INTERVIEW
Mark Gant
Why I chose Rodolfo because has many different ranges of styles of illustration his executions are very tedious, good choice of color, and very tight and clean line work. He ranges from traditional styles of work and digital works. He excels in children book illustration, comic book sequential art, and traditional illustrations. The fact that he also does comic work inspires me to keep on looking at his work because that is what ia m most interested in. Very recently was accepted into the Society of Illustrators of Los Angeles.
What's your background/bio?
I was born in Mexico but my parents moved to L.A. only a year after I as born. Though I visited Mexico a few times when I was younger I really could not tell you what exactly it means to be Mexican. I suppose that's where the term Mexican-American comes in. My cultural background is something that I've always felt that is something to learn from and to discover, some day I hope to be able to work on that a bit. One of the professors that I respected the most once told me that some of the most interesting and unique art could sometimes come from the richness of our culture and history.
Even though I was raised in a Mexican family and with much of the cultures values I really don't think that they are a big part of what shapes me as an artist. The values of my family are always in me but my work as an artist has always come from many other places. Maybe one day I will have the chance to combine my background and my work, like my professor suggested.
I basically grew up loving anything that had some type drawing, painting, cool colors. Things like comic books, art books, cartoons, posters, trading cards, all inspired me when I was growing up to pick up a pencil and start drawing. Fortunately I was able to keep at it and was able to mostly draw my way through school. I've just recently graduated with my B.F.A. in illustration earlier this year, from CSUF, and I feel exited and a little scared at the same time to be done with school.
What really inspired you to become an illustrator and today what inspires you to keep doing the work that you do?
As I mentioned above, anything that had to do with art just spoke to me. Like when you hear a song that you've never heard before, but it instantly connects with you when you first hear it. I'm sure this happens to you a lot too. All the time I see images that make me want to produce more work. Like that, I grew up wanting to be an animator, drawing all the time, being inspired by all the great art and imagination that comes with all those great movies we've all seen. But noticing some time early in high school how animation was becoming highly computerized it felt like it was going in a direction I didn't want to go. I always loved drawing and painting and using my hands to create something physical, I didn't want to work in front of a computer all day. So, at some point I decided that illustration was a better fit for me. A few years later, in my first few semesters of college, I would realize that there was no getting away from computers and that I would have learn to work with them. Slowly I came around and finally found a place for it in my work.
The type of illustration that I like to work with is mostly narrative illustration. I like fantasy, sci-fi, adventure, mystery; anything that can bring about an interesting and exiting story can make me want to create artwork for it. There is so much great artwork out there, and it’s so easy to find that one could spend days just looking at it. But at the same time, as artists, we hope that we can put our own work out there for some one to appreciate it.
What artist or artists, have the most influence on your work and why?
The short answer is that it depends on what kind of art we art talking about. I love looking at all types of art in all type of media. If we were talking about Children's books I could say that some my favorite artists are Chris Van Allsburg, Lane Smith, Shaun Tan, Lisbeth Zwerger, Edward Gory, and David Small. Even though all of these artists might not have a lot of similarities between their works, each of them is a master of their craft, and they can all inspire many parts of my work.
Some comic book artists that are very inspiring for me include: Bill Sienkiewicz, Paul Pope, Mike Mignola, John Romita Jr., and many many others. I think the closer you get to being able to define your own work, the easier it is to be able to pick out the details that you like about other artist's work. As soon as you see something you like you can break it apart and separate all the parts that you enjoy most about the work. For me this is true with all the illustration work that I see. Its all about those masterful strokes you can see in a picture that make me aspire to be able to create my own.
Describe a real-life situation that inspired you?
For me, every time I get to finish a piece I get inspired to start a new one, or to explore something new with my art.
I have been in a few group art shows but the ones that have been the most inspiring to be in were the ones that I put together myself as my first two solo art shows.
I put together a solo show each of my last two semesters at CSUF. One of our four galleries in the art department is available undergrad student to use for a period of a week, so I booked two separate weeks and I got to work. Each of the shows was dedicated to a specific part of my work. The first show was more about my children's bookwork and the second more about my animation background painting. The gallery was not the biggest one the school had, but is was big enough to get me a little worried about being able to fill the space with my work. The few weeks and even hours leading up to that first show were some of my most work intense moments of all my time in school. The show went really well and lots of people saw my work. After the show came down a week later, I felt a good moment of relief, accomplishment, and I knew that I would have the inspiration and motivation to put the second show together the next semester with no problems. After that show I could tell myself, "I did that, I can do it again". It was a good feeling. I recommend that you do it too, if you haven't already done it.
