“The Mesmerizer” by Koldo Barroso

I have mentioned before that “The Mesmerizer” was inspired by Gothic literature. Probably mostly from E.T.A. Hoffman’s short story “Der Magnetiseur”, but it is not an illustration of the story. I guess that the images from the book have been stored in the back of my mind and somehow they just popped out now, because I read the book more than 15 years ago. For me, the most important thing was to capture the atmosphere and the restless feeling of the character who can look inside of people’s souls and control their wills.

In the following image, you can see the version of the stairs that I first did using a pretty adorned pattern for the wrought metal steps. It was beautiful but I decided it was too busy and it would steal protagonism from the main figure. So, I decided to start a new stair using a more simple pattern.

My first idea for this painting was to place the scene on a winter windy landscape with trees. I was not really sure about it and after a little wondering, one morning the idea of the spiral stair came to my mind. I thought it was just perfect to add a psychological dimension to the scene. Since I was a little kid, spirals and stairs have been two of my obsessions. All my life I’ve had a recurring dream where I am going up stairs at my grandparents’ old flat in Madrid and I always feel scared of the heights.

This recurring dream used to be really scary and frustrating for me. However, something good must happened deep in my mind because during the painting of this work, one night I dreamed of it again and for the very first time the experience was beautiful and fun. I know it sounds absolutely absurd but it was Louis Armstrong -instead of Cab Calloway- heading a troupe of cheerful music hall dancers wearing feathers upstairs. And they were all singing an ever ending improvisation of Minnie The Moocher’s “Hidee-Hidee-Hidee-hi” along the way up until we reached a room in the top of the stairs where a party started. Pretty funny!

When I was younger, I used to suffer from vertigo. It became a big issue when I worked at the theater as a light technician during the early 90′s. I had to climb up to the top of the building to place the focuses and I would always feel like passing out. I managed to get rid of this issue with therapy. I also remember that one of the most scary experiences in my life was going up the spiral stairs of The Sacred Family cathedral in Barcelona. This was also an inspiration for this work. The feeling of panic while climbing up these never ending stairs in a sort of state of trance, like if it was an hypnotic journey through the heights. It was something frightening and spiritual at the same time.

During the making of this illustration, I listened a lot to Steve Hacket’s albums, such as “Dark Town” and “Spectral Mornings”. Also a little bit of Bauhaus and Peter Hammill. They were two rainy weeks and I guess this also influenced my work, because I especially love to listen to this kind of music in the winter.

Original vector drawing of “The Mesmerizer”

This is the vector version of the main figure. After drawing the first sketches on paper I usually get them scanned and then trace it in vectors. Then, I export the vectorial image and I paint on it. As I have said in former posts, this process makes me feel free to do changes and try different things on each part I’m working on.

Detail of “The Mesmerizer”

I still don’t know what is going to be of this illustration because I basically did it as a sample of my work for my new portfolio. Is possible that sometime I can use it for a short story or some personal book project because in this moment it doesn’t fit any of the book projects I’m working on. Most probably, I will get it printed in cards and I also plan to do posters in the future, so it can be appreciated in full detail. The original illustration is 60 cms. high. In this image you can see the details of the hand that you won’t be able to see in the regular online image.