and elves. But I discovered some books and artists that opened my mind to the real world, and I realized that there are many ‘fantastic’ things inside of us. The emotions, the senses—these things are not easily explained in words, but you can communicate them in an illustration. You can show how you see the world.
Work environment: I work in a very quiet atmosphere. I live in a small town, surrounded by forests, sea and beautiful castles. It is very inspiring, but sometimes too quiet!
Aspirations: My goal is to have my own gallery, a small studio where I can work and exhibit projects created by other illustrators and myself, where fans of illustration can see, share and buy.