Today we’d like to introduce you to Alfonso Elola.
Hi Alfonso, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I’ve been drawing for as long as I can remember, and I think that eventually became the most natural way for me to understand and communicate ideas. Over time, that passion turned into a career, although I never really stopped seeing myself simply as someone who enjoys creating images.
I’ve spent most of my professional life working as an illustrator and 2D animator, mainly in advertising and entertainment. Along the way, I’ve had the chance to work on projects connected to Netflix, Paramount, Nickelodeon and Nick Jr., among others. It has been an interesting journey because every project has brought something different, from creating key visuals and illustrations to animation and visual development.
At the same time, personal work has always been very important to me. Client work is collaborative and often comes with a very specific purpose, while my personal projects are where I can follow ideas simply because they interest me.
One of those projects is Organic Portrait, a series I originally started years ago and have recently decided to revisit from the beginning. It explores the relationship between the human body and nature, imagining the body as something organic, unstable and constantly transforming. Returning to it after so much time has been an interesting experience, almost like having a conversation with an earlier version of myself.
I’m still figuring things out and looking for new directions. I think that’s probably one of the things I like most about being an artist: there’s always something new to learn, explore or draw.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
It definitely hasn’t been a completely smooth road. I think one of the biggest challenges has been finding a balance between making a living from my work and making the kind of work that feels more personal to me.
Most of my career has been focused on client work, which has taught me a lot and given me many opportunities, but it also means that your time and creative energy are often guided by someone else’s needs. Sometimes you can spend months or even years being very busy without really having the time to stop and ask yourself what you want to explore as an artist.
I’ve also gone through periods where I felt a bit disconnected from my own work. Not necessarily because I stopped enjoying drawing, but because when you’re constantly producing for other people, it can be easy to lose touch with the reasons you started doing it in the first place.
That’s probably one of the reasons I’m now returning to older personal projects like Organic Portrait. Looking back at work I started years ago has made me think a lot about what has changed, both in my work and in myself. I don’t think the goal is to go back to who I was then, but to see what I can do with those ideas now.
So, no, it hasn’t always been easy, but I think those less straightforward periods have also been an important part of figuring out what I want my work to be.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I work mainly as an illustrator and 2D animator, with most of my professional experience in advertising and entertainment. I’ve been doing this professionally for well over a decade, working on everything from illustrations and key visuals to animation and visual development. That variety has allowed me to move between very different kinds of projects and learn how to adapt without losing my own way of working.
As an artist, I’m particularly interested in characters, anatomy, and the relationship between the human body and the natural world. I’m drawn to things that feel a little strange, organic or imperfect, and I like playing with the point where something familiar starts to feel slightly surreal or unsettling. I’m usually more interested in creating a feeling or an atmosphere than simply making something look beautiful.
I’m proud of having been able to make a living from something I genuinely love for so many years, and of the range of projects and people I’ve had the chance to work with along the way. But I’m probably most proud of the personal work I’ve managed to maintain alongside my professional career. It hasn’t always been easy to find the time or energy for it, but it has always been important to me.
As for what sets me apart, I’m not sure I could point to one specific thing. I think it’s more about the way I naturally see and approach things. I tend to be curious about the strange, the organic and the imperfect, and those interests keep finding their way into my work. After all these years, I still feel like I’m figuring out what my visual language is, and I think that ongoing search is actually an important part of being an artist.
What were you like growing up?
I was a pretty curious kid, and I spent a lot of time drawing. What I was drawn to even back then was probably a little unusual. I loved old drawings and engravings, and I would spend hours trying to reproduce them, especially the really intricate ones.
I was fascinated by anatomy and nature, and by all the little details and structures you could find in them. I think I’ve always had this tendency to look closely at things and try to understand them, rather than just looking at them on the surface.
I’ve also always been very interested in psychology, although more from a general curiosity about the human mind: how we think, how we grow, and how our personalities develop over time. I find it fascinating how much of who we become is shaped by our experiences and the way we interpret the world around us.
Looking back, a lot of those interests are still very much present in my work today. Anatomy, nature, intricate details, and an interest in what makes us human are things I keep coming back to. I guess I never really grew out of those interests; I just found different ways of exploring them.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.artstation.com/elolaillustrator
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/elolaillustrator/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alfonso-elola-328559370/
- Twitter: https://x.com/elolaillust
- Other: https://www.behance.net/elola
