From History Class to Graffiti: Guille Manchado’s Journey to Illustration
An illustrator hailing from the outskirts of Barcelona, Guille Manchado, has carved a niche in the editorial sector. Guille's artistic journey includes significant involvement with La Diputació de Barcelona's Transitar project, a social initiative designed to help people navigate a changing world.
Why did you decide to take up your creative trade?
I have always been attracted to art, I remember that in my history classes, I loved to look at the paintings and sculptures that were used in books to talk about those times. As a teenager, the first thing that interested me was graffiti and that’s why I later studied illustration.
How do you get past creative blocks?
Sometimes you simply need to get some fresh air, to see new faces, to have mental stimulation that you don’t normally have in your routine.
What is your creative process?
For a long time, my creative process has been happening in digital media, even the sketches. When I have to illustrate something, the first thing I do is think of ideas, write them down, and then come to the sketches. If the work is personal, I follow my instinct and choose what I like the most. If it’s a client, I adapt to their interests.
Where do you look for inspiration?
In the beginning, I used to look a lot at other illustrators’ work, but now I don’t do it so much.
For me it’s important to be connected to the world around us, I think my biggest source of inspiration is reality, there is beauty in everything we see every day, I think sometimes we just don’t look hard enough.
But like everyone else, I also draw inspiration from films, music, or even newspaper articles. I have always been interested in illustrating for newspapers and magazines.
What are you reading or listening to right now?
I would like to recommend a YouTube channel for illustrators called The Illustrators Guide. Recently, the author also released a book with the same name.
A big thank you to Guille Manchado for contributing to our series of creative conversations with industry experts.