Miguel Ángel Pérez Arteaga – författare

In How Ideas Are Born, readers will find a treasure chest ofimages by 26 diverse illustrators from 12 different countriesthat the author has gathered, selected and curated for the book.The types of images and styles vary, ranging from the childlikeand naive to the poignant, suggestive and truly masterly.In addition to the 270 images, the book contains 110 drawingsand pages from notebooks and sketchbooks that take thereader deeper into the nature of each artist's work. The visualelements are complemented by revealing interviews with eachartist in which they discuss what compelled them to becomeillustrators, their inspirations, and the research, methods,personal philosophies and work processes that allow them totransform a creative impulse or an emotion into an idea, and anidea into a work of art. We learn about what drives and inspiresthem as well as the origins of their ideas and creativity, from aninnocent curiosity about shapes and colors to the desire to sharesomething fascinating and wonderful with others in a uniqueand original way. Contributors: ARGENTINA: Isol Misenta.BELGIUM: Tom Schamp. BRASIL: Flavio Morais. CANADA:Anita Kunz. FRANCE: Serge Bloch, Delphine Durand, MartinJarrie, Herve Tullet. IRELAND: Chris Haughton. ITALY: SimoneRea, Valerio Vidali. JAPAN: Yoshiko Hada. PORTUGAL: AnaBiscaia, Carolina Celas. SPAIN: Elisa Arguile, Pablo Auladell,Pep Carrio, Jesus Cisneros, Isidro Ferrer, Manuel Marsol, M.A.Perez Arteaga. SWITZERLAND: Fanny Dreyer. USA: GaryBaseman (Los Angeles, CA), Katie Benn (San Francisco, CA),Lisa Congdon (Portland, OR), Elizabeth Haidle (Portland, OR).

Jesús Cisneros is a celebrated international illustrator whose work is characterised by its economy of elements, simple, almost minimalist strokes, and a limited selection of colours to breathe life into highly evocative drawings. This book filled with vibrant images presents Cisneros’s creative processes as the artist shares insights about inspiration, improvisation, personal style, and artistic evolution. The author includes an illuminating interview woven throughout the text and gives glimpse into Cisneros’s personal notebooks, showcasing the research and exploration that underpins his magical scenes. From experimental workshops conducted with young people worldwide to commissioned works and his own expressive and introspective pieces illustrating poetry and prose, children’s books and theatre scenery, the breadth of Cisneros’s art unfolds before readers’ eyes. The reader accompanies the artist as he wields brushes worn with time, dipping them into jars of paint and sketching on squares of vegetable paper. We witness the subtle interplay of pale pinks merged with pearl greys and the vigorous intensity of explosive carmine reds kissed by African browns. Cisneros’s palette dances with indescribable colours, a testament to the hypnotic alchemy of his chosen paints. With a visually mesmerizing collection of his works, the book celebrates the wide range and intensity of Cisneros’s artistry and how sensibility and technique combine in his illustrations, proving that great stories can be told with very little.

The 25 featured artists explain, in their own words, the creative processes behind their work, what inspires them, the strategies they use to stay fresh and creative, what distinguishes their work from that of other ceramic artists, and how they achieve this. Through examples of their most personal creations, -objects capable of affecting us emotionally, surprising us and making us think-, the artists reveal important details about their ceramic creations such as how it was made, how it was shaped and which glaze and engobe coating they used to give the clay color and texture. The reader is provided with an illuminating glimpse into each artist’s unique creative world, including the defining features of their work and some of the secrets that characterize their artistic processes. Paragons of exploration, risk and versatility, the extraordinary artists highlighted in this book rediscover thousand-year-old traditions, reinvent perspectives, transcend boundaries, tell stories and rebel from conventional expectations, creating in the process an exhilarating space where art, clay, water, air and fire meet and, ultimately, inspire. Some of the ceramists included are: BELGIUM: Ann VanHoey; CHINA: Wan Liya; NETHERLANDS: Cecil Kemperink; UK: Nicholas Lees; USA: Lauren Nauman, among others.

A book featuring the wide-ranging work of internationally renowned Mexican graphic designer, illustrator and artist Alejandro Magallanes.In this book featuring the work of internationally renowned Mexican graphic designer, illustrator, poet and artist Alejandro Magallanes, the author has selected from among thousands of posters, book illustrations, and works of art. It is divided into five sections that introduce the reader to a fascinating visual universe where Magallanes “illustrates with words and writes with images.” In texts throughout the book, the artist discusses the diverse nature of his projects and reflects on his graphic style. Through this vast array of work, we can see how Magallanes’s process for creating illustrations and designing advertisements for important firms is always changing. The resulting images can be poetic, intelligent, childish, mainstream and even sometimes grotesque. They are examples of the different visions of an adult who refuses to stop being a child, one who makes believe and plays all the time, twisting ideas, images and words that can become part of our memory and stay with us forever.

Ideas are not born alone. They come from a process to a large extent organized and rational but sometimes unconscious and magical. In this book we can enjoy and learn from the creative processes of great graphic designers and creative voices around the world. Here we can find impulsive design versus more cerebral design; radical and avant-garde design alongside poetic, childish, commercial, intellectual, subversive and socially oriented design. 26 designers from 15 countries show us their workspaces, their personal notebooks and their creative processes. They teach us the keys to understand what is behind those magnificent works that inspire, thrill, impact or invite us to action. In this book the creative process itself is inspiration, a unique guide to creativity with storytelling and lessons on how to live your best creative life. The book features the work and creative processes of Ralph Bauer (Netherlands/Peru), Susana Blasco (Spain), Tomasz Boguslawski (Poland), Sarah Boris (London), Chelsea Cardinal (USA), Ryan Carl (USA), André Da Loba (Portugal), Isidro Ferrer (Spain), Veronica Fuerte (Spain), Rick Griffith (USA), Sebastian Kubica (Poland), Anette Lenz (France), Jiani Lu (Canada), Alejandro Magallanes (Mexico), Veronica Majluf (Peru), Fanette Mellier (France), Cláudia Mestre (Portugal), Milimbo (Spain), Akinori Oishi (Japan), Alvaro Pecci (Spain), Stefan Sagmeister (USA), Teresa Sdralevich (Belgium), Akiko Sekimoto (Japan), Leonardo Sonnoli (Italy), Cihan Tamti (Germany), Jessica Walsh (USA).

Isidro Ferrer is a multi-award-winning graphic designer andillustrator whose work includes illustration books, theaterposters, large-scale murals, animated shorts, sculptures, textiles,brand images and lamps. With a background in theater, he usesa variety of media, techniques and communication channels totransform his clients’ ideas into powerful yet subtle images.In About Nothing, readers will find examples of his extensivework, both the most recognizable and also the most unknown,as the author explores the personality and creative processesof this multifaceted artist, sharing Ferrer’s thinking, ideas andunderstanding of why design matters and what it means tobe a designer and an illustrator. The book portrays the artist'svision of his work as a creator, visions of his studio, excerptsfrom his notebooks, autobiographical texts and a whole treasuretrove of illustrations and designs that are largely unpublishedor made especially for this book. As a result of this wealth oftext and images, we are introduced to the personal philosophy,techniques, experiences, aesthetics, poetics and influences thatinform the work of Isidro Ferrer, with numerous examples ofhow the art of creative thinking is developed, cultivated, honedand, ultimately, transformed into beautiful objects.