A few months ago, my book Artificial Intelligence for Illustrators was published by the Spanish publisher specializing in artistic content, Parramón. Thanks to its positive reception, the book has recently been translated and released by other publishers in different countries, such as MITP in Germany and Éditions Eyrolles in France.

Since AI is still so new in the visual arts, I didn’t have any existing references to rely on when writing this book. I developed my own approach by organizing the content and tools I wished I had as an artist exploring AI’s creative potential. My goal was to create a practical resource for illustrators who want to integrate these technologies ethically while maintaining their artistic identity. So seeing this approach so well received has been truly rewarding.

Now, the book is continuing its international journey with a recent Russian edition published by AST - Школа рисунка, under a new cover design but respecting the contents and layout of the original book:

The Dama de Elche Institutional Chair, from the Miguel Hernández University of Elche (Spain), has included in their inventory the recreation I made of the iconic Iberian sculpture, applying different AI functions and digital editing.

You can see my work process and other recreations (and animations) of historical characters that I have made from sculptures, paintings, drawings and mosaics, in this playlist, whose videos currently total nearly 3 million views.

After several years working for the leading international influencer agency (Jellysmack), I have decided to take on a new challenge: managing the newly created channel of Pedro Baños, a Spanish Army Infantry Colonel, writer, and speaker.

This involves overseeing various tasks, including video editing, graphic design, content strategy, social media management, SEO optimization, and data analysis.

Although this means giving up the stability of a well-paid position, I am highly motivated by this project, which aims to inform and raise awareness about relevant topics alongside one of the country’s top communicators.

Breaking into such a competitive platform as YouTube is undoubtedly a challenge, but I find it particularly exciting to give the channel a strong visual identity and apply growth strategies to bring it to the level of major influencers.

*Update

11/18/2024

In less than a year, the channel has surpassed 500,000 subscribers thanks to the compelling content provided by the Colonel, the high caliber of guests, and the dedication to managing and producing over 80 publications per month, including regular videos, shorts, posts, and live streams.

Tomorrow marks the opening of "Visions", a solo exhibition where I showcase some of my latest monochrome paintings.

In the exhibited pieces, I offer a personal vision of the atmosphere of some of the places where I have lived or spent long periods (Poland, Estonia, Latvia, Spain, Bulgaria) through representations of objects, people, buildings, animals, and everyday scenes as symbols of different fleeting realities.

Each piece is an attempt to capture the fleeting nature of a moment, not merely as a testimonial purpose but to highlight its ephemeral nature and emphasize its aesthetic, expressive, and symbolic value.

The exhibition will take place in Madrid (my hometown) at the Quinta del Berro Cultural Center from November 2 to 16.

*You can see here some of my other exhibitions and projects.

Coming soon, "The Wise Galician", a history book by researcher Manuel Carballal, for which I had the pleasure of designing the cover and creating various promotional videos.

Videos: Book Trailer / Promotional Clip 1 / Promotional Clip 2

I have had the honor of starting a full-time job as a video editor for Jellysmack, the agency that collaborates with the world's largest content creators. Below is a short two-minute sample of some of my personal audiovisual works:

More videos here and on my YouTube channel.

After a year in the city of Seville, I have returned to Madrid for a few months and resumed life drawing sessions with models at the Círculo de Bellas Artes. I go daily to make quick sketches, usually from short poses, to regain some dexterity after a year dedicated almost exclusively to digital design.

Since the beginning of the year, due to the pandemic, some of the artistic projects I had planned abroad were canceled. However, despite the lockdown, I have been able to continue working as a freelancer, taking on graphic design commissions from my computer. In this portfolio, I have compiled some of my works.

From September 23 to October 3, a group exhibition is taking place at the Círculo de Bellas Artes (Madrid), where I am participating alongside works by other selected artists.

Arrea is a personal project of a non-existent band. It started a few years ago with the idea of focusing exclusively on the visual aspect while ignoring the musical one: I designed a CD cover and distributed several boxes containing only blank discs, created posters advertising performances in non-existent venues and pasted them on walls in different cities, screen-printed about fifty t-shirts with the band's image, made stickers that I placed in public spaces, and more.

