It goes a little unnoticed in its own land. But since 2008, the illustrator Luís Peres, 44, from Portimo, has successfully developed a frantic creative career at an international level.
For example, the book «Thunder & Lightning» which he illustrated for the author Mary Evans, from Texas, will soon be published in the USA.
His most recent work is also about to come out in Australia, a “crossover between traditional illustration, digital and graphic editing”.
A collaborator at the Algarve publishing house «Arandis», Luís Peres is also involved in projects such as board games, books and educational software for the Portuguese market and soon also the Brazilian market.
On the other side of the world, at an elementary school in Waco, Texas, freelance writer Mary Evans reads passages from her book to children. The drawings that capture the students' attention have a Portuguese touch. Or rather, a touch of the Algarve. Made to measure by the illustrator Luís Peres, from Portimão.
“This was one of those really cool jobs to do, because essentially it just involves fantasy creatures. It's a good example of the kind of books I'd like to see me every day," he jokes. Luis Peres, whose specialty is “creating new worlds”.
This American author learned about her work through Facebook and also through «Dragon Pencil», a children's book publisher with which Peres collaborates occasionally.
“We are planning to turn the book into a app for ipad very soon, as soon as funding for the project comes in,” on the other side of the Atlantic.
In the case of «Thunder and Lightning», “the author had been testing illustrators for a year until she found me. When he contacted me, I sent him the drawings of the two main characters. He liked it a lot and hired me right away, five minutes after receiving my email. It allowed me to create a universe from scratch, only mine, and which curiously reflected what the author had dreamed of”, she reveals.
Also for the United States, Luís Peres has designed the graphic universe of «The Adventures of Owain Tridwr» for the publisher Gold Leaf Books, curiously also based in Texas.
But his most recent work, yet to be published, went to Australia – «Life is a Journey – Let us help you pack» by Kenneth Cole.
“This job came to me out of nowhere. It's one of those motivational books with inspirational phrases. I made a cross between traditional illustration, digital and graphic editing, a little different from what I usually do”, he reveals.
“Another curious market in the US is the market for evangelical books. Occasionally, I receive a request to illustrate one of these, something that I, as a militant atheist, try to do the best I can… not least because in this profession we cannot be prejudiced”.
A recent example is "Black Or White, Which Does God Like?"
Also on the other side of the Atlantic, but in Portuguese, Peres is developing a project for Brazil that should start in a few months.
“It has to do with an educational software, called «Afonsinho explains», which already exists in Portugal and which will soon also have a version for ipad, in addition to a series of various books on history, science” among other disciplines.
“It's been a complicated project to develop. I'm not only doing the illustration, but also designing the products for the publisher Eixo Filosófico, based here in Portimão”, he reveals.
“We are organizing funding for the next phase. If all goes well, we will have a lot of news at the end of the year. This educational project is very interesting because it is aimed at pre-school and first cycle children, which is perfect for my style of drawing”.
Print on Demand fan
For Luís Peres, Mary Evans is a good example “of a phenomenon that has been happening outside Portugal for some years now. That is, authors who get angry with the big publishers and who decide to make their own publications", through the system Print-on-demand (POD). Often with campaigns through crowdfunding associates.
Peres is himself an adept of this system, which allows “anyone with personal effort, to create a publisher or edition, without needing to invest a lot” financially. This is because each edition is only printed when someone interested in buying a copy appears. Large-scale printing is not required. And it is the author who defines the final price, between the fixed cost of the printer and the added value of his own work.
He discovered this system in 2008, when he lost his job in the design field because of the first hits of the crisis. He decided to edit his comic book saga “The Adventures of Prince Ziph” on the platform lulu.com – a work that gave him great visibility as an artist.
“That's why I had my first clients. And from there I realized that the thing could work if I was continuously subscribed to websites de .” as an illustrator. Since 2010, he has not been looking for work. It is the authors who seek him out, mostly people who are also supporters of the system. Print-on-demand.
In the US, POD is almost a parallel market, with works of all genres. The proof is that two years ago, the second largest website next to Amazon was lulu.com (a platform dedicated to POD editions).
But in reality, “the POD system came to do the same in labels that mp3 did in music”, he compares.
However, Peres admits that the success of POD lies in the dedication that each author pays to the marketing of his works. "I know authors who even quit the jobs they had and are now dedicated exclusively to writing and editing books on POD in the United States."
