Charles Drawin
Instagram: @charlesdrawin
What is your story of fascination with football?
When I was 4 years old my parents got me into baseball. I was really good at it but some circumstances luckily or unluckily stopped me from doing sports and made me watch a lot more TV than I was used to. I wasn’t that much of a football fan but my brother used to watch every single game of the important competitions (World Сups, Euros, Copas America) so I didn’t have much of choice.
I think at the beginning I was more interested in the characters than in the game itself, I grew up in the times of the best football looks if you know what I mean? For a kid to see Carlos ¨Pibe¨ Valderrama, Roberto Baggio, Jorge Campos and Ruud Gullit on the pitch totally blew my mind! Later on as I started playing on the streets and at school I discovered the fun of it and really enjoyed playing but sadly I was never amazing at it.
Do you create football art professionally or is it a hobby?
It’s been six years now since I did it as a profession but before that It was one of my biggest hobbies.
What football event or story has made an unforgettable impression on you?
I think sometimes we don’t truly see the impact that football can have on the society; I read and re-read the story of the Ivory Coast world cup’s qualifying game and how the team lead by Didier Drogba accomplished something bigger than any other politician or leader in order to stop the war in the country. In my opinion that is one of the biggest achievements in football history.
Do you attend the stadium, and if so, which team’s matches do you try to get to?
I used to go quite often in Mexico City to support my university team Pumas UNAM, they normally play at 12:00 and it is really nice for kids and families, but when they’re part of a big tournament like Copa Libertadores or final instances of the Mexican tournament they play by night and it is a totally different and amazing experience, the stadium is a work of art (it has some murals by one of the most recognised Mexican artists) The food they sell outside, and the support form the fans is out of this world, you come tired after a hard working day and when the game finishes you feel as relaxed as if you went to an Spa! Seriously
What are your interests besides football and art?
Whenever I have spare time (which is not very often) I like drawing for myself, I attend live drawing also. I love going to the cinema and walking like crazy with my favourite playlist in my headphones. I started cooking a lot of Mexican food just because I miss the flavours.
Could you highlight a few of your works that make you especially proud and explain why?
When I start an illustration I try to put an extra bit of creativity, something that makes the people inside football enjoy but also a reference to pop culture so people with other interests can enjoy it also without forgetting to fulfil the clients expectations. Obviously it is not possible to do it every time in terms of deadlines but whenever I manage to put them together it really makes me enjoy the final piece.
Here are some of my favourite for obvious reasons:
Who are your favourite football artists?
@danielnyari is my top reference, I love the passion on @bbkei ´s work, I think he has a totally different perspective of what football means, I enjoy looking at the craft that @johnmtregoning puts on his art. The vintage style of @footballmarija blows my mind. I envy the creativity and patience from @markjohnsondesign and my favourite football cartoonist is @88mmo
Share a funny story that happened to you personally or that you witnessed (not necessarily related to football).
I have this funny story of love/hate when I started working on advertising, I was asked to take part on the account of my Mexican team arch rival and I totally refused until there was no one left to take it, I had to take part in events and even got to know some of the players that I disliked the most, just because of work. We had some great ideas and it turned out well, I guess when you come from the opposite side you get to know exactly what they think (Just what your team may not). It wasn’t an amazing experience but it made me love football even more than I did before. Some years passed and I thought I got rid of that team but in every other single job I have taken after that, the account lands miraculously right on my desk again, not one or two times but 4 and I still get to work with them nowadays! I guess is like the ring and yang of football for me to help me keep the balance XD