The Illustrations That Represent Marcos Chin

Get to know iconic illustrator Marcos Chin through the pieces that define his art

Marcos has worked for everyone from Google to Ford, Rolling Stone Magazine to The New York Times. But, he didn't grow up in such grand circumstances. Civil war forced his family to leave Mozambique, where he was born, in the mid-1970s.

From a humble background, Marcos has been working since he was ten. "I've been paying most of my significant purchases on my own since I was a kid," he told The Illustration Department. "Back to school clothing, books and supplies, my undergraduate education, rent and now my mortgage."

Don't miss the opportunity to knoe more about Marcos on his [url=https://www.domestika.org/es/live/42-marcos-chin-como-trabajar-el-color[/url]. Here is a collection of the works that took him from there to where he is now.

The first big job: Lavalife

After working for magazines for a while, his big commission came from an online dating agency, Lavalife: "Where singles click." The company blew up and gave him the platform so he could too.

"This campaign lasted for about nine years and it afforded me a life that I never knew could be possible for an illustrator."

Here are some other examples of his illustrations in collaboration with different brands:

Championing identities: New Wave

As he grew up, Marcos rarely saw himself, a gay Asian man, portrayed honestly in society.

"At that time, the media supported the shame that I felt about my queerness and my body," he told LBB Online, "calling us sissies", the f-word, "carriers of disease, less-than and the other."

He took take advantage of his commercial platform to fight this, introducing queer people and people of color to his work.

Imagining fantasies: Art of Thrones

When a friend was offered the chance to participate in the Game of Thrones Season 6 launch event, Art the Throne, they passed it onto him as they weren't a fan.

This let the public see his creative hands at work. Turns out being a Game of Thrones fan can pay off.

Exploring sexualities: Kama Sutra

One of Chin's most ambitious projects is his illustrations of the Kama Sutra for Penguin Books.

The metaphors of plants and animals that describe sexual positions and his natural talent for powerful lines and curves of unexpected softness fill this book with outstanding pieces from front to back.

Other dimensions: Starbucks at the Palazzo Hotel

Chin thrives on variety and it would be amiss to skip over his work off the page. Here is one of his most recent murals for the extravagant Starbucks at the Palazzo Hotel, Las Vegas.

If you like his work, learn how to visually interpret a written piece and turn it into a meaningful illustration with him on the Domestika course Composition and Color for Creative Illustration.

You may be interested in:

- Introduction to Colour Psychology: Chromatic Narrative, a course by Sole Otero
- Adobe Photoshop for Illustration, by Gemma Román
- Illustration Techniques to Unlock your Creativity, a course by Adolfo Serra