Butterfly Vacation

Mercedes Padró is a graphic designer and illustrator based in Illinois. With a paintbrush in hand, she creates whimsical and vivid pieces that visualize the world as she sees it. Padró describes her art as “quirky perfectionism with a Latin twist.”

Padró’s Sketchbook introduces a welcome burst of joyful colors to the winter season. “Initially I visualized a monarch butterfly and their flight to Mexico, but I decided to take liberties with the color palette to push the visual realm,” she tells Zócalo.

Gouache is Padró’s primary medium. For this migration series, she …

tktk | Zocalo Public Square • Arizona State University • Smithsonian

Squirreled Away

Artist and illustrator Giulia Donati works under the moniker Pennepasta. Born in Italy and now based in London, she creates her pieces with calligraphy brush and India ink. For her …

Tropical Divine | Zocalo Public Square • Arizona State University • Smithsonian

Tropical Divine

Miriam Castillo is an illustrator, graphic designer, and muralist who divides her time between New York City and the Mexican Caribbean.

Castillo draws upon her favorite climate—the tropics—for this month’s Sketchbook. …

The World Inside a Giant Erlenmeyer Flask | Zocalo Public Square • Arizona State University • Smithsonian

The World Inside a Giant Erlenmeyer Flask

Cecilia Gutiérrez García is an illustrator and designer from Seville, Spain. Her work combines traditional drawing techniques with bold digital colors. In her free time, she likes to read, browse …

River Blues

Penelope Dullaghan is an artist and illustrator based in Indianapolis. She works in children’s publishing, editorial, and advertising. In her work she employs a range of mediums, including printmaking, paint, …

What Can We Learn From the Failings of William Mulholland? | Zocalo Public Square • Arizona State University • Smithsonian

What Can We Learn From the Failings of William Mulholland?

The ‘Father of Los Angeles’ Was a Link in a Chain of Theft and Loss—And Its Consequences Ripple Into the Present

For much of my life I have been in conversation with a man who died 86 years ago.  He was born in Dublin in 1855 and grew up poor, with …