Submit Saturdays: Eduardo Lindes’ trippy illustrations are steeped in folklore and tradition

Welcome to Submit Saturdays, a year-long series of articles in partnership with Squarespace. Be it a professional work website, a shop, a social enterprise or a site that hosts a personal project, Submit Saturdays will showcase the work of creatives around the world who use the online platform Squarespace. This is a great new opportunity to share your projects and ideas with our readers.

London-based illustrator Eduardo Lindes (AKA Murnau Den Linden) has been working on and off as an illustrator for three years, yet has always looked to drawing as a kind of release and therapy. His work is a kaleidoscope of wonderful, psychedelic colours created using a mixture of inks and paint. Inspired by traditional folklore and mythical tales from all over the world, Eduardo’s illustrations look to the past to create something new and exciting. Here the illustrator talks a bit about his process and what has inspired him along the way.

How did you start as an illustrator? What’s your background?

I’ve always painted, since I was a child. My grandfather encouraged me to do it, when he retired he became an outsider artist, and he taught me the basics to communicate whatever you want with your drawings. However, unconsciously, I took a break of ten years. After my studies, I focused on graphic design. So my brushes were catching dust during those years. After a while illustration started to become like a natural therapy for me; it appeared like a reflex, without any notice or deliberate intention. That was three years ago and I’ve been working full time on this during the last year.

How would you describe your style?

I love to explore Latin American and African cultures. Those worlds are like a punch in the nose, they get your attention but I still like to bring in the folk traditions of Europe and Asia. I try to evoke ancient traditions and myths to meet the 21st Century western world. I offer a vibrant performance of deep dark sensations, mythology and modernity. My works could be likened to magical realism, rooted in folk and colonial traditions. I just try to be an honest voice with glimmers of a forgotten world where ancient civilisations meet with jubilation and imagined characters from magic worlds, contemporary culture and ancient roots.

Your portfolio is a trippy mix of colour and shape, has it always been this vibrant?

Not always. At the beginning everything was a little bit dark, visceral and intense. Now I want to keep the darker moments more private so I choose positivity for my daily routine like a colourful mantra. Therefore, I look to my portfolio and I see something sincere but not naïve.

How do you create your illustrations?

I work with brushes, inks and acrylics. When the timeline is like “we needed it yesterday” I work on paper with markers and I put colour in with digital tools. Depending on the request and project. Also I can work directly with vectors to have plenty of freedom to resize all the shapes and icons. If I am working for an exhibition it is always handmade.

Can you tell us more about the Galicia image? What’s the idea behind it?

I’ve made the artwork for a Spanish company who creates new gastronomic guides for the Galicia region in northern Spain each year. Galicia is one of the Celtic nations and my main interest sweeps across traditions and roots that meet the present to understand our current world; so I’ve found all the necessary inspiration in the Galician history.

What decisions went into designing your website?

I’ve tried a lot of solutions during the last ten years. From the management of your own CMS with templates to install, to free microblogging platforms. However, all of these companies or developers didn’t understand the new digital era. Squarespace is different. They understand what businesses and users need. Basically, we are not developers and we’re people without an academic knowledge of coding, yet we still need things done. Whenever I need something different for my website I can just choose a new template and start using the tools that are already there. Everything is done for you and it works perfectly. I like to combine the functional with the cool and beautiful for my site, but I always enjoy playing around with it.

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