Q: Originally from [where?] what are some of your favorite things about living and working in [your current locale]? 

A. I was born in Madrid, Spain, where I grew up, studied something unrelated to art and started working on corporate stuff everybody else seemed to care more than I did. Right before it was too late I got accepted at the School of Visual Arts and moved to New York to become an illustrator! 

Nowadays I live permanently in Berlin. The city has changed a lot—I used to come in the 90s to learn German and it was much wilder—but compared to other cities it s still considerably more free, less judgmental and packed with affordable cultural events. As other people have pointed out here, the time difference also gives you a nice quiet start when you work for US clients. 

Q: Do you keep a sketchbook? What is the balance between art you create on paper [or other analog medium] versus in the computer? 

A. I am not as consistent as I would like to be since my work is now mostly digital. I start a lot of sketchbooks for life drawing and burlesque sessions, but they are always left incomplete and frequently improved by my 3 year old son, who's linework is way more expressive. 

Q: What is the most important item in your studio? 

A. I have a home-made wooden drafting table that keeps my digital drawing tablet at the right angle, fits big newsprint paper at a side (for quick analog sketches) , and leaves some space to hang pencils, brush pens and photo references. This setup has completely removed back pains from long hours of drawing!

Q: How do you know when the art is finished—or when to stop working on it? 

A. Since I became a father the amount of time to torture myself with never-ending sessions of tweaking colors and line weights is gone, for better or worse. I need to be finished early to cook, play and read stories. By the time I am back to the drawing desk later at night, I usually spot any blatant corrections quicker and I am ready to send the artwork. 

Q: What was your favorite book as a child? 

A. The Never Ending Story by Michael Ende, I know many people just remember the cheesy 80s flick with the catchy one-hit wonder, but the book is an amazing tale with deep characters and philosophical questions. Totally worth revisiting, even as an adult. 

Q: What is the best book you’ve recently read? 

A. I finished Sapiens and Homo Deus by Yuval Noah Harari a few weeks ago. Nothing like history, statistics and biology to remind ourselves how much humans suck and how badly. We need to improve our behaviour as a species. Also it gives you a nice perspective of how irrelevant our worries typically are. 

Q: If you had to choose one medium to work in for an entire year, eliminating all others, what medium would you choose? 

A. If answering “digital” wasn't cheating, that would be it—just using Kyle Webster s infinite package of digital brushes on Photoshop you can mimic almost anything you can do on paper. If we completely discard digital trickery, I wouldn't mind at all to stick to brush pens and just do black and white...it would be a fun year! 

Q: What elements of daily life exert the most influence on your work practice? 

A. I get most of my ideas when I am far away of the studio, either playing with my kids, reading or longboarding through Berlin. If I don't spend time with the family or do some sports my mind starts slowing down. Also, tons of coffee. 

Q: What was the strangest/most interesting assignment you've taken that has an important impact on your practice, and what changed through the process? 

A. I have done a lot of sports illustrations lately, the likenesses and gear always has to be spot on, that means using more photo references which can stiffen the final drawing. After a regular assignment for Men s Health involving 10+ monthly illustrations about all sort of crazy topics, I spontaneously took a more loose and cartoony approach which has become an alternative in my portfolio, not radically different but lately requested by clients. 

Q: What would be your last supper? 

A. Pumpkin pizza. I could try to remember something fancier but since I discover this gem, that's what I get when I need a treat. 

Rafa Alvarez is a Spanish illustrator living and working in Berlin. He graduated at the School of Visual Arts of New York with a Master in Illustration as Visual Essay and started to work for magazines and agencies in the US and Europe. As of today, his work can be seen regularly on the pages of ESPN, Men s Health, Entrepreneur, Billboard, Highlights, GEOmini and campaigns for the NFL, Housing Works or Apple, among others. 

His work has been featured in Illustration Now! (Taschen) and has recently been awarded by American Illustration 35 (selected) and 36 (chosen), Society of Illustrators 60, Society of News Design 2017 (Silver Medal) among others.
Website: www.alvarezrafa.com
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