How did I meet Emmanuel Con Dos Emmes? Hmmmmm, HMMMM! I remember seeing Emmanuel around a few markets. Markets at the 10th Street Plaza, Cactus Valley, and maybe the McAllen Incubator? Where we really hit it off has been at the Unfolded Poetry Project workshops at the McAllen Library. I started slowly attending and meeting the crew (besides Abi, we knew each other already). Since then we've shared laughs, spoken about art, ideas, and unfolded workshop collaborations together. Initially....I sent these interview questions a few years ago lol but I'm quite forgetful, but WE'RE SO BACK!
The first print I bought from Emmanuel was about Bee and PuppyCat!
Starting off with a little intro I ask Emmanuel what he's been enjoying as of recently?"Well I have a recent hyper-fixation that’s kind of niche. Recently I’ve been getting super into watching Spanish speaking freestyle rap battles. As a writer and poet, I find that a lot of the rhetorical figures used by freestylers are very clever and interesting. Also lately, the quality of tournaments and events has been incredible. I really appreciate that you see people from all around the world (from Latin America, Spain and the US) participating; and you can see how their culture shapes their rap style. Whether talking about the choice of words or slang they use,
or the situations that they reference." When my cousin came over a month ago I asked him about the local music in Reynosa and he showed an instagram page of folks that meet up at a park and do freestyles with one another. I found that pretty interesting. Besides that I do enjoy a lot of spanish I'd say. I'll share with you at the next unfolded event ahhh.
Any shout outs you'd like to give out?
Sure! I want to shout out my artist friends that always inspire me and support me: Ale(@44waterlilies), Sandro (@face2face956), Alexa (@alexaanddraw), and Asayne (@es.pep). Also, I’d like to shout out my cousin’s band: Ve Mi Mar (@vemimarmusic), who just released their first EP. And of course everyone at Unfolded: Poetry Project (@unfoldedpoetryproject); I couldn’t have asked for a better team to collaborate with (including YOU 🫵 Ram). Who's Sandro??? jk
Without me looking at your art, but just your bio "monas chinas, ranas y ajolotes" what is it about these 3 you enjoy the most? Art styles, the ribbit noises, color as Emmanuel explains by saying "for those of you who don’t know, 'monas chinas, ranas y ajolotes' loosely translates to 'Chinese cartoons, frogs, and axolotls.' Monas chinas is the way your parents or tíos would refer to anime characters. I think it’s a silly set of concepts that really resonates with me. Anime was, and still is, a huge part of my life. It has played a big role in the media I’ve consumed over the years. And the cute animals friends remind me of the children’s songs and stories I grew up with as a kid. Also, with frogs and axolotls being amphibians, I feel they relate to the symbolism of duality. The word amphibian literally means 'having two modes of existence,' and that sentiment really resonates with me and the duality I feel in different aspects of my own life." When Emmanuel mentions "way your parents or tios would refer to anime characters" it reminds of the way my mom would refer any of my interest down to one word, that doesn't exactly tie in with it. It's always been funny to me, but I like that. Now on the term "Amphibian"....he's right. I triple checked that real quick and I'm intrigued. Future unfolded poetry workshop on this???
What could you say that pushes you to create, to create such colorful designs,
characters, and of course even the poetry you produce as he says "some might find it interesting that, even though I’m an artist, I’m a STEM boy at heart. I work as
a Software Engineer (although I’m currently unemployed 😿), but that’s just what I do for a living. Art is what I do to live. My professional life boils down to analyzing letters and numbers, and thinking in a logical and mathematical way all day. That’s why, in my free time, I focus on something completely different: making my art to contrast with the structure of my work. People have often told me that my style feels clean and vibrant, with bright colors. I try to bring that same approach into my poetry, using vivid imagery and a wordplay to create something that feels alive and expressive." STEM? STEM!? ASSUUUU "art is what I do to live" there nothing more true to that. It's how I tells folks, I'm thankful to have a job that allows to support others, create, and bring out ideas to life. That's what allows me to truly live, while we may do something for "work" the real work is what we put into our passions. That's definitely going to stick with me. Hmmm professional life and what brings out the act of "living", is this a duality?
