Pintachan — Spanish Character & Children's Book Illustrator

Big eyes, lots of smiles, bright colours and plenty of fun – Spanish artist Pintachan creates lively and whimsical imagery that’s charming because it’s so simple. When a project needs instant, down-to-earth appeal with two scoops of happiness, he’s the perfect illustrator to consider.

Based in Gijón in the North of Spain, he has over a decade of experience as an illustrator, meeting the needs of some of the biggest brands in Spain and around the world. His career began thanks to his hands-on approach. Back in the early 2000s, he was launching a t-shirt company. They had everything they needed but the money to pay an illustrator, so he decided to do it himself. Pintachan’s influences include comics, illustrated books, old album covers, 60s magazines and a whole range of retro music, and he’s been making things since childhood.

Approach

Pencils, crayons, iMac, Cintiq – Pintachan uses a whole range of tools as he draws his characters and develops his palettes. He digitises his sketches, turns them into vector illustrations, then adds texturing in Photoshop.

Key Software

Photoshop

Style

Pintachan’s style is retro, naïve, childish, pop and whimsical, but there’s plenty of subtlety to it as well. His cartoonish visual language is used to express all sorts of ideas that aren’t confined to the world of children.

Client list

Pintachan’s clients include The Telegraph, Lidl, McDonald’s, Monocle, Galison, The Red Cross, Scholastic, Jamie Magazine, Anorak, Sky 1, Harper Collins, Running Press, Little Tiger Press and more.