Veerle's blog

Prepare yourself for a trip to Colombia and don't let the addictive illustrations mess with your head :)

Hi There! My name is Leo Espinosa, I'm a 37 year old (yikes, I'm getting old) freelance illustrator and designer from Bogotá, Colombia (The coolest, most dangerous, hectic and creative city on the planet), but I live in quiet Cambridge, Massachusetts. Before moving here I lived in New York and Barcelona. As many other freelance commercial artists, I doodle and drink coffee all day and all night long. I love creating characters, doing comics and from time to time I enjoy commissioned work too ;+)

Leo is one of those illustrators that can't be described in just one sentence. His style is so divers. It shows his true talent. One of my favorites is the header illustration of his blog and the work he did for Coca-Cola. Absolutely jaw-dropping! His color palette and use of typography is always well thought-out which often adds a special retro touch and still has a new style too.

Has drawing always been your full time job and was it hard to get your name known in Belgium or abroad so that you could make a living out of it?

I'm a former Graphic Designer and before being a full time Illustrator I worked as an Art Director in Advertising. When I first started my Illustration career I was living already in New York so it wasn't that hard to get my promo material around. I visited a couple of AD's but mainly people knew of my work through Illustration directories.

Can you explain a little how a typical illustration comes together. I mean the workflow from coming up with the idea till finished piece?

I do not have a template for that but I used to because of my Graphic Design education. My work was still too rigid a few years ago and I decided to approach each assignment differently depending on the nature of the job. I sketch very little but spend a good chunk of time thinking about different ideas. I love accidents that detour the process. That's the best thing that can happen while creating an illustration.

What's your most rewarding project so far and why?

The watches I did for Swatch a couple of years a go. They made me think about my work being part of the environment rather than inside a magazine. I also think that when I did comics back in Colombia I allowed myself to be me a hundred percent. I need to go back to comics, I'm a sucker for storytelling.

Does your working environment has an influence on your inspiration or work?

I wish I could have a messier place but there's a modern Bauhaus bug living inside my brain and the studio is rather austere and neutral. Lots of white walls.

How would your ideal day look like?

I would bike all morning long then have a loooong lunch with friends, drink some wine, dance my way to the studio and paint or draw over a Radiohead soundtrack or some salsa and be done early enough to go upstairs and play or read comics to my kids. So far, that perfect day hasn't ever happen but it's nice to imagine it.

More examples at Leo's website and while you are at it take a look at Leo's blog studioespinosa too.