Searching for the hidden power of ideas

Here's the second installment of a dialogue started last July called thinking your way around the concept. There is much to learn from looking and listening to the works of great artists, writers and musicians. Their journeys can add to your problem solving tool box. Through observation and practice many of these techniques and ideas started to appear intuitively in my own paintings. I long to spend an entire day-better yet two days wandering a place like the Chicago Art Institute. Great works of art reveal secrets that I often miss when looking at books or the Internet. Navigating through art galleries, literature and music is a method to record new observations and explore the twists and turns of conceptual thinking.

1. Hide a secret in your paintings.

Belgian Surrealist Rene Magritte said "Everything we see hides another thing, we always want to see what is hidden by what we see but it is impossible. Humans hide their secrets too well". You have to admire the way Magritte embraced paradox in his works. I created this illustration for KQED in San Francisco and embedded a hidden bird in the collage of faces. That magical focal point serves as a sweet spot that symbolically connects the people together. Going a bit deeper Magritte's technique is like a whisper that you strain your ears to hear.

It engages the viewer.

2. Add a dose of raw emotion.

A form of German expressionism, Der Blaue Reiter was an impassioned style that challenged the passive notions of history with intensely emotional, brighter colors and shapes. These artists recognized the communicative power of primitive, folk and children's art. We Mexicans have a passion for masked heroes of the vox populi. I find it fascinating that cultures around the globe that are considered primitive or very civilized use masks in theatrical, ceremonial, religious and magical rites.

Masks both hide and reveal.

When I was 5 years old my mother used to dip my finger in a bit of tabasco and put it on my tongue. As time went on I began to crave that intensity of flavor and now work to channel that raw emotion into my paintings. When looking at what you are creating, challenge yourself to turn up the volume and see what happens.

3. Explore Allegories and Myths

An allegory is a story with a meaning partially hidden somewhere in the narration. Myths help explain rituals, natural events and why people believe what they do. As a child growing up in Mexico City, my family would throw parties with music and invited poets who would recite their work and tell stories. I remember Carlos Jaso who painted vivid pictures with both his words and voice. In my opinion, when you want to move your audience you have to weave a tale that is full of magic. Whatever you do-don't be literal but take the viewer on a visual journey. Thanks to the quests of my 9 year old son Santiago, I have once again become enamored with the ancient Greeks. They know how to spark the imagination of children and adults with spell-binding stories that reveal something well beyond literal meaning.

In this poster for an International Chamber Music Festival in Mexico I fused the supernatural mermaid who lives beneath the sea with the ethereal wings of an angel. In the tail you see a Mexican calaca or skull and tear drop shapes in the wings. An eye floats in a cloud over the head of this other-worldly creature who enchants the audience with the haunting sound of her violin.

4. Find the hidden essence of an idea through simplification.

So much of the beauty and finesse of illustration is knowing what to leave out. Too much information, and unnecessary details cast a shadow over your composition and obscure what is really important. The great painter Joan Miró created childlike renderings and symbolic reductions of whimsical form with calligraphic strokes and pure color.

Think about what you are adding to your work and how it contributes to the overall concept and emotional response you want to achieve.

The roots and origins of Merengue are conveyed in this simple composition evoking a stylized African mask, with the essential instruments and dancers stripped of detail.

5. Unleash the narrative in your paintings.

Frida Kahlo's work was a fusion of folktales, fantasy and surrealism woven in a powerful narrative. Her own biography reads like an epic Gabriel García Márquez novel and the power of the narrative was evident in her work. I grew up close to her home La Casa Azul in Coyocan and together with my parents we would visit often. Frida is considered a Mexican Surrealist but it was never her plan to be part of the movement. She painted instead the story of her life in a way that expressed her own personal feelings about it. I am struck by her affection for retablos or laminas that tell the stories of miraculous healing and rescue. Often painted by untrained artists an entire wall of her home is covered in these narrative treasures.

In this spread for an upcoming children's book, My Name is Tito for Harper Collins the dress of Celia Cruz tells the story of her life and exile from Cuba in a rainbow of colors that will appeal to children and express the azucar in her spirit and voice.

