Tomás Id, the cartoonist of the island effect of Chile

He is a publicist, but today he is dedicated to teaching classes and drawing. Through his figures he seeks to convey criticism and his vision of the world that seeks to move away from the stereotype of the man that the world often demands you to be. One of his dreams is to make a compilation of the more than 500 drawings he has made in these four years and thus tell a story.

Like his grandfather, he is a lover of art and reading. Both in Ernesto Sábato's metaphysical novels and in Vicente Huidobro's poems, he has found inspiration to create his characters. This publicist who believes he thinks in black and white, admits that his professional training has led him to always have a concept behind his drawings but that to create he does not need anything more than desire, a paper and a pencil.

What is your relationship with the art world? Are there artists or designers in your family?
I studied advertising but I made a way to get to art. I saw drawing as an alternative, I had always drawn but I had never taken the weight of it. I drew out of boredom until I realized that this world gave me much more than the other thing I was doing.

How has your career as a cartoonist been?
I turned around in several places, even in a newspaper doing political humor, but it was very advertised and I didn't like it. After that I went to study a postgraduate degree in illustration in Barcelona. There I was liking the small format that gave me the opportunity to draw every day. This remained as my intimate space. Today I dedicate myself to drawing; In addition to taking classes at the Andrés Bello University in the creative part of the advertising workshop, I am learning to tattoo. I channel all creativity through drawing, it is my way of communicating.

How did you discover that you liked to draw and that you were good at it?
When I left advertising I did not want to enter an agency and in the midst of my search for other alternatives I began to draw. At first the desire was more than a defined technique and little by little this language that my drawings have began to appear. I have always liked to remove the regular duct and in that sense, the drawing was the best door that could have been opened. It went on, things began to happen and people liked it.

Tomás draws with the thinnest pen there is. He uses it both in the fabrics and in the sketches. Sometimes he uses acrylic and a pen, but he thinks that with the pen he already has the information and knows how the line will come out.

Tell us about the creative process you go through when creating your drawings.
In general, I am inspired by a movie or a book; I read or watch until an image is created. Poetry helps me a lot because it allows me to imagine things and so does the cinema of the 20th century. Sometimes I am inspired by photographs from the first half of the 20th century and take part of them. I also like to be inspired by history, documentaries and interviews. When I'm without inspiration, sometimes it helps me to go for a spin on my bike and when I return home I think of things to draw.

What do your drawings convey? Do they contain criticism?
Yes, I believe that what I am reporting is impossible to abstract myself from criticism. I try, yes, to take it with humor. I am reminded of a character who is anonymous, who is in infinity, a little lost within his reality. I think I think in black and white and that's why I don't get color. I watch documentaries and read in those colors.

Anything in particular that you like to draw?
My classic character, but I would like to kill him now. I think it has to culminate in something. With this character I get what many believe that one has to be; a successful businessman. It's a bit of a resistance to that lifestyle. I don't know if I like drawing it, but it comes out.

Tomás's room is decorated with pictures that he himself has drawn.

What has been your biggest challenge around drawing?
Draw every day. For me the idea is to draw until I die and with everything that comes out so that later I can do something. I don't know what will become of me in a while, so for now my goal is to draw every day. There are times that it does not come out and it is as if the world fell apart. Also continue tattooing to become independent and be able to travel. I have a special rhythm and that makes me want to work alone.

Do you think you have a defined style?
There is a language, I don't know if defined. I don't know if black and white will last my whole life but for now it is.

Does the fact that your paintings are unfinished have a background or do you think it is the aesthetic that you choose?
I think both. I'm bad at decorating so if I include a lot of decoration in my paintings I lose myself. I think that by wanting to express and not lose myself, in addition to involving others, it ended up in that.

Where do you normally draw?
On my desk. I would love to draw in the park but always when I get home and put together everything I see and draw.

Referents?
Roland Topor, who is an illustrator that I generally see on the internet, and Quino, who my grandfather loves and gave me many of his books. But in the case of Quino, his drawings are repeated to me because I can't write, let alone that funny.

These are some of Quino's books that his grandfather gave him. Today, this graphic humorist is a great reference for Tomás.

Tell us about the process of working for Mappin. How did you think about it at first, how has it been happening, how long did it take you to do it, how has people's reaction been, etc.
I started in April of this year, I left it to make paintings for an exhibition for a while and I took it up again in August. It has been long because the concept of "island effect" has several things. On the one hand the influence of immigrants and on the other the ports. It also has a large desert, a large mountain range, ice below and a giant ocean. We are isolated within the region, which I depicted with solitary characters who are drifting and often tend to move away from their peers in the region. How to put all the idea that one has of a country in the head was difficult. The map is representative of the stage in which I am now. Maybe if I did it again it would be different.

Tomás working on the "Island Effect" Map from Mappin.cl

Do you think you can make a living from art in Chile?
I believe that art with marketing can make a living. You have to create a profile and be exposed on social networks. Let the work come with the artist together.

What are your future projects? Any new plans that you can tell us about?
Draw a lot and with that make a book or a series of several pictures. I've been shaking my head to convey that intimacy behind the drawings. In the summer that I am going to be without classes I want to give it my all and draw a lot. Summer is my most productive time.

Tomás dreams of tattooing and traveling thanks to it. This is a tattoo of a drawing made by him.

To buy the map of Chile made by Tomás, click here .