MOON DANCE

So it's been about a month since my surgery... I am still at home recovering slowly, but fortunately all is going well. I hope that you all had a great Christmas with those you love.

Here's a little something that I did in collaboration with one of my best friends - Daniela Valdez aka Senhorita Valdez. She is a copywriter and a brand strategist and has the mind of a genius. She did the writing, I illustrated her text. You probably remember her from my previous piece Please don't Die , where we also worked together. I had fun doing this piece :)

Happy holidays everyone!

Olá a todos! Já passou cerca de um mês desde a minha cirurgia...continuo em casa a recuperar lentamente, mas felizmente está tudo a correr de acordo com o esperado pelo meu médico. Espero que tenham passado um Natal feliz com as pessoas certas :)

Deixo aqui uma ilustração que fiz em colaboração com uma das minhas melhores amigas, de quem provavelmente se lembrarão de um post anterior: Please Don't Die. Estou a falar de uma das minhas pessoas preferidas à face da terra, a incomparável Daniela Valdez, também conhecida por Senhorita Valdez. A Daniela é Brand Stategist e Copywriter e tem uma mente genial. Diverti-me bastante a ilustrar o texto que ela escreveu... Boas festas pessoal!

HYPNOTIC MELODY

(...) As the Enchanter released the powerful notes of his strange and bewitching melody, the ancient energy in that irresistible sound filled the air, growing... spreading its craft throughout the forest and all living creatures fell under his spell (...) text by Francisco Martins

Hey friends! hope that you are all well! I'm going to be committed to the hospital next Friday for a surgery in my left hip (don't ask... long story), so I'm probably going to be away from blogging for a while. Meanwhile, I wanted to share with you guys one last work that I've just finished before I go. This is my most recent photo-illustration that I did with some photos that I took last year - a sequel to my previous piece "Orpheus and the nymphs".

Many Thanks to my models: Joris Lechêne, currently represented by Best Models, and Maria Barracosa, courtesy of Liquid Consulting (thanks also to Inês Carreira for having kindly sent Maria to work in this project)

......................................................

Olá amigos! Espero que estejam todos bem...

Deixo aqui imagens do meu último trabalho de foto-ilustração que desenvolvi com umas fotos que tirei o ano passado. Este painel com inspiração clássica é uma sequela da minha ilutração "Orpheus and the Nymphs" postada anteriormente aqui no blog.

Um muito obrigado aos modelos que participaram neste projecto: Joris Lechêne, de momento representado pela Best Models, e Maria Barracosa, gentilmente cedida pela Liquid Consulting (um obrigado também à Inês Carreira por ter cedido a Maria para colaborar neste projecto)

EGOÍSTA MAGAZINE #47 (Legends on the Wall)

Hello blogger buddies! Hope you are all doing great. I miss commenting your blogs and reading your lovely comments in mine, but by life has been more of a mess that the usual, so... I'm just trying to catch my breath :P

For the first time, something that I wrote was published - and in one of the few top quality Portuguese magazines on art and culture. Egoísta magazine published a full 8 page aticle completely written and illustrated by me. I have to thank Patrícia Reis - Egoísta's Editor in Chief for believing in my work enough to publish it.

LEGENDS ON THE WALL: This project consists in a series of artistic panels inspired by the mural paintings of the Renaissance, Baroque and Pre-Raphaelite periods.

work process: I photographed the models myself, then worked on the photos in Adobe Photoshop, doing both post-production work and digital painting + photo-illustration.

This project was published in EGOÍSTA MAGAZINE issue #47
EGOÍSTA is one of the best Portuguese print magazines on art and culture and it is owned by Estoril Sol Group.

Egoísta magazine's Editor in Chief: Patrícia Reis • Egoísta magazine's Art Director: Henrique Cayatte

Models: Joris Lechêne, Sophia Pan, Ryan Smyth and Marck Davies. Big thanks to my model friends for helping me to create the images that I see in my head, and turn them into something real.

