Tavo Montañez is an illustrator and designer based in Aguascalientes, Mexico
"From playful characters to accurate portraits and on to cerebral book jacket artwork, Tavo is flexible in his style, agile with his ideas, and always delivers high quality imagery. He creates illustrations that cut through all the noise of today’s media, whether online or in print".
Garrick Webster for IllustrationX
He carries out a variety of personal and client projects, focusing on the illustration of portraits and objects from nature, which he has applied in different editorial, advertising, publishing and entertainment media. His process usually involves lineart, a sense of colour, attention to composition and detail.
Tavo is no stranger to traditional tools like pencils, ink and paper, but he also tries to fully use the potential of the latest technology by combining traditional drawing with computer processing and by creating fully digital illustrations.
As an illustrator, Tavo’s work has been published in Little White Lies, The Washington Post, Science, Scholastic, Akal España, Edelvives Mexico, Chilango, MyRoche, Films in Frame, Expansión, Food&Wine, Natur&Kultur, Picnic and others. He has also worked on projects with ESPN-Disney, NBA Finals, NFL Mexico Games, Converse, Victoria, ATO Records, Yuga Labs, Faraway and his work has been recognized by Society for News Design, Silver medal for the illustration at Washington Post as Best Print Design in 2023.