Esquivel!: Space-Age Sound Artist by Susan Wood

Author:Susan Wood
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Charlesbridge

Illustrator’s Note

I had a lot of fun illustrating this book. I wasn’t familiar with

Esquivel’s music, so I enjoyed listening to his songs for the

first time and learning about his life. I tried to capture some

of the energy and humor of Esquivel’s music in my drawings.

This project was also a great opportunity to experiment with

hand-written type and to study fashion from Esquivel’s time.

Esquivel sometimes used traditional Mexican songs, such

as “Bésame Mucho” or “La Bamba,” in his music and

reworked them to add his own particular flavor. He slowed

parts down, sped other parts up, and incorporated unusual

instruments and original sounds. He breathed new life into

traditional songs and made them fun and interesting to new

generations of listeners.

I try to do something similar to that with my illustrations.

My images are inspired by ancient Mexican art, especially

the Mixtec codex of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries.

Like the people and animals in the codex, the figures in my

illustrations are always drawn in profile—their entire bodies

are usually shown, and their ears often look like a number

three. I also collage textures and photographic elements

into my images electronically, using special computer

software. I hope that like Esquivel, I, too, am breathing new

life into a tradition of art, making books fun and interesting

to young readers.

Mixtec codex (Zouche-Nuttall). Copyright © The Trustees of the British Museum.

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