Welcome to Influenced, where we interview creators of all kinds about the gear they use to do their jobs and give advice to people who want to follow in their footsteps.

This week, we spoke with the Mexican illustrator Jorge Gutiérrez, creator and director of the film 'El libro de la vida' ('The book of life'), which will be part of the Wacom Academy event that will take place from 21 to 24 September for free.

These are some of the works of Jorge Gutiérrez:

• He is an illustrator, animator, director, painter and writer.

• He is about to premiere his project 'Maya and the Three' on Netflix

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  This is the preview:

• He was nominated for a Golden Globe for his film 'The Book of Life'.

• He had an animated series on Nickelodeon called 'El Tigre: the adventures of Manny Rivera', 'Son of Jaguar' and was part of the team that made 'Mucha Lucha'.

• Although he worked on the team on the film 'Stuart Little' and 'Rise of the teenage mutant ninja turtles', he always wanted to do work with a Mexican touch.

His career as an entertainer

After many years of work, the Mexican animator Jorge Gutiérrez sold the idea of ​​the film 'The Book of Life' to Disney, Fox, Warner and Dreamworks, who at the time told him that the story was "very Mexican", so who understood that culture could not be the protagonist of the story, but had to create characters that create empathy for the audience to connect with them, regardless of their origin.

• We interview the creators of 'Lost in Random', the gothic video game from EA Originals

Something that inspires Gutiérrez is the theme of death.

We Mexicans have death in our ears saying 'Live' and I think it's something that has inspired me a lot.

These are moments when you know that what you do defines who you are.

This is part of the study in which the Mexican animator is inspired to work.

Inspire the youngest

During his participation in the Wacom Academy, one of the most important events of design, art, drawing and photography, Gutiérrez will give a presentation with which he wants to inspire students.

It is a difficult time on the entire planet.

I want to inspire you and give you a creative hug and tell you to keep going because I think the world is going to need more art than before.

The Mexican assures that the pandemic has inspired him to draw a lot, but he knows that this confinement can extinguish inspiration and optimism for the future in young people.

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The animator assures that the internet is an important platform for young people to make their work known and to have greater opportunities.

I spend it on Instagram and Twitter looking for new talents from Latin America and hiring people from Mexico, Argentina, Brazil, Colombia and the entire continent.

• Do you want to be a streamer?

  This is the equipment used by youtuber Sean Chandler

The team Jorge Gutiérrez works with

The Mexican assures that he has used Wacom equipment since he was in school, since it seems to him a company that supports young artists and schools with free events.

In addition, he is always looking for new talents.

In an interview with CNN Underscored in Spanish, Gutiérrez assures that he continues to work with company teams.

Their base equipment is a Wacom Cintiq (Buy it at Amazon

MX $ 15,999 or in

USD $ 649) although he assures that he also has a Wacom One laptop (

MX $ 8,799 or in

USD $ 399)

The animator recommends that the youngest start with simpler and cheaper tablets from the company such as an Intuos (

MX $ 2,329 or in

USD $ 77.95), which are more accessible.

Most of the artists of my generation we started with those tablets and as we progress, you buy better equipment for your digital art.

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For more deals and reviews visit CNN Underscored en Español.