LINES OF HUMOUR is the title of the first book of SILVANO MELLO, better known as MELLO, a Brazilian from the small town of Jaboticatubas in Minas Gerais, located in southeastern Brazil.

Like all cartoonists usually do, he claims to have started very early, around the age of 5, scratching in notebooks and sketching on walls he passed by.

But it was not until 2007, at the age of 33, that he decided to sign and send his sketches to competitions. Of course since then he only sketches in note- books and cardboards.

Upon receiving his first international award he realized that it was not a children’s game and that he would gladly continue to do this job for the rest of his life.

He made this decision six years ago and today we are presenting his first professional book.

Brazil is the largest country in South America and home to the greatest number of competitions, festivals, exhibitions, book publications and world- class cartoonists who receive awards and constantly stand out all around the planet. This is the birthplace of Mello.

The updated information made available to us today through the internet and the social networks, the constant interaction with other cartoonists and the desire for a better world create the perfect climate for talent to grow and flourish as has happened with this young artist.

Six years ago I received his first email, very friendly and respectful as al- ways, expressing his interest in hearing views on his drawings as this would help him find his own way, his own style.

Since then, we have exchanged many emails and, although we have never had the opportunity to meet in person, I feel he is a very receptive artist who knows how to listen and appreciate every word of criticism. A virtue when somebody wants to rise!

As it happens to all of us in principle, his work is influenced by other artists who inspire him. There can be several unintentional “flavourings”: various themes, forms and colors are combined to make our own recipe. This speaks of an artist who is observant and receptive to the smallest details. The question is to know how to distinguish ourselves and give our own flavor to our recipe.

Mello has been creating a style and a form increasingly his own.

He is a keen observer of the situations that surround humanity. Of the changes and absurdities that we are experiencing and he expresses them ele- gantly, giving a universal interpretation.

Various topics such as technology, environment, family, love, political problems, among others, are constants in his work; and he assures us that he likes passing his messages with humour but he also brings an implicit reflec- tion.

He loves working with light and shadow and exploiting the expression of the human body and character.

His strokes are usually accurate and in discreet colors. His work can be both deep and simple and always invites you to look further, to read between the lines. He knows the importance of the composition, which assists the rapid understanding of the message.

In these few years, Mello has learned how to proceed through perseverance in accord to the universal humour and often in the front row. His twenty awards and both national and international recognitions speak for themselves.

Today we present his LINES OF HUMOUR, his first book that collects some 90 of his best works to this day. We witness this first step into book pub- lishing, its beginning and evolution summarized in a volume that invites us to follow closely the artist who has all the desire, talent and potential to suc- ceed.

The line is already drawn, the coin is flipped and the future is in his hands.

Angel Boligán Cartoonist