I am talking about my childhood inspiration and what brings me to illustration, and what inspires me today as a Graphic Designer who likes watercolor.

Drawing childhood and inspirations.

Every kid is drawing freely things they are surrounded by during hours, without expectation about their abilities. I am not an exception to that childhood fact, we all did.
Fortunately, the good thing for me, as a kid, was to have two brothers. That means three different ways to express, draw, and invent a thousand imaginary from drawing to stories. We made things together and, or alone.

It was long ago, but at the age of five — or around — we were able to take what we like from each other and integrate it into our own style to grow our drawing skills and ideas faster. I wasn’t very talented or the most dedicated at that time. I drew colorful backgrounds with some shapes above and the characters of the firsts video game I was playing with. It wasn’t great drawings, but it was how I started and I was so happy to make them.

Something I remember from my childhood, something that influenced and shocked me was an illustration. My father was the proud owner of some rock’n’roll vinyl and one of the cover mark myself as a young kid.

Yes, it is!
The cover of Queen — illustrated by Frank Kelly Freas — with its giant mechanic robot hunting and killing people have been trauma to my younger self. I was afraid the robot could find and kill me. Over the fear feeling, I was amazed by the pictural qualities of every part of the illustration. How was it made? What was the magic behind the skills? How was it printed out? Why the robot looks sad? Why did he kill them? And so many other unanswered questions came to my young mind. I didn’t have internet or even a computer. Before the ’90s, the music didn’t answer the questions; I didn’t speak English at that time — do I now? Also, my parent’s answer was, “it’s only an illustration. It won’t hurt you!” It wasn’t a sufficient explanation. I wanted to know the whole story behind the illustration and the whole printing process to produce in mass series vinyl.

The Books

The very hungry caterpillar

Growing up, I was lucky enough to get some books.
One I clearly remember and bought for my kids is named “The very hungry Caterpillar” — I am laughing, so the title is good as the story and illustrations are too.

Tintin

Tintin was also fascinating with all of its stories and investigations. It is full of mysteries and adventures that bring you all over the world. The characters who follow him are funny and lost nothing over the years.

The Bluecoats

My father was a fan of the Bluecoats and had the whole collection. I cannot miss the funny stories of Sergeant Chesterfield and Caporal Blutch during the secession war. Two opposite person who are friends and enemies at the same time.

And so much more…

I also remember a large well made encyclopedia with the continent and countries that show many different lines and symbols I didn’t understand at that time.
I remember a book format A3 in black, orange, and white with illustrations of different things inside. It was to learn reading with types, their forms, and how they sound.
There were too many books to talk about that made my childhood, not enough time for that.

Anime

I liked to watch Japanese anime with my brothers. It takes the place of our imagination, but it was very satisfying and totally new at that time. We spent hours being amazed by thousand of images scrolling very fast. It was a good old time.

Goldorak

Duke Fleed (Actarus in the firsts episode) was a hero piloting a gigantic mecha that can transform itself. I was so young and so intrigued by how all of these things can work in real life that I had thousand of questions. I was a fan of this anime.

There is also so much other anime that inspired my childhood, and like the books I read, they are too many to list them here.

Video Games

I got my first Game Boy around the age of six. It was amazing to be able to control something on that green screen with buttons. As you imagine, I spent a lot of time on it trying to get to the last level or make the highest score in Tetris or the Snake.
Later, They produce the Nintendo and some years after, the Playstation. I played many games, from Super Mario to Call of Duty some years ago without forget Doom.

Zelda

That game was passionate. Link, the character was made with a few pixels, yet let my imagination fill the empty pixels. Many worlds, enigmas, and enemies to beat to finish by finding princess Zelda. You should not miss something, if not you had to go back and find it the hard way.

Metroid

I played many hours in the skin of the galactic bounty hunter Samus Aran. This game was inspired by Alien — a science-fiction and horror movie that I liked pretty much — in a dark universe with different galaxies and species. The armor of the protagonist was mesmerizing when I was young, it seemed so futuristic, and looked like another game titled Megaman.

My inspiration about Watercolor.

Much has happened since then. I go to Bern and Bienne School of Art to study Graphic Design, Photography, Painting, and art history. I spent time with teachers who were artists and designers of all types. They taught me so much that only thanks them would be shaming.
I learn a lot of different working tips as well as sharpening my skills, exchange ideas with other students, and develop concepts, logos, books, and all the print we can imagine. That is a designer’s school life.

I will avoid Graphic Design topics and focus on painting and my art inspiration.

Watercolor

Paul Dmoch

Yes, they are watercolor paintings!
I know it is impressive, and if it makes you speechless, it is normal because I believe that it is the maximum level of photo-realism you can get with pigment and water.

Paul Dmoch is a Belgian artist, he was amazed by the light and you clearly feel it through watching his masterpieces. I never saw so realistic watercolors by any other artist. It is a true master and looks at his work is a pleasure. It is my favorite watercolorist and a pure source of inspiration.

Alvaro Castagnet

Another watercolor master and precious source of inspiration is the Uruguayan painter Alvaro Castagnet. He paints with highly charged pigment to generate an intense atmosphere in his artwork. It is bold and beautiful. I also enjoy noticing the contrast he brings between details and blurry elements into his work.

Some Watercolor I did.

I am about to show you what I did about ten years ago with watercolor. There is a long time I didn’t paint something I started some days ago. The results weren’t satisfying, and that brings more motivation to catch my skills back.

My paintings

Here are my watercolors. I painted them more than ten years ago. I remember that I was passionate and so enthusiastic about that medium. I spent hours working on some of them.

Then, I worked on successfully getting my degree in Graphic Design and putting my paintings aside. Once the degree in my pocket, I was looking for work in my area, and I kept busy without taking the time to continue exploring watercolor. But now I am painting again, and it is a pleasure!