about authors

Name: Juan Antonio Martinez Sarrion (MORTIMER)

Cartoonist, Spain
Mortimer was born in Albacete (La Mancha, Spain) in 1973. Graduated with a degree in information sciences in Valencia (Spain), he released several underground themed cartoons and collaborated in several amateur issues during the 90’s. After working at the TV for some years, he became marketing manager in a specialized video game franchise. He has recently left his job to focus exclusively on illustration and cartoons as he has been doing for the last 3 years.

Environmentalism is a constant in Mortimer’s drawing works, where children, trees and little animals in the woods are the main characters. The Mortimer imaginery (including the tree-hugger girl, the pagan Gods, the deserts, the cactus, the tree-beings, the bearded men and the Buddhas) is a illusionary and innocent report, in some cases, of a new way of understanding in the relationship between the human being and the mother nature.

Mortimer speaks out about his creative process: “It’s a fantastic mind-challenging exercise to draw landscapes without a real reference; woods that are only in your head, created piece by piece like a fractal, fitting together like in a real life pattern. Apart from being a really pleasant activity, it is quite a way of travelling across that kind of places I would really like to be in”.

Mortimer is an active participant involved in artistic and cartoonists communities on the Internet being in close collaboration with the Microphones in the Trees community, one of the essential references on new trends in folk music. He also envelops his career as professional illustrator as member of the APIV (Professional Association of Valencian Illustrators). Last April, a solo exhibition was organized in the city of Albacete in order to show his recent artwork. Last months working with german cartoonist agency Toonpool.

“Inside the arhant Buddhist concept, there is an aphorism that shows in proper words my first impressions when I discovered Mortimer’s universe: Delightful as the woods are; there’s no joy there for people but those free from passion, as they don’t look for pleasure”. Rafa Romero, Microphones In the Trees coordinator.

Site: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mortimer_online or
http://www.mortimeriadas.com