Client: Storytime Magazine
Project: The Opossum and the secret of fire

Storytime is a UK-based children’s literature magazine that collects myths and stories from different cultures. This one is the Aztec myth of how the opossum tricked the Sun God and stole the fire to give it to mankind. In this story the possum steals the fire by setting its own tail on fire, which is why this animal has a hairless tail still today.

Client: CIDCLI - Seminario de Cultura Mexicana

Project: Yáotl en la tierra de los muertos

Yáotl, a brave young boy, goes through the Mictlán, or the Aztec land of the dead, in order to find his father. As he goes deeper into the undeworld he encounters a variety of obstacles and haunting enemies.

Client: Planeta and Penguin Random House

Project: “Cuentos de buenas noches para niñas rebeldes” and “Valientes: Mujeres que abrieron brecha”

These illustrations belong to two beautiful books that tell the story of brave women through history, both in Mexico and the world. I had the honor of reading the biography of amazing women and doing the portrait of important people such as Revolutionary fighter Carmen Serdán; migrant-related activists, Las Patronas; first gay and female football coach, Katie Sowers; songwriter Violeta Parra, and writer Chimamanda Ngozi, among others.

Instead of doing anatomically perfect portraits, I tried incorporating metaphoric elements that would emphasize the personality and achievements of each one of them, in order to create curiosity around the character and represent the most important aspects of their lives.

Client: Aphik - Cambridge University
Project: Cambridge Primary Reading Anthologies

Abuela Cooks is a short story about Diego, a Mexican-American kid who finds his roots through her grandma’s cooking.

Client: Storytime Magazine

Project: The Gift of Corn

Storytime is one of the UK’s leading children’s magazines. Their colorful pages depict tales, myths, and legends of the world. It was my great honor to illustrate the Aztec myth of the origin of men.

In this story, the god Quetzalcóatl is tired after many failed attempts to create the human race. With the help of his brother Xólotl, the dog-shaped god, Quetz steals bones from the underworld and creates humans from them, but the plan ends up in defeat since the created humans are very weak and fragile.

He’s about to give up when he notices an ant carrying something shiny and interesting: a maize kernel. Quetz finally makes a strong human race using maize dough to shape the humans, and corn transforms into one of the main grains of Mexican culture, even into the present.

For this project, I went for shiny colors that would be attractive for the kids and I also used Aztec glyphs to create some of the shapes of water, mountains, and clouds.

Client: Disney Plus

Project: Papás por Encargo opening titles

Disney Plus’s on-stream series “Papás por Encargo” tells the story of California, a girl who since her mother’s disappearance, has been “adopted” by three young musicians. Now, after a clue of her mother’s whereabouts California and her three foster dads must travel through Mexico onboard of a colorful ice cream truck.

For this project, I worked with a colorful color palette that reflects my country’s identity. I was asked to create animals, plants, and the main character’s portraits.

Some personal illustrations :)

Personal project.

Each year I design a set of Year planners inspired in Mexican folklore.