Cris Ortega


Cris Ortega is a Spanish painter, writer, and comics artist. Her style is a mixture of realism and manga, a somewhat dark semi-realism. Forgotten, one of her principal works, combines gothic and romantic elements, as well as a mixture of horror and fantasy.

Biography

Cris Ortega became interested in art and literature in childhood, specifically in the horror genre. In 1999 she created her first comic from a story she had written several years before.
She entered the higher technical degree program in illustration at the Art School of Valladolid. While attending, she began to publish in local and foreign magazines. At that time she also worked as a drawing teacher and presented her works at various exhibitions and art galleries. At the end of her studies, Ortega worked for the first time as an art director for an advertising agency named Sm2, while continuing with illustration. She devoted all her free time to creating book covers and publishing the comic book anthology Shade. During those years she worked in graphic design, advertising, figurine design, role-playing games, video games, and comics. Always anchored in the world of fantasy and terror, she was also clearly influenced by manga. The influence of anime can also be seen in her illustrations.
In 2005, she began working as an illustrator for Norma Editorial, remaining with them for a year and a half. She then published her first series of collections of images associated with stories, including Forgotten. In 2007, the first volume of Forgotten was published in Spain. It would subsequently be translated into several languages, such as French, English, Italian, and German. Forgotten consists of four stories that combine Gothic and romantic elements.

Works

Books

Forgotten 1: El Reino sin nombre, Norma, 2007; containing: "El alma de la araña", "Rosa salvaje", "La caja de música", and "El canto de Lorelei", Forgotten 2: El portal de los destinos, Norma, 2008; containing: "Melodía espectral", "El grito de la Banshee", "Cartas en la oscuridad", and "La Rosa de los Vientos", Forgotten 3: Las Colinas del Silencio, Norma, 2010; containing: "El Cortejo de las Ánimas", "Cuando llegue diciembre", "La alianza de coral", and "El manantial de la luna", Nocturna, Imagica, 2011, Reflejos, compilation, 2014,

Collaborations

Exotique, Ballistic Publishing, 2005In Dark Alleys,, Vajra Entreprises, 2006Exotique 2, Ballistic Publishing, 2006Shade,, 2005Spectrum 14, Underwood Books, 2007Solidary King Kong, Scfiworld, 2008Exotique4, Ballistic Publishing, 2008Ecos de Azurëa volume 1,, Mundos Épicos, 2009Exotique 5, Ballistic Publishing, 2009Spectrum 16, Underwood Books, 2009Woman in the shadow, 2009Drakaina Masters, SPQP artbook, 2010Art Squared digital painters 2, Rage Publishing, 2010Vampires The illustrated world of darkness, Norma, 2010Spectrum 18, Underwood Books, 2011Exotique 7,, Ballistic Publishing, 2011Donde los árboles cantan, SM, 2011Chopper 1, Asylum Press, 2011TBO 4 Japon, Dibbuks, 2011D'artiste character design, Ballistic Publishing, 2011Allia 6, 2011Crónicas de sombras. Los elegidos, novel by ; illustrations by Cris Ortega, 2012