You can see more images of this project here:

http://www.behance.net/gallery/EGOSTA-MAGAZINE-47-Legends-on-the-Wall-project/2322228

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Olá amigos blogueiros! Espero que estejam todos bem...
Pela primeira vez, alguns textos escritos por mim foram publicados - e anda por cima numa das revistas de melhor qualidade no âmbito das artes e cultura. A revista Egoísta, propriedade do grupo Estoril Sol, publicou um artigo de 8 páginas totalmente escrito e ilustrado por mim. Um muito obrigado à Editora da Egoísta, Patrícia Reis, por ter acreditado suficientemente no meu trabalho a ponto de o publicar.

LEGENDS ON THE WALL: este projecto consiste numa série de painéis inspirados nos frescos renascentistas e nas pinturas de mural dos períodos Pré-Rafaelita e Barroco.

Modelos: Joris Lechêne, Sophia Pan, Ryan Smyth and Marck Davies. Obrigado aos meus modelos, com alguns dos quais mantenho uma relação de amizade, por me ajudarem a tornar reais as imagens que vivem na minha imaginação.

Editora da Egoísta: Patrícia Reis • Director de Arte da Egoísta: Henrique Cayatte

UMBIGO MAGAZINE issue #38

Hey everyone! hope you are all doing well and that life is peachy :)

Here's my newest editorial illustration for UMBIGO magazine. This very erotic text was written by Jorge Mantas. Hope you like it!

Olá Amigos! Espero que estejam todos bem :)

Aqui ficam algumas fotos da minha mais recente ilustração para a revista UMBIGO. O texto bastante erótico que ilustrei, foi escrito por Jorge Mantas. Espero que gostem!

PLEASE DON'T DIE

Hello dear old blogger friends and followers! I hope that you are enjoying the Summer and having a great time :)

This project is a collaboration between me and one of my best friends, miss Daniela Valdez, aka Senhorita Valdez. I came up with the concept and title for this image and invited her to create a fiction writing to go along with it. She is a Brand Strategist and Copywriter, her writing skills are amazing and therefore we decided to combine forces. She wrights, I illustrate. I really enjoyed working with her and we will keep projects like this coming. I hope you like it!

Illistration: Francisco Martins • Text: Daniela Valdez • Model: Liam Shepard

Amigos blogueiros e seguidores, espero que estejam a ter um verão (e umas férias se for o caso) agradáveis :)

Este projecto é o resultado de uma colaboração entre mim e uma das minhas melhores amigas: Daniela Valdez, também conhecida por Senhorita Valdez. Quando me surgiu a ideia que deu origem ao conceito desta ilustração, e pensei no título, decidi convidar a Daniela para escrever um texto ficcional que acompanhasse a imagem. Ela é Brand Stategist, bem como Copywriter e o seu talento para a escrita é fabuloso, assim os seus dons criativos e como tal, decidimos unir forças. Ela escreve, eu ilustro. Foi um prazer trabalhar com ela, iremos garantidamente repetir a experiência. Espero que gostem!

Ilustração: Francisco Martins • Texto: Daniela Valdez • Modelo: Liam Shepard

UMBIGO MAGAZINE ISSUE #37

Hey folks! here's my latest piece for UMBIGO magazine. The text speaks about the Lolita Fashion (a fashion subculture originating in Japan that is based on Victorian clothing as well as costumes from the Rococo period. It has evolved into several different sub styles and has a subculture that is present in many parts of the world). You have probably seen lolita figures in Mangá/anime comics and cartoons. I've decided to paint a Gothic Lolita. I was responsable for illustration and graphic design in this spread. Text was written by Núria Monteiro. Hope you like it :)

Olá amigos! Esta é a minha mais recente ilustração criada para a revista UMBIGO. O texto fala de uma moda que teve origem no Japão e que se tornou uma subcultura - A moda das Lolitas, que consiste em roupas de inspiração vitoriana e com influências do período Rococó. Os desenhos animados e BDs nipónicas (Mangá/Anime) fazem muita alusão à figura das lolitas. Para ilustrar este texto decidi pintar uma Lolita gótica. Fui responsável pelo design gráfico bem como pela ilustração neste spread. Espero que gostem! ;)

NEW PORTRAITS

Hey blogger friends and loyal followers! These are a couple of portraits that I painted recently.

