Alejandro Burdisio: digital illustrations that can not be distinguished from painting

Transport is in the air, the inevitability of a collision between people and cars — the main themes of the artist's paintings, which excite the imagination and open the veil of the future. Artist from Argentina Alejandro Burdisio paints his whole life, his works are exhibited in several galleries of the country. Interest in his paintings causes everyday life, objects and things from the past, which he gives fantastic properties that are not available today.

— Your works are very realistic, with lots of details. They force the viewer to look at themselves. Do you create these works on paper or computer? Please tell us the process of creating your work.

— My work process usually begins one week before each illustration, looking for references and information regarding the ideas I want to develop. Then I continued making simple sketches in pencil on paper, trying different ideas. Next step in photoshop, with a digitizing tablet, and taking as a reference the drawings on paper, I do everything digitally (I do not use a scanner or use the pencil drawings in the photoshop as a base, they are just a reference I have next to the monitor).

— Some of your works that are created in Photoshop can not be distinguished from the canvases that are painted on canvas. How much time do you spend on creating these works? What devices and techniques do you use?

— Although they are digitally painted illustrations, my intention is that they always look as much as possible to traditional canvas works. I start making color spots on the digital canvas and then I start to work on the geometries of the color, looking for lights and shadows. The work tools I use are a Wacom Intuos 3 tablet and Photoshop CS5.1. I work full time as an illustrator and concept artist for film and TV producers. The full color work time takes between 30 and 48 hours, depending on the composition and complexity of the subject.

— At your works there are lot of transports in the air. Do you really think that this will wait us in the future?

— I hope not! We are imprudent enough driving cars on their wheels, I do not want to imagine the potential danger that we would be handling flying cars. Although I like aesthetically of these rustic and classic cars flying.

— Why does this transport, gas stations and snack bars in the air look like from the past?

— I like the aesthetics and design styles of the first half of the 20th century. It's not a matter of nostalgia, I just seem much more attractive than modern styles, especially the idea of classic flying cars that have no concept about aerodynamics. I really like that concept of the absurdity of floating and flying old things which are not things geometrically suitable for this purpose.

— In addition to flying transport, in your paintings you can clearly see that in the future there will be a very big war that will lead us literally to the apocalypse. Please tell, why do these stories dominate your work?

— Although conflict hypotheses have always been a constant in the functioning of the human species, I am inclined to believe that wars are not necessarily to anticipate a world with social asymmetries. I am a citizen of what could be called the third world or the emerging world (to put it more elegantly) and the scenarios of poverty and inequality are a constant that I see every day. Despite the optimism we may have regarding the future, the idea of a dystopian and dysfunctional world becomes very strong when we see the things that happen in the present.

— Как ты придумываешь сюжет для твоих работ? Ты заранее знаешь что будет изображено на картине?

— I like to walk the streets of my neighborhood and my city, many of the things I draw are inspired by the reality that surrounds me. I also like reading about history and politics, movies, TV, comics and video games. What I do is simply mix what I see in reality with all that. I do not invent anything, I only mix things.

— Where and how long did you learn to draw?

— I am 51 years old, I have been drawing since I have memory, always. I learned a lot on my own although I have incomplete studies in architecture that were of great help in my career as an illustrator. Drawing is a constant in my life, is what I do every day and every day I learn something new.

— Who from contemporary artists and artists from the past inspires you?

— There are many artists that I admire and that inspire me to continue drawing and to try to improve every day. Juan Gimenez, great artist of my country, was my first source of inspiration.

— Were there any exhibitions of your works? Tell about it.

— In different cities of my country there are exhibitions. of my work. For this year, several more are planned.

— Have you ever been in Ukraine and would like to make an exhibition of your works here?

— I have never been to Ukraine and I would love to go and do a show there.

— What can you wish for novice artists who take their first steps?

— What I can say about it is having and maintaining a passion for drawing and painting, a lot of dedication and practice, having patience to be able to overcome frustration and, above all, to be happy doing this. It is also important to learn everything that can help improve as artists. Commit to things, to what surrounds us, be observers and have a critical spirit.

More works Alejandro can look through at ArtStation and Facebook.

Interview: Sergey Gutakovsky

Translation: Angelina Petrova

Editor: Sergey Fomkin

2018