Award-winning illustrator and graphic designer, Leo Espinosa, has many accolades to his name, with his work being featured in top tier publications and showcased in galleries around the world. His shortlist includes The New Yorker, Wired, Esquire, The New York Times, The Atlantic, the BBC, Nickelodeon, Penguin Random House, Swatch, and Facebook; and his illustrations have been recognized by American Illustration, Communication Arts, Pictoplasma, 3×3, The Society of Illustrators, and the American Library Association.
Born in Bogotá, Colombia, and based in Salt Lake City, Utah, his work leans on composition and color. “I do my sketches in pencil on marker paper, then I either scan them or take a photo with my phone, so I can use it as a loose template when I do the final artwork in the computer,” he told AI-AP, explaining his artistic process. “I pay a lot of attention to composition and color, which I tried to keep as limited as the tools I use; for each project, I choose only one or two digital brushes,” he added.
“I chose to study graphic design, not only because I was inspired by record covers, rock band logos, and comics, but because I knew it would get me work quickly,” he recalled. “Even though my illustration career didn’t kick off until the mid-90s, I like to think that I started working while I was still attending design school. I got a small job doing storyboards for an ad agency, which lead to a designer position, and later on I became an art director; by the time I left Colombia at the age of 22, I had worked in three large multinational agencies.”
After moving to New York in 1992 and working in a small design studio, he got tired of “giving away all the cool illustration assignments”, so he quit his job, bought a page in a couple of source books, and became a full time illustrator. He hasn’t looked back since.