1 - Andrew Belle. Singer and songwriter from Chicago. This guy is one of my favorite singers/musicians. you can check out his new song here.
2 - Fench Model Joris Lechêne. You probably remember Joris from my piece Orpheus and the Nymphs.

Olá Pessoal! Deixo aqui dois retratos que pintei muito recentemente.

1 - Andrew Belle. Este cantor e compositor de Chicago é um dos meus músicos preferidos. Podem ver a sua última música aqui

2 - Manequim francês Joris Lechêne. Talvez se lembrem do Joris - que participou na minha ilustração Orpheus and the Nymphs.

NEIGHBOR TO THE BIRDS

Hello Friends! 2 posts in the same month eh? I'm getting better aren't I? :P

So... I have been reading Thoreau lately. I specially love a passage from Walden and while I was reading it, this image was formed in my mind like an epiphany. The feeling that I had to get it out of my head and turn it into something tangible haunted me for days, so I finally decided to create this piece. I hope you guys like it and your opinions are very welcome.

Model: Aiden Maclean

The excerpt that inspired me to do this illustration is this one:
"I found myself suddenly neighbor to the birds; not by having imprisoned one, but having caged myself near them.” Thoreau, Henry David. Walden, 1854

Ultimamente tenho andado a ler Thoreau. Gostei especialmente de uma passagem do livro Walden, Ou Uma Vida Nos Bosques. (1) Enquanto lia o excerto em questão, uma imagem formou-se na minha mente como se de uma epifania se tratasse :P
Durante dias tive a sensação de que tinha de transformar aquela imagem etérea numa coisa real e tangível que se pudesse ver, e assim nasceu esta ilustração. Espero que gostem e agradeço as vossas opiniões.

Modelo: Aiden Maclean

(1) O excerto a que me refiro é o seguinte:
"Dou por mim subitamente vizinho dos pássaros, não por ter aprisionado algum, mas por me ter engaiolado perto deles." Thoreau, Henry David. Walden, 1854

ILLUSTRATION NOW PORTRAITS (Taschen)

Hello humans! I know that I have been really absent from the blogosphere for a long now and I apologize to all of my loyal followers and good old blogger friends for not being as present as I used to. The truth is that my life is kind of a mess right now and I just don't have the time nor the energy to blog. My newborn nephew has been in the hospital for almost 2 months fighting for his life, and it has been a hard time on my family. Waiting for good news each day and seeing my sister's agony is killing me. It's impressive how strong premature babies can be... and it's also ironic how tiny beings like them can teach us all lessons of courage and strength. Despite of all the odds, my baby nephew survived 3 surgeries in the last month, 2 of them, including a heart surgery, in one week. I hope with all my heart that he get's well soon and I would really appreciate your prayers and positive thoughts :)

Meanwhile, I have some good news (thank GOD!) to share with you guys:

Once again I had the honor of having my work selected to be featured in a TASCHEN book. Illustration Now! Portraits is TASCHEN'S most recent book on Illustration and it gathers together the exclusive portrait work of over 80 illustrators from all over the world, and I feel very lucky to be among them. Huge thanks to Taschen's Editor-In-Chief - Julius Wiedemann, for the invitation to take part in this project and for believing in my work.
The awesomeeee part is that one of the images that they selected to be featured in the book is my self-portrait :D that means that my face is ALL OVER THE WORLD now! hahaah :P
Another great thing is that I get to be in this book along with my old blogger friend Dominic Philibert, who was also selected as a featured artist in this book... YAY! :D
Love you guys, hope to be back to blogging soon!

Olá humanos! Estou finalmente de volta à blogosfera e tenho uma boa notícia para partilhar convosco: Para minha grande honra, o meu trabalho foi novamente seleccionado para ser exibido num livro da TASCHEN. O Livro Illustration Now! Portraits é a mais recente publicação da Taschen na área da ilustração e reúne obras de 80 ilustradores de todo o mundo, exclusivamente focalizadas na arte de retrato. Sinto-me bastante honrado de me encontrar entre os artistas seleccionados. Um MUITO OBRIGADO ao Editor-In-Chief da Taschen, Julius Wiedemann, pelo convite para participar este projecto e por ter acreditado no meu trabalho.