Is there sprinkles of yourself onto the work you create? Such as your personality, pieces of your story, or just what you enjoy as he exclaims "Of course! I think it’s very hard to create any kind of artistic expression without including a piece
of yourself in it. I tried to do that a bit in Poemas de Amordidas, but you could still argue that parts of me are visible in those poems. In my cute animal friend pieces, I try to include a cozy, nostalgic feeling. That same vibe often shows up in my poetry as well. A lot of this comes from being inspired by the children’s songs
and stories I grew up with. In particular, the songs of Francisco Gabilondo Soler, a.k.a. Cri-Cri hold a special place in my heart. My mom used to sing them to me to go to sleep, and I also had a CD compilation of his songs. Another big influence on me is the Chilean puppet show 31 Minutos, with its humor and the way its songs explore different topics in a fun, silly way. For my anime-style pieces, I try to balance a cute and cool aesthetic that’s graphic, colorful, and catches your eye. A lot of my inspiration comes from mangakas like Akira Toriyama (especially his early Dragon Ball work), CLAMP (Card Captor Sakura in particular), and comic artists like
Bryan Lee O’Malley (of Scott Pilgrim fame). I’m also influenced by illustrators like LAM, Mika Pikazo, Naoki Saito, and Yoneyama Mai, as well as VTubers like Ninomae Ina’nis.
If there’s one area I’d love to push further in my work, it’s the dynamism of my pieces. I also want to focus more on the fashion of my characters. I’ve been diving deeper into fashion lately, and I’d love for my designs and characters to reflect that."
The Chilean puppet show 31 Minutos, I know this actually. I got a bit of nostalgia when I went to my friend Beto's house and he had one of the puppets in his house. I remember he showed it to me and it scratched my mind for a moment. Did not expect to read that. Now, I truly understand. FASHION, FASHION! I love fashion in videogames, and you probably already know, but I find it interesting on how sometimes certain animes will be used to promote certain fashion brands. Drawn in the newest collections. Looking back into your own fits that I can remember and your recent designs, I can totally see what you mean.
I've been wondering, but how did you become an unfolded poetry ambassador?
"I started going to the Unfolded workshops from the very first one. It wasn’t until recently that I realized poetry has always been present in my life. My mom often recites classic poetry in Spanish, and her side of the family even has a couple of poets. I always thought of it as something normal and didn’t really give it much thought. Back in school in Mexico, we were also required to recite poetry for contests. Poetry reciting contests are kind of common there; you could say it’s kind of like the Mexican equivalent of a Spelling Bee. I participated in a few of those contests as a kid. I never won. But those competitions were all about reciting poetry written by other authors. Before attending the Unfolded workshops, I had never written any original poetry of my own. When I started participating in open mics, people seemed to connect with what I was writing and performing, which made me think 'maybe I’m actually good at this.'" I never really wrote down what I would think and I wouldn't share what I wrote either. It wasn't until I would show Victoria what I had stored in vault leading me to slowly read at open mics and eventually make my first zine. I've begun to keep my work to myself once again. That story shared is just so wonderful, a home filled with poetry. Reminds me of my dad, the way he would sing songs. It truly does something to us growing up, doesn't it?
He continues by saying "at the end of that year, Victoria (one of the founders of Unfolded) approached me and invited me to perform at the end-of-year celebration as one of the poets from Unfolded. I got to perform alongside published authors and poet laureates from the RGV. At the end of the event, she just told me I was now a board member. I didn’t even know they were looking for board members. My official title is now Director of Technology and Culture, and I’m incredibly grateful and happy to be part of the organization."
For those that missed out the Summerolas coloring zine collab, how could we get it? Any artists you would make a coloring zine with? I can picture it already. How did this collaboration come to be? What made it come true? "Summerolas was a coloring zine that Sandro (@face2face956) and I created together. The
concept was that we created a summer playlist and each of us came up with 8 songs for a total of 16. Sandro created illustrations for the songs I chose, and I did the same for the ones he picked. We did a limited release, and I'm so grateful to say we sold out. Unfortunately, that means you can't get a copy anymore. But who knows, if enough people show interest, we might make another volume.
