The Maze

Alexandria

by Darío Mekler

Founded in 331 BC by Alexander the great. One of the many Alexandrias founded by Alexander, the most illustrious of them all.

Became the most important port and cultural center of the hellenistic world. Capital of ptollemaic Egypt.

The lighthouse in its small island, both guide and watchtower.

The library, the biggest in the old world, home to philosophers and scientists. Latter burned to the ground.

Center of drama of some of the latter roman republic soap operas: Pompeius, Julius Caesar, Octavian, Marc Anthony, Cleopatra.

Divine Intervention (Boulders)

by Darío Mekler

The Code Monster Manual Vol. 1

A metaphor for an example given in the computing book. Roughly about how a boulder on top of a hill would represent 1 (binary) and a boulder down a hill would represent 0 (binary).

I thought it would be funny to refer to this pre rennaisance illustrated book: Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry. A carefully ilustrated book of hours with images of peasants doing the most mundane stuff.

Somehow these peasants work while the tragedy of boulders destroy their work and theres nothing they can do about it, just destiny playing with their lives. (I added this part, in the original book there are no boulders)

The specific grey background colour #2d2a2e is used to emulate the feeling of being in a code terminal (together with the monsters).

Chang’an

by Dario Mekler

Chang’an (Xian) served as the imperial capital of unified China, near the legacy of Qin Shi Huang, who consolidated power and established the first centralized empire through an iron fist. His vast mausoleum, guarded by the Terracotta Army, set the scale of his imperial ambition. Han emperors later expanded this landscape with monumental tombs across the plains and solidified the structure of the city. Under the Han and Tang dynasties, Chang’an became one of the largest and most ordered cities in the world. Its grid reflected political and cosmological control. Through its right arm (left) began the Silk Road, connecting China with Central Asia and beyond.

Part of my series of ancient, mythical anthropomorphic cities. Spiritus Urbium. Pencil drawing and digital coloring. Some sketches in the rest of the slide.

February - March

2026 sketchbook

by Darío Mekler

A selection of these last months drawings on my sketchbook

Some creatures, myths and fantasies here and there.

The Gates of Logic

by Dario Mekler

Logic gates are the fundamental building blocks of digital electronics, acting as physical devices that process binary information, Open or closed, letting electricity pass through. Combined systems of gates conform an integrated circuit and even a microprocessor. The whole computing fortress depends on their task.

The specific grey background colour #2d2a2e is used to emulate the feeling of being in a code terminal (together with the monsters).

An illustration part of a series I did last year for a really creative book about how coding and computers work. Coming up with graphic metaphors for these concepts was quite a challenge. I had a blast thinking of them with the book author, Kevin Focke. I had already worked with him on Vol. 0, now this piece corresponds to Vol.1

Digital painting.

If the book interests you, you can buy it in here in ebook format:

Samarkand

by Darío Mekler

Look ‘round thee now on Samarcand!— Is not she queen of Earth? her pride Above all cities? in her hand Their destinies? in all beside Of glory which the world hath known Stands she not nobly and alone? Falling—her veriest stepping-stone Shall form the pedestal of a throne— And who her sovereign? Timour—he Whom the astonished people saw Striding o’er empires haughtily A diadem’d outlaw— Fragment of "Tamerlane" by Edgar allan Poe

The old city of Samarkand. Knot in the silk route. Capital of the timurid empire between 1370 and 1505 aprox. Turquoise domes and tiled walls, tombs and observatories to watch the stars. Tamerlane supreme founder and bloody conqueror.

Returning to my city series ( Spiritus Urbium ). I´m planning of turning this one into somekind of historic, architecture, fantasy, mythic book.

Transistor Spacechip

by Darío Mekler

This one stars the transistor. That three-legged magnificent anime robot standing in the middle of a launch base. The base as a metaphor for the integrated circuit where transistors, capacitors, resistors, transform electricity into computing machinations. I thought it would be funny to add that transformer/giant robot anime influence.

Other transistors floating around orbiting the main base.

The specific grey background colour #2d2a2e is used to emulate the feeling of being in a code terminal (together with the monsters).

An illustration part of a series I did last year for a really creative book about how coding and computers work. Coming up with graphic metaphors for these concepts was quite a challenge. I had a blast thinking of them with the book author, Kevin Focke. I had already worked with him on Vol. 0, now this piece corresponds to Vol.1

Digital painting. If the book interests you, you can buy it in here in ebook format:

The Magic Square (Homage to Durer)

by Darío Mekler

An illustration part of a series I did last year for a really creative book about how coding and computers work.

The Code Monster Manual Vol. 1

Coming up with graphic metaphors for these concepts was quite a challenge. I had a blast thinking of them with the book author, Kevin Focke. I had already worked with him on Vol. 0, now this piece corresponds to Vol.1

As the title says, Homage to Durer. I took the different pieces and objects that populate the famous print by Durer. Melencolia. In the original print we can see a thinking angel as the one in this reinvention. Spread all around different objects used to measure, build and create. Scales, bell, sandclock, compass, saw, carpentry items, etc. Stuff any computer does digitally.

In the print we can also see a magic square. A distribution of numbers which sum gives the same result in any line and row.

I took the items and rearranged them inside a computer cabinet. The magic sqare of course is the cpu. The little square that provides the "magic" of computation.

The specific grey background colour #2d2a2e is used to emulate the feeling of being in a code terminal (together with the monsters).

If the book interests you, you can buy it in here in ebook format:

Heart of Darkness

by Darío Mekler

October to December

2025 sketchbook

A selection of these last months drawings on my sketchbook

some creatures and some fantasies here and there.

Plant people

Some gouache improvised characters in my sketchbook.

Inhabitants of my garden.

more art in

www.dariomekler.com.ar

Sketchbook June 2025

by Darío Mekler

Sketchbook May 2025

(À l’évidence) je me rends

Music video for Jean Pierre Louveton

by Dario Mekler

A little allegory on mental chaos and clarity.

Nobody will remember you

by Dario Mekler

A sparrow flying leaving some feathers behind and inside them, red tigers.

Inside the sparrow a guitar player by a burning tree, wild animals get closer to hear his tunes.

An album cover I did last year for Matias Segal alias "El Chingolo". The assignment was an image that could be converted into three covers by zooming in.

Digital painting

Paradox Hotel

by Darío Mekler

A free depiction of Hilbert´s infinite hotel paradox

"It is demonstrated that a fully occupied hotel with infinitely many rooms may still accommodate additional guests, even infinitely many of them, and this process may be repeated infinitely often."

Illustration included in "The Code Monster Manual Vol. 0" by Kevin Focke If the book interests you, you can buy it in here in ebook format: https://kevinfocke.com/projects/wildly-creative-books/the-code-monster-manual-vol-0/

A Scandal in Bohemia

by Darío Mekler

Sherlock Holmes, Watson, and the hereditary king of Bohemia in search of a compromising portrait in possession of an opera singer, Irene Adler.

Strangely so, they end up failing their mission, outwitted by her.