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Hi everyone! I’m an illustrator from Mexico City, and I’ve spent the past couple of years working on a project that brings together two things I love: mythology and illustration.

This is my interpretation of Coatlicue, part of El Quinto Sol, a playing-card deck inspired by Mesoamerican mythology, drawing mainly on Nahua/Mexica traditions.

What fascinates me about mythology is how much can live inside a single image: a story, an idea about nature, a way of understanding life and death. I wanted to find a contemporary way to share some of that through my own work.

Playing cards felt like an interesting place to start. I liked the idea that someone might encounter one of these figures during a game and get curious about the story behind it.

The illustrations draw on codices and historical sources, explored through bright colors and my own approach to character design. There’s also a companion Codex explaining the symbols and references behind the artwork.

You can find more of my work on Instagram. The full project is called El Quinto Sol, launching on Kickstarter September 29.

The Sun of the Dark Woods