Gustavo Cabral (born July 20, 1963), better known as Ciruelo ('plum tree'), is an Argentine

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy literature and d ...

artist,The book of the dragon
by Montse Sant whose work focuses especially on

dragons A dragon is a reptilian legendary creature that appears in the folklore of many cultures worldwide. Beliefs about dragons vary considerably through regions, but dragons in western cultures since the High Middle Ages have often been depicted as ...

Biography

Ciruelo Cabral was born in

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...

, Argentina. He was born with

color blindness Color blindness or color vision deficiency (CVD) is the decreased ability to see color or differences in color. It can impair tasks such as selecting ripe fruit, choosing clothing, and reading traffic lights. Color blindness may make some aca ...

. At age 13 Cabral enrolled in Instituto Fernando Fader, an art school, where he began his formal studies. He started working as illustrator at age 18 for a graphic advertising company, and soon after began doing comic covers. In 1987 he moved to

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

where he drew fantasy books' covers and inside drawings for ''Timun Mas'', a publisher that specializes in the genre. Cabral then widened his horizons and did work for companies around the world, including companies in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

and

. He drew the covers of the ''

Chronicles of the Shadow War ''Willow'' is a 1988 American high fantasy adventure film directed by Ron Howard and produced by Nigel Wooll. The film was executive produced by George Lucas and written by Bob Dolman from a story by Lucas. The film stars Warwick Davis, Joanne ...

'', a Bantam trilogy written by George Lucas. He has also done music album covers, such as

Steve Vai Steven Siro Vai (; born June 6, 1960) is an American guitarist, composer, songwriter, and producer. A three-time Grammy Award winner and fifteen-time nominee, Vai started his music career in 1978 at the age of eighteen as a transcriptionist f ...

's '' The Seventh Song'' and The Flower King's Adam & Eve, and magazine covers for, among others, ''

Playboy ''Playboy'' is an American men's Lifestyle magazine, lifestyle and entertainment magazine, formerly in print and currently online. It was founded in Chicago in 1953, by Hugh Hefner and his associates, and funded in part by a $1,000 loan from H ...

'' and '' Heavy Metal''. His artwork can also be seen in some

Magic: The Gathering ''Magic: The Gathering'' (colloquially known as ''Magic'' or ''MTG'') is a Tabletop game, tabletop and Digital collectible card game, digital Collectible card game, collectable card game created by Richard Garfield. Released in 1993 by Wizards ...

cards. Cabral uses mainly

acrylic Acrylic may refer to: Chemicals and materials * Acrylic acid, the simplest acrylic compound * Acrylate polymer, a group of polymers (plastics) noted for transparency and elasticity * Acrylic resin, a group of related thermoplastic or thermosett ...

and

oil painting Oil painting is the process of painting with pigments with a medium of drying oil as the binder. It has been the most common technique for artistic painting on wood panel or canvas for several centuries, spreading from Europe to the rest of ...

, but also a number of other techniques, including his famous and distinctive paintings on rocks, which he created and calls "petropictos" (literally: stone paintings). He has published four books with his drawings: ''The Book of the Dragon'' (1990), ''Ciruelo'' (1990), ''Luz, the Art of Ciruelo'' (1997) and ''Magia, the Ciruelo Sketchbook'' (2000). Ciruelo created the poster art for two Argentine films: Eliseo Subiela's classic '' Man Facing Southeast'' (1986) and the

surrealist Surrealism is a cultural movement that developed in Europe in the aftermath of World War I in which artists depicted unnerving, illogical scenes and developed techniques to allow the unconscious mind to express itself. Its aim was, according to ...

cult film '' Fuego gris'' (1994), written and directed by Pablo César.Ciruelo shows high-flying art and fantasy
2013-08-13, Rosario 3 The art for ''Fuego gris'' was also used in

Luis Alberto Spinetta Luis Alberto Spinetta (23 January 1950 – 8 February 2012), nicknamed "El Flaco" (Spanish for "skinny"), was an Argentine singer, guitarist, composer and poet. One of the most influential rock musicians of Argentina, he is regarded as one of ...

's album of the same name, which was also the original

soundtrack A soundtrack is recorded music accompanying and synchronised to the images of a motion picture, drama, book, television program, radio program, or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack ...

for the film. Cabral's work is represented in the 2002 collection ''Paper Tiger Fantasy Art Gallery''.D'Ammassa, Don (January 2003). "Paper Tiger Fantasy Art Gallery", '' Chronicle 25'' (1): 30.

References

External links

* *
Non Official Site
(Spanish)

(English)

(Spanish)
Ciruelo Cabral's Gallery
on Inside Your ART (English)

Videos

El arte es la puerta
(Spanish)
La vida es arte 4/06/08
(Spanish) {{DEFAULTSORT:Cabral, Ciruelo 1963 births Argentine illustrators Argentine speculative fiction artists Artists from Buenos Aires Fantasy artists Game artists Living people