What mediums you like to use for your work and why?
With traditional media I like working with watercolors, inks, acrylics, pastels, and pen and ink (and brush for comic stuff). Sometimes I also like working with magazine cut outs and create some mixed media collage pieces. I like to sketch a lot and in my sketchbooks I like to play around with all of those tools. Except when I'm working with collage, I like to make my final pieces look like they were created with one media. Like when I'm working with watercolors, I want the end product to look like watercolors. Sometimes I'll use some pastels or color pencils on top of the watercolors but I try to use it in a way that blends in with the rest of the picture.
In digital media I mostly use Photoshop and Corel Painter, sometimes I use Illustrator. When I don't have a lot of time to work on something I'll usually do a lot of my preliminary work digitally. I like creating lots of preliminary color compositions digitally because they are easy to do there is no mess to clean up.
How do you come up with stories for your comic-book art?
Most of my ideas come from my sketches. I like to let myself do sketches that are not attached to any other work that I might be working on. What I mean is that I let my self come up with new ideas on the paper. Most of the time they are not so great, but every once in a while a potential good one comes out. It usually starts with me with the character design. If I come up with a character that I keep drawing again and again, or I just keep thinking about him or her, than I'll eventually start adding some elements of life to it. Things like where they live, what are their problems, which are their friends and enemies, are the things that come next after creating the look of the character. Though a lot of the times most of those details stay in my head, the characters can keep evolving in my sketches in a way that help me remember and continue to build their story.
How do you establish contact with clients?
As I mentioned in the first question, I am a recent graduate. I still have not been able to find a full time job as an illustrator. At this time I am working to break into the animation industry, but it is a tuff cookie to break. In the animation industry I am mostly applying to jobs and sending out my cover letters, talking with friends, reaching out anyone who might have a connection that might help get an interview. I also spend a lot of time looking in the Internet.
For children's bookwork I attended SCBWI's summer conference and made some contacts. I will be sending out some promotional postcards to some editors that could be interested in my work. Right now it’s mostly about getting my name out and getting people to see my work. A big part of it is being able to network and creating connections. The one job I am currently in the middle of is a cd cover for a group of musicians who create kids music and curriculum schoolbooks. The way I got that job was though some friends of friends. You should make sure that promoting your work becomes part of your professional practices as an artist.
What are your work habits and professional practices like?
Especially now that I have some free time, I am constantly working on improving my portfolios. I've always been a morning person and I like getting up early, walk to my desk and begin a sketch or just jump into what I was working on the night before. I currently have 2 portfolios, one for background painting/concept art, and one for children's book art. But I am beginning to create one for comic book art and one for character design. It sometimes feels like a lot of work but I really love designing for all those types of work and I try to work on at least two of those portfolios everyday. Also, like I mentioned above, I do spend part of my day preparing cover letters and looking for open positions at animation studios.
When you set a goal for yourself how do you achieve them?
I try to be as organized as possible. I try to organize my thoughts, ideas, and goals. Then I can start putting together some deadlines. If the goal is about finishing a piece of art, then I make sure I have the amount of time that I need to finish. There's always research, sketching, and lots of other prep work before deciding on a final composition. Each of those steps is a goal that has to be met. I guess if the question refers to a goal in life, my answer would b very similar. Except that there are an unlimited amount of elements that are always out of your control. But persistence and patience have always been good to me, and a lot of hard work.
Which works are you most proud of?
Though I only have a few of my works on my walls, I really do enjoy almost every drawing and sketch that I make. Some pieces that I love are ones that I did in one sitting, many are in my sketchbooks, and some were the most labor intensive. But I guess that as soon as you finish one, you try to create another one that will hopefully make you just as proud or even more proud. As an artist, I think, you just have to keep working.
What has been the biggest break or so far the highest point in your career?
Graduating and getting my degree was a great step for me. It took a long time and a lot of work. Also, getting into the 2010 Society of Illustrators of Los Angeles show was pretty cool. I hope soon I'll find or make that break that will really get my career going.
What is your dream project?
The only one I can think of right now is the one about writing an illustrating a graphic novel idea that I've had for some time. The story takes place in a foreign country and I would love to be able to spend some time in that country and be able to finish the book some time after that.
What memorable responses have you had to your work?
I think the ones I remember the most are the ones that happened during my solo shows at CSUF. One of my classmates was who was doing some video work asked to do a video interview about my work, and some of my professors brought their other classes to see my show. I also liked how everyone had a different piece of mine as their favorite, it was nice to see that each of my pieces were able to find their audience.
Rodolfo..