“A couple of years ago, several authors like this appeared in Portugal, such as Mary Evans. But almost immediately articles appeared in our press, apparently sponsored by the biggest national publishers who dominate the market, demonstrating that the POD system had no future. And it wasn't even worth wasting time on it!"
The secret of success?
We asked Luís Peres what the secret of his success is: how does he win the competition in a competitive and saturated global market?
“I think the reason I usually win the works I compete for is because I have the ability to easily interpret the authors' dreams in ways they didn't even imagine! As I am always sincere in my approach, and I never hide anything about my own creative process, people open up to me. I immediately realize which universe is in your imagination, sometimes even without reading the book, just by the initial conversation”, he explains.
“The answer also has to do with advice I give to a lot of people. It doesn't matter if you are the best designer in the world or not. There are thousands of better guys, always. But there are also thousands worse. I've won a lot of jobs with people far superior to me. It's because? Because, contrary to what seems logical, a client is not interested in the best designer in the world, but in the person who can recreate what he imagined”.
“And above all, he is looking for an illustrator who has a style that is different from everything else. A personal style. One should not compete for technique, but for creativity”, he considers.
One of the many examples that support these arguments is the children's book “The Tale of Imani the Bunny”, which he illustrated in 2013 for a professor at the University of San Diego, USA. The author fired the previous illustrator, who could not materialize the idea. Peres succeeded and he will also illustrate the sequel.
Talent in the fingers or a straw in the hand?
Due to its strong presence in Internet and already adding a considerable editorial record, Luís Peres is sought after by many beginners who question him about the profession. About 80 percent are Portuguese.
"They're totally in the dark on this websites, many, because they cannot read English. Others because they read precisely those bad articles about POD and believe it's not worth trying!”
“Those who are under 25 years old think that everything is a big drought if they don't have immediate results, if they don't get famous right away, because they consider themselves brilliant! They think that the straw gives them professionalism and that they deserve to start as art directors or something like that”, he says.
Comparatively, “foreigners under 25 years of age draw like lightning, spread drawings everywhere, discuss in forums for years, waste hours watching drawing tutorials on youtube. And they knock on everyone's door, even when they're not ready yet, without fear!"
The reality in this editorial environment can be defined with the following words: “Foreigners are being sprayed if you only have the fourth class. Do you have a good portfolio and are you a professional? So, you're hired!”
“In the case of the Portuguese, especially those with degrees in arts and design, the age group between 30 and 40 who has not been working on this for years, are usually active, looking to create small businesses, small shops Online and things like that. But if they're already connected to art or something like that, they're the most arrogant, and the ones who tend to issue derogatory opinions about everything that's new!”
“Another big difference between Portugal and abroad is also in the illustration agencies. Here we have an unparalleled snobbery! It's hard to describe this, but here, the illustration agencies will see the straw first… whoever has that, won't even answer the phone! Then there is the tendency to aim for “art” rather than illustration. Anyone who compares Portuguese children's books with foreign ones will see that foreigners are made with “simple” images in cheerful colors and beautiful atmospheres, etc. The Portuguese are made with abstract drawings, like a painting by Vieira da Silva. It seems that around here the more “art”, the more “abstractionism”, the more “scholarly”, the better. As if an illustration in a more direct style were something inferior, because it doesn't look like something straight out of the fine arts”, he criticizes.
“Outside, if you have a good portfolio, usually the only test they give you is rejection, strange as it may seem. As the director of an agency told me, if a new illustrator is rejected once, twice, three times and continues to submit better and better work, it shows that he is a professional. And that withstands criticism. You won't cry if a customer doesn't like the initial job. And as such, many editors always reject new illustrators, just to see which people come back later, and thus separate professionals from amateurs”.
“The problem with Portuguese is that it gives a lot of value to straw and not to work. Bureaucracy dominates. There are people I know who are over 30 who draw naturally very well. But they think it's no longer worth trying anything, just because they've never had art classes and therefore, they think they don't have a chance to compete with the younger graduates,” he says.
“In fact, in Portugal they are even capable of not having any chance, not least because it is a small and crowded environment. But luckily, today we have the Internet. It's about time people realized that technically nobody lives on this earth if they don't want to. Technically, I've been emigrating without leaving home since at least 2008…”
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