Mario Nevado Art: The New Face of Aégis Illustration

Hello, everyone! I am very happy to introduce you all my new branding and website: Mario Nevado Art. In a business that has been being around for 15 years, it’s a risky and brave move to do. I have been hesitant for two years, when I first purchased this domain. I was afraid of losing on-line presence, but after a troublesome migration of the old website to https during Covid lockdown in 2020, on which I lost all my SEO rank, the fear was no longer there and this tragedy led me to a fresh start.

Some backstory around the original name of the Studio.

I started to use the pseudonym Aégis 20 years ago in some RPG forums. I was sixteen at the time, and I was obsessed with mythology and role playing games. “Aégis” is the latin name for the shield that Athena wielded. It was covered in goat skin and had Medusa’s head set to it, so it was the most formidable gadget in terms of defense in all Greek and Roman mythology.

It also happened that “Aégis” was the title of my favorite album at that time by Theatre of Tragedy, a masterpiece that led me into gothic metal and subculture in general,  when I was merely fifteen years old. If that weren’t enough, I spent most of my time playing to Final Fantasy VII, a ground-breaking Japanese role playing game for its time. “Aégis” was one of the best armors in the game, so alongside the protagonist’s last name, Strife, I created my pseudonym for years to come.

The Aégis shield from Greek mythology, The album “Aégis” by Theatre of Tragedy and Cloud Strife, from Final Fantasy VII.

It would be funny how, many years later, I realized what Aégis Strife really meant: furious defense. And I say it’s funny because that’s exactly how I were: furious and defensive, a person that would protect himself against any harm no matter the weather.

Then, a couple of years later I founded Aégis Design, that would later become Aégis Illustration. In any given moment I thought about the name for the studio, and I just went along Aégis Strife because it was my identity for so long and many people on the Internet knew me by that name.

Cool name, bad brand.

Aegis Illustration Logo

It wouldn’t be until many years later that I started to feel that, although cool in itself, it was troublesome as a brand. It was difficult to pronounce and memorize (let alone in Spain, my country) and I always had trouble giving my website or e-mail address to people. Also, it started to cause an identity problem in myself, as I started to feel comfortable with my own name and it was chaotic to find that people were always confused about using my real name or my pseudo. There were many articles, interviews and features all over the place about me, but some referred to me as Mario and some as Aégis. It was not pragmatic to run a business, to say the least.

Some biographical context.

I took a sabbatical year in 2016 that probably did more harm than good to my mental health. I had a mental breakdown, and an existential crisis due to not being able to keep on the hysterical pace of the “artistic freelance way of life”, due mostly of a creative crisis that lasted for four full years. My career stopped being a priority and I started to take care of my mental health . That journey led me to discover that my creativity was still there, but that the languages and mediums I was using to take it outside of my head were not the correct ones. I decided to switch priorities and started working on a music album.

How another talent I had saved my creative crisis.

My story with creating music (being not a musician myself in any way) started around 2008, when I joined a rock band as lead singer called Tabula Rasa (rest in peace). There, I started to write my own songs and when I left the band because of some health issues with my throat, I started to write my first “album”. Then I had throat surgery and was unable to talk for months, and I ended up losing part of my voice (half a octave). I kept writing songs for a decade and I learned production basics now and then. After some years and a little of training, I was able to recover from my voice loss. In short: taking back this project made me aware of my talent once again.

After months in isolation recording some tracks, I was so happy with was I was being able to create. Specially considering my ignorance in music composition or production. I realized where was the problem with my creativity crisis. It was not a lack of talent: It was a tiredness of working in the same medium for years. I discovered myself again with a strong will to keep painting and creating visuals. Sometimes, you just need to do things outside the box. We need to change tools and medas from tiem to time. I ended up quite tired of living in the same creatkive loop. Quite the irony, if you ask me… But here I am!

It’s all about you, in the end.

So… Why am I telling you all this biographical drama, may you ask? Well, after all this journey, I realized my old me was no longer there. My vision about life had changed completely and I was at peace with myself.  I thought it would be quite poetic to cut the link to the very last thing that had mye”tied” to my old self: the name of my studio. It was time to give a step forward, roll up my sleeves, and get rid of the last thing from my past, and start anew with renovated energy, presenting myself to the world as the person I am: Mario Nevado.

And now, here I am. I present you a clean, minimal and functional new website, with a brand new shop. You can now purchase my prints and merchandise without having to go anywhere else. Also, I have remastered some my back catalog and added some new artworks created this year, all of them available as fine art prints and with licenses of use available to purchase.

Mario Nevado Art Blog: Dark Surrealism, Photoshop Tutorials and more.

New website, new social media.

You will find me everywhere else in social media by @marionevado.art. Easy to remember, easy to find. Don’t worry if you were following me at the @aegis.strife handle. It redirects to the new ones.

I hope you keep on accompanying me on this creative journey. I am so eager to show you what’s to come. Thank you all very much for your never-ending support, and if you do not so already, please follow me on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to be up to date with my new adventures.

Also, sound off in the comments below and let me know what do you think of the new website and don’t hesitate in referring any bugs you might encounter!

Bottom Line

Remember that if you need to hire a freelance illustrator or are in need of a commercial license for a book, film or music album, my schedule is currently open and I am accepting commissions. Go to my contact page or get in touch via Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.

Cheers!
Mario.