Ricardo Cavolo is a Spanish illustrator who has worked in various art forms over the past decade. His work has been fluid in the form of books, tattoos, clothing and most profoundly, his murals.
The reason I which I like his artwork is due to its striking and compelling visuals. His style is simple but still retains a lot of impact specifically through bold linework and colour. I feel that trying to incorporate a similar element of simplicity and boldness into my recent transition concept idea, it could make it appear intimidating in contrast to the main style I have used. This would provide a powerful juxtaposition and would convey the mood that I’m going for- fear and tension.
I’m also inspired by his use of colour as he uses a lot of warm tones for the main elements, whereas backgrounds are met with cooler hues to pull the viewer’s focus to the focal point. For most of his works, this method makes his paintings stand out, causing less confusion and therefore making it easy to follow the composition of the piece.
When I look at his portfolio, I feel a mixture of emotions. For the majority, his work as a whole makes me feel fear, excitement, and at peace all at once- which provides a very confusing, but exhilarating experience.
Example one
This is an example of one of his paintings – a mural.
As you can see, he uses bright, warm colours which suggests that it’s friendly, welcoming and includes feelings of joy and hope. The cool hues in the background aren’t overbearing and they have a satisfactory amount of lightness to them. Due to this, it enhances and encourages the warm hues to stand out more- it’s visually pleasing to the eye.
I think this painting, in my own interpretation could represent positivity in oneself, the euphoria of hope and looking to the future and leaving the negatives behind. This would explain the purpose of the placement of the sun (symbol of beacon of hope & joy) and the flames both being at opposite to each other in the painting. Alternatively, these flames might in theory be a metaphor for the flame of opportunity, or the passion of these ambitions. I feel that the secondary elements in this piece also add more depth to the thought behind this painting. For instance, the birds that are at the bottom of the mural, they seem to suggest a sense of sudden change, and it gives me the impression of feeling free, and letting go of unnecessary burdens. Of course, none of what I’ve said so far is factual, it is only mere speculation, and regardless of the meaning behind this painting, what I find most inspiring is how it’s completely open to interpretation and this is beautiful in its own right.
Example two
On the contrary to the previous example. This piece gives off a completely different vibe. The colours are a lot denser, almost smothering, which indicates danger. Moreover, all of the elements in this work are crowded, and this seems purposely done to enhance this feeling of bewilderment. Unlike the other elements, the eye in the centre stands out the most. It is very powerful and emits feelings of judgement, resentment and is intrusive in nature
I think that in comparison to the last painting, this one is the complete opposite. For one, the figure in the composition is made out of petals, indicating that they are fragile. We can see them picking themselves apart and as these petals fall, they wither, turning into meteorites as they fall to the ground. It could be that this person is falling apart emotionally and being self-destructive. This proves to be a likely metaphor as we see volcanic eruptions, glaring, judgemental eyes surrounding the character, and one half of the foreground is upside down, conveying disarray. These elements together make me think that this painting represents the destruction of oneself due to mental discontent. From my perspective, I feel as though this was influenced by anxiety, and feelings such as paranoia. This way of thought slowly, but surely can lead to a crash. Furthermore, this is reinforced through the damaged hot air balloon.
Ultimately, Ricardo’s body of work is extremely effective due to his bold linework, saturated and simplistic choice of colour palette. His work itself inspires me solely by proving that sometimes with art, less is more. Not only that, but the emotion stored in his works is spectacular in my opinion. I will definitely think about trying to be a bit simpler with my work, animations in particular as this would help manage time and resources.