Sandro and I had been tossing around the idea of collaborating for about three years, but nothing ever came of it. Then, one day at an event we were both at, I came up with the idea for Summerolas. It was a natural merge of things we'd both done in the past. We actually started our accounts around the same time, and I first met Sandro at my very first vending event. I had a small table at Procured in Harlingen, and he came up with his girlfriend (now wife! 😱). And
we really vibed together. Back then, I only had four sticker designs, and one of them was a frog driving a convertible. That design was originally the cover of a playlist I made for a friend. Sandro loved the concept of linking illustrations to playlists. Later, he created his own sticker pack tied to a playlist. He also created a bunch of coloring zines. And I also ended up making coloring pages for Black
Honey Coffee Co. In a way, Summerolas felt like the culmination of how we'd inspired each other over the years. Once we had the idea, we didn't jump on it right away. It was more of a 'hey, that'd be a cool idea' moment. But things got serious after I told my friend Seems at Black Honey about the project. She suggested releasing it at the coffee shop and even doing an event where we could sell our stuff together. Suddenly, we had a deadline, and that was the push we needed. It took me about three weeks to finish my pages, while Sandro knocked his out in one weekend! I wish I could work as fast as he does! As for other collabs, I have one coming up with an organization here in the RGV that I'm really excited about (I can't share too much just yet!). I've also been talking to my friend Asayne (@es.pep) about creating a coloring book together. Although that project is most likely gonna
evolve into something I think is way cooler. So stay tuned!" I truly missed out on that coloring book for my collection. One of my many regrets. Who's Sandro? ahhh. That's actually pretty cool though, it's instances such as this can really kickstart something, especially with a friend. That's why I really enjoy collabs. I feel there's just a very nice significant meaning behind it. Especially knowing it's with folks I hold dear to me. Ahh mira mira, now these coloring cooks I won't miss out on.
How do you wish to continue working on your art? Any ideas or key words you're willing to share with us "the biggest project I’m working on right now is a solo show, though it’s still in the early stages. I also have other projects on the horizon. To keep things vague and a bit mysterious, I’ll just leave you with a list of keywords: cards, cartridge, code, cooking, cover, frames, panels, print, strings, tape, thread." Those solo shows truly hit differently I bet. CARTRIDGE? CARDS? I do like those 2 things a lot, but everything else? It could literally be anything. Truly CRAFTING with these keywords. I look forward to everything either way. Cooking prints using string, tape, and thread - mire the combo with the keywords!
What compelled you to create Amor Didas? (Amor Felino hits just right, oh yeah) Were these poems you've created over time? To those who are reading or about to read the first poem, what do you have to say to them? "I’m glad you liked it! Poemas de Amordidas is a collection of six Spanish poems that I compiled into a small zine. The name is a portmanteau of the Spanish words amor (love) and mordidas (bites). I guess, people reading them should know that I wouldn’t say they are love poems, but more so, poems about love and the ways it latches onto us and hurts us. Sometimes, it’s obvious, like a dog bite. Other times, we don’t even realize it’s hurting us until much later, when we see the scars, like mosquito bites.
I got the idea after St. Valentine's last year. So I grabbed two poems that I had written before and really liked (Días de Hartas Jitanjáforas, Almando en tu Flota), and wrote four more to make an eight page zine. The initial idea was to make a small illustration for each of them and include them next to the poem in black text on a white page. It then evolved, thanks to my friend Alexa, into different designs and layouts for all pages. I think the design of the pages came out great.
This coming February I’m planning to come out with volume two. So keep an eye on it! And I’ll try to keep it going every year. My plan is to eventually compile all of them in a bigger book."
From the video games and anime presented in your work, what did you enjoy in 2024 or look forward to in 2025 that we could potentially see being created in your style? "In 2024, I worked on four can designs for Black Honey Coffee Co.'s refreshers. They were very much inspired by my love of Japanese City Pop aesthetics. But you could say that, in terms of visual style, it is pretty similar to the art from 2024’s Oshi No Ko and Makeine: Too Many Losing Heroines! With their bold colors, cell shading, and saturated shadows with defined shapes and outlines. While there were other things not directly represented in my work but still influential. Like the anime adaptation of DAN DA DAN (been a fan of the manga for a while). And the works of
Tatsuki Fujimoto, like the adaptation of his one-shot Look Back and the continuation of Chainsaw Man Part 2. Last year, I also discovered Nagata Kabi’s work. After reading My Lesbian Experience with Loneliness, I just had to read the rest of her manga. The way she uses imagery and metaphors to communicate her experiences and emotions blew me away. It was so effective and poignant.
