Character Design by Juan Carlos Paz
Juan Carlos Paz, a self-defined crazy man and illustrator from Madrid, brings us some quirky and exquisite character design of great impact, which can make a great competitor to the most known and beloved popular comics.
Art Director for advertising agencies such as BBDO in the past and having worked with famous clients of the like of You Tube and Chrysler, Juan Carlos has now dived into freelance work with his own agency called Bakea.
The freaky creatures populating the visual imaginary of Juan Carlos defy some clear definition and escape the antagonist monster category because of their unique emotional character and the impression they leave on the viewer.
One’s attention moves swiftly past the unsettling outlook of these figures to catch some glimpses of the character’s personality, which tends to evoke a mix of vulnerability and aggressiveness, friendliness and hostility. While it takes a while for the eye to adapt, these vaguely menacing strange figures tend to arise feelings of sympathy, and one would easily go as far as considering them cute. As one curls up a tree astonished at the sight of a red flower in the snowy landscape, another zebra-like creature feeds his child with a rainbow of colours. One lies on the grass in disarray, another is attacked in the water. What the designs undoubtedly reveal is soft-hearted characters of uncommon outlook and spirit.
Part of the work comprises alien figures occupying uncontaminated natural landscapes. Digital work is juxtaposed on photographs of mountains, lakes and spacious outdoor dreamy scenarios alike . The creatures are huge and dominate the image.
While the main body of his projects presents characters which are designed as a mixture of different animals with a penchant for the alien, be it monkeys, cows, fish and birds there are also some series depicting human-like alien figures, all blue and goofy, a Jesus-like hipster character standing out in all the uniqueness of his peculiar expression.
The traits which take most of the visual attention are the eyes: huge yellow bulbs with a restricted spot-like red pupil that are misplaced, multiplied, enlarged or reduced to one. These are what gives characters their rather harmless expression, which contrasts with the often threatening opening of the mouth, strangely morphed and revealing sharp teeth, which gives rise to a general feeling of unease. Multi-color horns and tails often make an appearance and the creatures’ bodies are covered in scales.
The atmosphere is the one of an endless day lit by a feeble sun. Colors are intense, but somewhat waning and the images appear as aged photographs, as if they were Instragram-filtered.
