| Oscar Alvarado | |
| Birthname: | Oscar Alvarado Mendoza |
| Birth Place: | Guadalajara, Mexico |
| Yearsactive: | 1998 – present |
Oscar Alvarado Mendoza (born in Guadalajara) is a Mexican illustrator, animator and composer whose work include the comics series Penumbra and the animated short-films Sonámbulo and Murnau the Vampire.
The subject of vampires has always been one of Alvarado's obsessions since he was a child[1] but it was until 1998 when Alvarado started the comics series through which he became a cult figure: Penumbra. The story draws on his personal mythology and classical versions of the vampire myth. Though highly experimental and underground in nature and distribution the series gradually became a success in his native Guadalajara. The first print was self-published by Alvarado's own publishing house, Imaginaria Comics. In 2008 he published a commemorative graphic novel under the same title as a celebration for the first ten years of the project.
While working on Penumbra Alvarado embarked on the production of an independent animation project named Sonámbulo.[2] This silent short is based on Robert Wiene's expressionist film Das Cabinet des Dr. Caligari. The project was again self-financed supported by Alvarado's own students. The soundtrack was made by the group Sutra.[3]
Alvarado has been busy the last years making short-films and fleshing-out old and new ideas. In 2004 he was invited to attend the Blender Conference in Amsterdam where he presented his project Roboto, a series of ten shorts about robots.[4] His most ambitious project until now has been Murnau the Vampire, the first Mexican animation film realized on DVD format.[5] It was presented at the 2007 Blender Conference[6] and the band Theatre des Vampires collaborated in the soundtrack.[7] He's currently working on the film Le Monsieur, le Vampire et Marcelle.
Since 1999 he has been teaching illustration and animation at the Fondo de Cultura Económica in Guadalajara.[8]