Especially with her art style that is not really complex. I strive to reach that level of effective communication of feelings. I also got really into the Blue Period manga. It taught me a lot about art critiques, the creative process, and the constant grind of trying to improve. It also reinforced my belief that talent is not real. Then there are things like the manga Akane Banashi, which really changed how I approach
performing in front of an audience. The Rakugo stories in it inspired some of the poetry I wrote last year. Orb: On the Movements of the Earth really spoke to my love of science and critical thinking. Delicious in Dungeon is a masterclass in how you can take old genres like fantasy in reinvent them in fresh, unique ways
Looking ahead to 2025 and beyond, I really want to make more Pokémon-inspired pieces. I’ve been super into the Pokémon TCG Pocket app lately, and one of my big goals is to enter the illustration contest that The Pokémon Company does every other year. If you win, they print a Pokémon card with your art on it! Even making it to the top 300 would be a dream come true! I’m also excited for the Switch 2 and whatever new games they announce for it. I’m such a Nintendo fanboy." When you mentioned "talent is not real" it reminded of this youtube video on the art style on Hunter X Hunter and how the art style changes throughout the manga. I've been reading it for awhile now and I could see the difference. It's incredible! Look back was absolutely wonderful and I've been reading Chainsaw man part 2. Heck, I'd say the style on chainsaw man part 2 has changed from part 1. I can't put my finger on it, but it's there. It's pretty interesting how these various artists and their work have hmmm affected you or rather have inspired you in the progression of your own work. Inspired in a sense in what they portray through their work and even their work ethics. With that attitude and the TCG competition, wishing you the best.
Throughout the years how would you say your art/art style has changed? How have you grown with your art? "I started drawing in 2020 when the pandemic hit, and suddenly I had a lot of extra time on my hands (working remotely and part-time definitely helped, too). I spent 6–8 hours a day learning the fundamentals: shape and form, composition, anatomy, and more. I would highly recommend
the lessons by Proko, he has by far the most comprehensive free drawing courses in all of the internet. A little later, I got into digital drawing. I learned so much from Japanese illustrators like Naoki Saito, Deep Blizzard, and Yaki Mayuru, who I discovered through some forums in corners of the internet I wouldn’t exactly recommend exploring 😛. I watched their content in Japanese with
auto-translated subtitles, which sometimes made me laugh because of the ridiculous mistranslations. Filling in the gaps myself became part of the learning process. Another huge inspiration for me was the VTuber Ninomae Ina’nis from Hololive. You’d probably recognize her in a lot of the fan art I create. One of my pieces was even featured and displayed on a billboard in Times Square for her birthday celebration. She used to host livestreams where she would follow a figure drawing session, and you could join in by drawing along with her. In a
figure drawing session you are drawing a live model, who is doing timed poses, from as short as 1 minute to as long as 30 minutes. Watching her streams really motivated me to practice consistently and 'do my reps,' as they say in those same forums I mentioned earlier. You can definitely see the influence of anime-style cel shading techniques in my work. I think I’ve developed a better sense of color choices, pushed the use of dramatic shadows further, and improved my overall composition. Of course, there is still lots of room to improve, and I hope I
can keep getting better with time!" Alaaa the fundamentals just like in look back! I will say that once this published. I want to take the time to look up the artists and manga you mentioned. If I could recommend you one, ONE comic to read. That would be Snot Girl. I think you'd like it! It also includes FASHION as mentioned earlier so there's that because she's a fashion blogger actually.
What are your thoughts on the local art community?
I think it has a lot of great potential! And it’s growing a lot! There’s such a variety of artists, not just in the mediums they use but in their distinct styles as well. From my experience, there’s also a strong sense of support among artists in the area. When people know you’re from the RGV, they really show up for you and offer their support.
That said, I do wish there was more support from the cities themselves. Harlingen and Brownsville have some great spots and events, and I hope they continue to grow. McAllen could be doing a lot more to foster the arts and create opportunities for artists. I also wish there were less groomers and creeps 🙃
Any final comments?
I always wanted to draw but felt like I didn’t have any talent. And seeing people say they’d been drawing their whole lives made me think I was too late to start. I thought I’d never catch up to them since they had been doing it since they were kids. Then I came across a video that said something that stuck with me: 'Kids are stupid.' Just because someone has been drawing their whole life doesn’t mean they’ve been learning to draw all that time. Most artists only start taking it seriously and learning the fundamentals as adults. If you’ve always wanted to get into drawing but feel like you’re too old, remember this: you’re smarter than a kid! You have the advantage of a developed brain, which you can use to set up a learning plan and put in the effort to study things like line, shape and form; value and
lighting; perspective, color theory, composition, and anatomy. I recommend the YouTube channel Proko like I mentioned before! The rest is mindful practice, and you can absolutely do it. I believe in you! Don’t get discouraged. You’ll improve much faster than you think because your brain is not a mushy kid’s
brain. You’ve got this!
Anyways, If anyone wants to commission me for a drawing of their favorite character or their cute animal friend in my style, I have a request form linked in my Instagram bio. 🤑 I want to thank you for interviewing me, Ram. And thank you for always showcasing what’s happening in the community here in the Valley. Because of you, I’ve discovered so many cool experiences and places. I’m really glad this interview finally happened. Three years in the making (jk) 😛
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