Silvia Martinez (aka MauLoaBook) is a freelance artist and graphic designer from Spain. She was born Born in Pontevedra —a beautiful city close to the Atlantic—, and from the beginning of her life she has always been surrounded by creativity and an endless need for exploring. She has a master’s degree in Fine Arts from the University of Vigo, majoring in both Graphic Design and Audiovisual and spent ten years as Creative Director for Canal Uno until going freelance in 2015.
We found out pretty quickly from the Jason Momoa fandom that she was a gifted artist, especially with her work on Jason. We knew we had to interview her to find out more about her work and why Jason Momoa is such a big part of her life.
Questions:
How would you describe your artistic style?
I would say that my personal work is very eclectic, it’s a mixture of all the styles that I like and it depends a lot on my mood on that particular day. I especially love expressionism (both abstract and figurative), primitivism, some surrealism… all artistic movements have something good. As is obvious, in a fan page like mine most people just want to see Jason in all his glory, so I can’t do things as weird as I’d like or many fans might take me for crazy. Although I’m sure Jason would like it, lol.
Your illustrations are hyper-realistic. Have you always been able to capture that level of detail?
Actually, I don’t think that my illustrations are hyperrealistic, as much as they are figurative. If you look at my drawings very closely you will see that they don’t have as many details as it might seem, it’s a matter of playing with strokes and light. And if you are talking about my photo editions, in this case yeah, I try to make them look like real photographs. I love photomontage and I collaborate regularly with advertising agencies creating images that do not exist for all kind of products. It’s very funny, although it requires many crazy hours of Photoshop work.
On the level of detail, I’ve always liked to draw. Since I was a small girl I was clear that I wanted to dedicate myself to this. I have a degree in Fine Arts and during my five years at the university I learned new techniques and deepened my interest in the history of Art. But in the end, it’s just practice and more practice that gets me closer to what only existed in my mind. Every day’s a new challenge, we should keep moving and improving. I need this to feel alive.
When and why did you start creating Jason Momoa art?
Specifically with Jason I started at the beginning of 2014 and thanks to him I recovered the passion for drawing that I had lost working only in advertising. I was frustrated… And then I saw him playing Drogo and I remembered that handsome nameless actor that had taken my dreams many years before. It was like a revelation. He’s the reason for many important decisions and friendships I’ve made in my life and I’ll be eternally grateful to him for this.
What is the essence of Jason that you put into every piece of art you do?
It depends, sometimes it’s just a feeling linked to a moment that he, or even me, is going through. It can be simply humor, loneliness, strength, joy, sex appeal, fury… Although almost nobody sees it, there’s often some hidden meaning only visible to the most expert eyes: usually Jason himself and one of my best friends, Lexy, who runs the @thiratatthiraride fan page. It’s therapeutic for me to be like that.
What are the qualities of his that drew you to him as an artistic subject?
His energy, his endless creativity, his passion for life and devotion to his beloved ones. Jason is breathtaking not just physically (obvious), I think he is even better inside. Everything about him touches me… there is some kind of connection, I don’t know how to explain it. And he also has a special gift to surround himself with more and more inspiring people.
You do illustrations, caricatures, portraits and more. What’s your favorite medium?
I love making charcoal portraits, it’s a powerful and very communicative material. Anyway, I’m always making mixtures so in a drawing of mine you can find charcoal mixed with graphite, watercolor pencil, Conte bars, Chinese ink, tempera, coffee or Tipp-Ex… why not? In art the rules are created just to skip them. I enjoy making collages, editing videos, making photo compositions, vector illustrations, everything. The secret is to enjoy the process, I don’t care about the medium. Sometimes my work does not survive so many mortal attacks, so I always try to take a good photo of the result before it finally disintegrates.
Have you met Jason Momoa in person?
Yes, we have met in 2014 in the USA and in 2017 in the United Kingdom. He’s an absolutely magnetic, kind, intelligent and very funny person. And yes, he smells amazingly good! I will not tell you the details but I will say that Jay and his closest tribe have behaved marvelously with me over the time. I’m a lucky girl.
When did he discover you and your work and start interacting with you on social media?
In early 2014 I started my Instagram page @mauloabook and after a few months he joined the social network and my work caught his attention, so he began to comment regularly on my posts and then he started following me. Since then we are in contact and I collaborate with him on everything he needs. I feel honored to be, someway, the Spaniard friend for the Gypsies.
What is your favorite character or look of Jason’s?
Honestly, I find it very difficult to choose because I love everything he does. Probably my biggest weaknesses are Khal Drogo in Game of Thrones and Robert Wolf in Road to Paloma. I loved what we have seen so far about Arthur Curry in Justice League, so I couldn’t be more impatient with the arrival of theAquaman solo movie. And about the look… I love the dirtbag-Chewbacca-caveman look, Jason in its purest form, you know. I’m very hormonal about these things.
What goals and aspirations/projects do you have for 2018?
I would like to be able to stabilize myself a bit at the work level. After many years working as a creative director, I decided to try it myself, and although I’m getting commissions and some collaborations I can never know if I’ll have money at the end of the month and this is very stressful. Thus it is very difficult to save money or make any kind of plans. In my ideal world, I would have a payroll in the morning and a freelance job in the afternoon. In Hawaii. With a cold Guinness in my hand. And Jason playing a blues. Sounds pretty good, right?
To get an idea of all the wonderful work she does, not just of Jason Momoa, but a variety of subjects and styles, you can check out the gallery below.
You can visit mauloabook on her Instagram account or her website. She has a portfolio page on our website under the Fan Art section where you can see a gallery of her selected works.
(This article originally appeared on Jason Momoa News)