I came across Wilmer Murillo’s work while browsing flickr and have looked forward to his updates ever since I marked him as a contact. Check out the gallery section of his site to get a good feel for his stuff.

I hit up Wilmer with a quick Q&A, so click below to check that out.

For those who are not familiar with Wilmer Murillo, please tell us a little about yourself.
Hello, I’m Wilmer Nunez Murillo. I’m a freelance illustrator/designer working and living in Tegucigalpa, Honduras (Central America) and I’m also studying graphic design. I love indie music, coffee and rainy days.

Was there any one thing or inspiration that got you into illustrating?
Yeah! Firstly, it came from my love for drawing since I was a child. But I decided that I wanted to be an illustrator when I started discovering the work of actual great illustrators, such as Alex Dukal, Adria Fruitos, Jason Limon, Gustavo Aimar and others. They really inspired me.

Seeing as you are from Honduras, do you think there are elements of your surroundings that effect how and what you illustrate?
I love going trough old streets and places of my city absorbing textures, faces and colors.

Do you have a certain process you go through to create each piece, or do they all differ?
I have a process, but it usually differs a little bit in each work, I always pretend to put something different in every new illustration I do, something pretty much better than the previous one, so I’m always experimenting with new stuff.

Some of your work has elements of storytelling, while others seem very imaginative. Do you have a preference between telling a story or just drawing something completely random?
A bit of both. I enjoy drawing random ideas, weird ideas that come while I’m driving, walking or sleeping, and they are usually linked to an imaginary and very personal story that I try to tell in a single artwork and let people to discover it by their selves (or creating their own version of it). Sometimes the story comes before the artwork, and other times, I discover the story after it.

How did “Take a Walk with a Hot Dog” come about?
It’s just one random personal story more.

What is your favorite medium to work in?
Computer-Photoshop, but I try to not limiting myself with it. I like to blend drawings, scanned textures, ink drips, anything to get fun.

Who are 3 of your favorite artists and why?
Max Ernst, Mark Ryden, Rene Magritte. There a lot more, but they were the first ones that made me fall in love with art and to discover what I love to do.

If we were to look at your desk/work station, what would we see?
My puppets, a coffee cup, a Kalhua bottle, a vintage telephone, my sketchbook, and a lot of drawings in the walls.

Who was your first paying client and what did you produce for them?
It was a local NGO that works rehabilitating young drug-addicts, they hired me to illustrate some educational stuff, It was about 4 years ago.

I’m sure you spend some time on the internet, what are some sites you check out daily?
Sure!:
lostateminor
drawn
book-by-its-cover
yayeveryday

Are there any current projects you are working on that you would care to spill the beans about?
I’m actually working for my first solo exhibition (for January 2009 in my city) and planning some projects for next year, maybe an illustrated book or something.

Thanks for your time, anything you would like to add before we wrap this?
I found DEFGRIP very interesting and awesome, Thanks very much for the interview!