Traditional design is not always ‘Outdated’

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The classic or traditional design need not typically be outdated, as it can bear the steps and guide one to the new, trusts illustrator, Luis Pinto. Finding impact and expressiveness in styles of the past, he finds them to be relevant in the context of the new.

El Malpensante

CG. How much of a role do you feel the traditional design and art plays in the way you illustrate?

Luis. The traditional form of art plays a big part in my creative process. Usually, I love to sketch my ideas on paper and see if I can come up with a convincing graphic composition.

I really love sketchbooks. But traditional media keeps me focused and open to something unexpected. It’s an interesting ritual where the illustrator turns himself into an alchemist.

Guzman y Gomez Mural Illustrations

CG. What do you feel are noteworthy differences in the earlier and modern-day styles of illustrating?

Luis. For me, the earlier styles of illustrating had to do with craft, strategy and wonder. It was a constant discovery using traditional techniques, striving to bring something new to the table as graphic proposals without the technology that we possess today. You can always learn a lot from them, as long as you can see their impact, complexity, expressiveness and craft.

Nowadays, our modern styles are mixtures or reinventions of existing graphic values based on an inherited art-design history, using both traditional and digital tools in the process. If we keep exploring, experimenting and questioning our ways of illustrating, we might form a better understanding of the illustration field in the future to come.