6. Employ a visual synonym.

Aristotle said "The aim of art is to represent not the outward appearance of things, but their inward significance." Symbolists favored spirituality, the imagination and dreams. They believed that art should represent absolute truths that could only be described indirectly. Symbolist writers, poets and artists like the inspiring Austrian painter

Gustav Klimt used alluring metaphors that gave objects symbolic meaning.

In this illustration for the UTNE Reader I was challenged to convey the text of a complex concept. The antique dip pen became a symbol to express the angst of a blues songwriter and the ink is transformed into falling tears.

7. Scratching the surface

Texture is one of the most direct routes to the hidden emotions of your audience. Prolific painter Rufino Tamayo was influenced by Cubism, Impressionism, Pre-Columbian art and Fauvism. His work had an intrinsically Mexican style that ignited your senses. He left a rich legacy by expanding the technical and visual possibilities of arts by developing the Mixografia technique. This communicated the texture and volume of his designs and gave him the freedom to create strong identity in his work. In this personal piece Firedance I rely on tactile and visual texture to add a spark to the composition. I've collected a variety of tools including natural materials like shells, twigs, and feathers and also use pottery tools, masking tape and my xacto blade to give texture the surface of my paintings.

Thinking your way around the concept

It's great to hear from many up and coming illustrators, I genuinely appreciate your questions and thank you for your support. This post is for you and anyone who values ideas and unique, hand-crafted illustration. I believe it is important for young artists to develop their abilities and listen to that intuitive voice-the one that compels them to make images for a larger audience. Popular culture is bursting with the power of visual thinking. Drawing and painting is a way to communicate, to deliver messages and I can't imagine anything more exciting or rewarding. I've been working at this now for 25 years and in that time I've learned to never miss an opportunity to re-invent myself.

I was fortunate to teach for the Art Center at Night program mentoring young illustrators. I'm not afraid to share techniques and tricks because I know that anyone who learns them will apply them in their own way. If they do rip me off I remind myself to work harder and stay a little ahead of them. I'm lucky to have the opportunity to teach workshops to children and students because I learn so much from them. Most of my conscious effort is pushing myself to draw more intuitively, to try to solve visual problems like a child. Kids haven't developed timidness in their approach to drawing and I find that so refreshing.

While discovering yourself, study but don't copy other people's style. Usually by the time you master their "look" they are miles ahead of you and their style has already evolved. You can't go looking for style as true style finds you and comes from the inside out. Keep listening to that inner voice- the one that reminds you of your passions and the things you love. Be patient, create a plan. It is so important to keep your mind and eyes open. I'm greatly inspired by the history of art, design styles and illustration. If you take a look you'll find some great approaches there to add value to your thinking. Start with the Surrealists whose work is filled with illogical juxtapositions and the element of surprise. Then check out the Expressionists who mastered distorting reality for emotional effect. In this post I decided to use some of my work to show you how to look at historical style and apply the concepts of these great painters and thinkers to your own illustration.

What has always fascinated me as an artist and illustrator is concept, the idea, the content and that is followed by style and technique. I have chosen to be a conceptual illustrator so to keep things fresh, ideas need to come from my head.

1. Play with scale, shape and composition.

In this recent poster for Bird Day.org notice how the bird in the middle is much larger than the kids. I enjoy throwing reality out the window, if it helps me communicate the emotion and excitement of discovering birds. The shapes are essential to the composition. When building the layout I keep a close eye on the negative spaces to make sure they are working. I sketch on tracing paper as it allows me to tear pieces, move and juxtapose elements in the design stage. It's like arranging furniture in a room. When you find the right place for everything and put it there it just feels right.

2. Search for visual metaphors to express an understanding of one idea as it relates to another idea. I look for some similarity or correlation between the two.

Here the teacher is represented as a strong tree who inspires, motivates, and provides shade [a safe environment] to help students reach their potential. Those branches grow community. In this image I'm connecting the concepts of nature and nurture.

