The Art of Jesús Cisneros (Drawing from Memory)

A visually mesmerizing book that celebrates the wide range and intensity of Jose Cisneros’s artistry.

Jesús Cisneros is a celebrated international illustrator whose work is characterised by its economy of elements, simple, almost minimalist strokes, and a limited selection of colours to breathe life into highly evocative drawings. This book filled with vibrant images presents Cisneros’s creative processes as the artist shares insights about inspiration, improvisation, personal style, and artistic evolution. 

The author includes an illuminating interview woven throughout the text and gives glimpse into Cisneros’s personal notebooks, showcasing the research and exploration that underpins his magical scenes. From experimental workshops conducted with young people worldwide to commissioned works and his own expressive and introspective pieces illustrating poetry and prose, children’s books and theatre scenery, the breadth of Cisneros’s art unfolds before readers’ eyes. 

The reader accompanies the artist as he wields brushes worn with time, dipping them into jars of paint and sketching on squares of vegetable paper. We witness the subtle interplay of pale pinks merged with pearl greys and the vigorous intensity of explosive carmine reds kissed by African browns. Cisneros’s palette dances with indescribable colours, a testament to the hypnotic alchemy of his chosen paints. With a visually mesmerizing collection of his works, the book celebrates the wide range and intensity of Cisneros’s artistry and how sensibility and technique combine in his illustrations, proving that great stories can be told with very little.