After working for various music groups and booking agencies designing visuals and music videos, I wanted to carry out this personal project where the image had intrinsic value and did not serve the commercial goals of the music industry. The idea was to strip the visuals of their promotional function so that they would not act as advertising material, allowing the musical aspect, for once, to serve as a pretext for the visual.

Over time, I have continued expanding the project while staying true to its aesthetic and the idea of keeping it devoid of content—no members, no recordings, no performances—existing solely as a concept. The latest addition to Arrea has been the creation of this music video:

A few months ago, I returned to Madrid after spending several years abroad, so I have recently resumed life drawing sessions with models at the Círculo de Bellas Artes, which I now attend regularly.

As a small personal challenge, I set out to create 100 portraits in 10 days. To achieve this, I used family members, friends, and people in my surroundings as references, drawing them in my sketchbook. I documented part of the process in this video:

Watch the second part here.

From December 18, 2018, to January 20, 2019, the works I developed over the last 3 months are on display at the Tartu Printmaking Museum (Estonia). Currently, more than 20 paintings are exhibited in a solo exhibition titled "Before the absence" ("Antes de la ausencia"); here you can watch a short video of the process behind some of the first paintings I made in the studio:

More about this event here.

I am pleased to have been invited to participate in the long-term artist residency program TAiR 2018, organized by the Estonia Printmaking Museum in collaboration with the Tartu City Hall. I have just started working on a personal project that I will develop over the next 3 months in a fantastic studio located at Tartu Art House.

More information about the project here.

I have recently finished the work on this model installed inside a box (10x14x14 cm), as part of my project "Hierophany." The materials used in the construction of the model were wood, cardboard, and polystyrene, painted with acrylics.

Video shot from the model, for which I also created the ambient music and editing.

In this video, I have combined various symbols that refer to the idea of "the path as a ritual", a theme of the Gorna Lipnitsa (BG) residency. The design and animation of these figures are based on different signs related to the path: triangles (direction arrows), continuous and discontinuous lines (walkable and traveled paths), circles (stations and cycles), and dots (current locations and destinations).

The idea of the path is shown as an unknown ritual, using recurring shapes generated without explicit meaning, lines that follow different paths and directions, figures that expand and contract to create new geometries; all mixed harmoniously to evoke and stimulate different sensations in the viewer.

Work created in the 2017 edition of The Old School Residency.
Sound created by the Bulgarian artist E.U.E.R.P.I.

For the second time, I have been invited to participate in The Old School Residency (Gorna Lipnitsa, Bulgaria), which this year is held under the theme "The path as a ritual". In addition to art workshops, the residency includes performances, courses, and cultural activities around the region, making it a valuable experience based on a very particular way of understanding, doing, and living art, far from conventional circuits.

For this edition, I am working on two audiovisual pieces, and I have taken the opportunity to create an intervention on a wall as part of my series Redefining spaces.

You can see more about this project here.

The design and layout of this publication is my latest work for the Council of Spanish Youth. Since late last year, I have completed various graphic and multimedia design works for this organization and its associated entities: logos, layout for all kinds of documents, infographics and illustrations, stage design, web design, and interactive projects. Some of these designs can be found on Behance. It has been a very interesting and enriching challenge to meet the demands of such diverse commissions over this time.

Since the beginning of 2016, I have been a member of the Círculo de Bellas Artes (Madrid). In addition to having access to its events and exhibitions, I frequently attend drawing and painting workshops to take life drawing sessions.

I am participating with this assembly in the traveling exhibition around major cities in Bulgaria, to present the project Ritual Art - Time & Space. The inauguration will take place on November 13 at the "Art Saloon" in the city of Varna, where the works of international artists, including myself, who participated in the sixth edition of The Old School Residency (Gorna Lipnitsa, BG) will be displayed.

I am participating in the Egyptian zine "CHAOS" by Risha Project, with this double-page of illustrations. The publication features works by around 80 international artists and will be presented at the Transeuropa Festival, from October 2 to 5 in Belgrade (Serbia).