We caught up with Matías Bergara, the illustrator of seminal comics including Coda and Step By Bloody Step, to learn more about his inspiring story, and how he remains uniquely focused on his artistic goals and refining his style.
Tell us about your background as an artist. How did you get started?
I started kind of later than most of my colleagues, the reason being that I studied a Literature course in college and went on to start a small animation/video game company with friends immediately after finishing my studies. I had always been drawing, but never considered it could become my main source of income or profession. I barely knew anyone who did. At some point I decided to become an artist and author and leave the company, partly because I got to make new friends who were doing comics and it seemed like something I could do at that point. I was 27 when I finally started trying to get my first commercial jobs as a comics artist and illustrator. It’s been ten years since.
Which artists have inspired you most, and why?
Too many to count, but I have great affection for Hergé because I read Tintin books constantly as a kid and they provided me with a very strong sense of clear visual narrative in comics. In my adulthood I discovered Victorian-era illustrators and commercial artists like Edmund Dulac and Arthur Rackham who blew my mind and influenced a lot of my painting technique. I love Christophe Blain’s body of work. I am a huge fan of cartooning and carefree expression.
You’re based in Uruguay. What’s the comics scene like over there?
Esta historia es de la edición January 2023 de ImagineFX.
Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.
Ya eres suscriptor ? Conectar
Esta historia es de la edición January 2023 de ImagineFX.
Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.
Ya eres suscriptor? Conectar
Jan Wessbecher
Dominic Carter talks to the visual artist about creating his own comic and why sketchbooks are great for creative experiments
Kyounghwan Kim
The Korean character concept artist speaks to Dominic Carter about staying open to ideas and the value of drawing regularly
Slawek Fedorczuk
Dominic Carter talks to the concept artist about what keeps him motivated and the advantages of using physical sketchbooks.
Raquel M. Varela
Raquel is inspired by magic, fantasy and fairy tales. She loves designing female characters from distant worlds. \"My greatest reference is Loish's art, thanks to her I learned to draw the movement and fluidity I like to convey.\"
Estrela Lourenço
Estrela is a children's book author and illustrator. Her work is influenced by her background in character animation and storyboards for clients such as Cartoon Network, and she channels comic strips like Calvin and Hobbes.
Daria Widermanska
Daria, also known as Anako, has been drawing for as long as she can remember. Inspired by Disney and classic anime, she loves creating new characters and often finds that a single sketch can spark a unique story.
Allen Douglas
Allen has been painting professionally since 1994 for the publishing and gaming industries. Inspired by folklore, he distorts the size, relationships and environments of animals, and calls his paintings 'unusual wildlife'.
Thaddeus Robeck
Thaddeus has been drawing from the moment he could hold a pencil, but it was the 2020 lockdowns that gave him the time to focus on honing his skills.
DRAW FASCINATING SYMBOLIC ARTWORK
Learn how JULIÁN DE LA MOTA creates a composition from his imagination with a focus on crafting figures, volumetric modelling, and light and shadow
First Impressions
The artist talks about his journey into the mythological world