It's important to do personal work whenever you can as it pushes the boundaries of your thinking. It's a chance to explore ideas and stay in touch with what makes you tick.

I often create visual metaphors to articulate my emotions.

In this case, the man in the boat finds a safe harbor with the woman he loves.

3. I look for ways to represent the emotion or spirit of the text or idea.

Pat Mora's text said: "Our families tell us stories while we listen and play". I remember the magic of my parents storytelling. We read with our son every day and sometimes when the story or image is compelling he gets a dreamy look in his eyes. I wanted to capture that emotion with this concept. As an illustrator you have the opportunity to expand on an idea and take the words to unexplored places.

4. Giving inanimate objects personality.

A great exercise I've done with students is to drop a bunch of adjectives written on slips of paper in one hat and inanimate objects in another. Then draw an adjective and object and connect them in your illustration. The randomness of this process pays tribute to Dada. You might end up with a shy shoe or an obnoxious wire whisk. It's great practice for putting emotion into your work. You can give personality to anything.

In this poster for jazz radio station KSDS I've created a trumpet that can sizzle like habanero chile or give wings to the sweet song of a nightingale.

5. Distort reality for emotional effect and use symbolism.

Read a novel by Franz Kafka, or think of Edvard Munch's figure running in agony against a blood red sky. In his diary Munch wrote that he "sensed an infinite scream passing through nature". The expressionists found a way to distort color and form that tapped into the viewer's emotions.

I paint directly on wood but sometimes use the computer to scan in my work then experiment with color shifts or textural effects. If I find something I like better I will go back to my painting and change it. This piece for Amnesty International calls attention to their work to win release of prisoners of conscience around the world. Notice the figure bound by barbed wire holding the flame of hope. That wire changes to a growing plant as the prisoner attains freedom.

6. Don't forget to add an element of surprise.

My son Santiago believed that paintbrushes were magic wands. In this illustration for Book Fiesta the submarine has mechanical arms and the anglerfish serves as the reading light. I'm very inspired by indigenous peoples of the world. The painter Paul Klee achieved that naive quality I keep reaching for. He was left-handed but could draw with both hands. He said that a clumsy hand is often more useful for drawing than a skilled hand. I gave the fish a primitive style, a tribute to the petroglyphs of indigenous groups.

7. Add humor and shake vigorously.

Laughter strengthens your immune system, pumps energy and protects you from stress. I used the window here to introduce humor as there is something funny about the cow having a conversation with the goat while being milked by the maiden. Perhaps it reminds me of the multi-tasking we do to get by.

8. Illusion: Overlapping objects and mixing scale.

Tipping my hat again to surrealists like Salvador Dali who used illusion. Here is a concept I use frequently in my work. In this painting I've got a larger hand reaching down into the earth. The shape of the hand creates a painting within a painting. There in an interplay of color and illusion where the shape of the earth eventually becomes the shape of water with naive looking fish swimming by.

9. Put the familiar in an unfamiliar setting- juxtapose unrelated objects.

In this first illustration from ¡Yum!¡Mmm Qué Rico! America's Sproutings you see a red-headed girl enjoying chocolate. There's a chocolate castle and a cup of cocoa floating in the clouds. You see children literally diving into chocolate cake and pie. Surrealists like Rene Magritte explored putting unrelated objects together in such compelling ways. I like to make word lists and force connections between unrelated objects. For Book Fiesta! three kids and their dog [who thinks he is a pirate] are off on an adventure. Now they could be reading while sitting on a couch but a more playful idea is to put them in the mouth of a happily spouting whale. Sure you could do this in photoshop but it might be scary for kids. As an illustrator you can tell the story with visuals that send the right information to a child's imagination. It's all about having fun.

10. Mix and match ideas

You can use more than one approach at a time.The smaller figures communicate the power of collaboration and teamwork. I've incorporated the color switches and overlapping from the illusion technique. In this illustration I'm also mixing scale and metaphor to illustrate how the writing of one person could motivate others to reach for the stars, or the moon or the sun.