"Es como el juego de las sietes diferencias, solo que al revés. En lugar de buscar las desemejanzas en dos dibujos casi idénticos, de lo que se trata es de advertir puntos comunes en imágenes dispares, aunque tan ricas en detalles que siempre puede hallarse alguna similitud. Los tiempos de guerra se prestan especialmente a este ejercicio. Comentaristas y responsables políticos hurgan en el pasado en busca de cualquier acontecimiento susceptible, de un modo u otro, de relacionarse con la situación actual."
por B. Bréville - Le Monde Diplomatique (en español)
CREATIVE PROCESS
On Sunday mornings, there's nothing quite like savoring a cup of coffee while flipping through Le Monde Diplomatique. It started as a bobo habit, but lately has become my special spot for flexing my illustration muscles: i pick up an article and challenge myself to come up with a suitable illustration for it.
The magazine's abstract imagery, oddly enough, doesn't directly influence my creative process. Its obscurity actually serves as a blank canvas, allowing my mind to wander freely without being influenced by specific metaphors or images.
The editorial from the April 2024 issue's director particularly caught my attention, not only for its topic (the abuse of analogy between present and historically relevant elements as a key to understanding and valuing the present) but also because it resonated with a lecture by Prof. Barbero about Marc Bloch, one of the father of modern historiography, which I enjoyed listening to a few days prior.
That's something I truly cherish about the creative process. I typically begin by taking notes, asking myself questions, and doodling small ideas. But above all, I allow the initial thoughts to rest for a bit. I let ideas connect in my mind before circling back to them, trying out some sketches on my iPad until the final idea finds its way through.
Eventually, I found myself asking, "How would Marc Bloch, proud soldier of the French army during WWI and partisan who tragically lost his life in WWII, react to the way modern politics are currently using history?"
And that's when it hit me—a visual of an outraged Marc Bloch lobbing a Molotov cocktail made from the pages of his own Annales.
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