Nobel – The Influential

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Stories from Atramento

Over the last two years, I’ve been creating a series of artworks based around the Fable

of Atramento. Tales and characters from a small city in the middle of a dense forest. As the series grew, we decided to produce T-shirts with a set of these illustrations as gifts and when people kept asking us to make more, we decided to screen-print a bigger run.

To start things off, we selected five animals for a limited run of T-shirt designs. As in most fables, each character is a metaphor for a universal personality trait. The first one I want to share here is Nobel, the lion. Unsurprisingly, he represents great influence and is currently the Mair of Atramento.

Dancing lines

When creating an image like this, I feel like a Jazz-musician, improvising within the song's theme. The main shapes are quickly laid out based on a photo-reference, but then the real fun begins: Around these limits, I start creating free, flowing structures through organic, line-work. Instead of neatly rendering reality, I aim for rhythm and lots of expression with each stroke. Below is a sped–up view of the process.

Selection & Production

We believe there is too much clutter in the world for us to add senselessly to the pile.

So, when we decided to create these shirts, we selected all colours and materials with a twist, so hopefully people will be able to enjoy and use the products for years to come.

We collaborated with Stanley/Stella, as their production is certified fair-trade and vegan. Screen printing was done here, in Barcelona, by the good people at Visual Textil.

Nobel – The Influential

We sat down with the Mair of Atramento and asked him to reflect on his responsibilities and what the office feels like after 11 years.

"It's true what they say, with power comes great responsibility. Some pretty nice parties, too, I'll admit… But mostly, expect lots of new headaches. I know that when you see me representing, while my team is out doing most of the hunting… I understand what that looks like to an outsider. It's hard for people to see why I have to delegate most tasks…"

"…but think about it: The main risk in my position is to exhaust myself too much on any

one task; then if a rival challenges me, I'm immediately at a disadvantage. And don't let yourself be fooled, someone is always looking for their moment to shine…"

"…at the same time, I have to make sure I actually improve the lives of folks around here, otherwise I've got a revolt on my hands. So the ultimate goal in my position is affecting as much positive change as possible, without wasting any energy. You could say this job is exhausting… I'm looking forward to some time off on the coast somewhere, once I retire."

Why we are doing this

For us, meaningful art is created through the story behind each piece. Whenever we catch a glimpse of the ideas behind someones creative process, we appreciate it more. This is why we created Atramento, as a space for new characters and plots to emerge, a parallel world where you can let your imagination run. If we've managed to pass on to you, at least some of the bold energy that goes into the production process, then we'd be really happy.