Jon Juarez: Hand-Drawn Futures Rooted in Familiar Landscapes
Jon Juarez, an illustrator and visual-development artist hailing from San Sebastián in the Basque Country, has a knack for creating colorful and detailed scenes that transform recognizable places—like mountains, villages, cliffs, and coastlines—into surreal, imaginative landscapes. His work includes hand-drawn illustrations, world-building, and production design, collaborating with names like Riot Games, Blizzard, and Epic, along with contributing to the animated series Scavengers Reign. Juarez places equal importance on architecture and landscapes alongside characters, leading to unique settings that blend reality with fantasy. Critics commend his art for its vivid detail and surreal quality. The article showcases a selection of his latest works, highlighting his unique style that fuses the familiar with the extraordinary.
Key facts
- Jon Juarez is a Spanish illustrator, visual-development artist, screenwriter, and designer based in San Sebastián in the Basque Country.
- His work spans hand-drawn illustration, speculative world-building, and production design.
- Past professional collaborations include Riot Games, Blizzard, Epic, Heart Machine, Phoenix Labs, Wildlife, and the animated series Scavengers Reign.
- His drawings often depict familiar landscapes—mountains, villages, cliffs, infrastructure, forests, and coastlines—transformed into speculative futures.
- Architecture, landscape, and machinery are given narrative weight equal to characters.
- Critics describe the work as elaborate, bright, and surreal, rooted in real locations but moved beyond realism.
- The article includes numerous examples of his recent works.
- His Instagram is @harriorrihar.
Entities
Artists
- Jon Juarez
Institutions
- Riot Games
- Blizzard
- Epic
- Heart Machine
- Phoenix Labs
- Wildlife
- Scavengers Reign
Locations
- San Sebastián
- Basque Country
- Spain