How I got into art...........

My first introduction to art happened in a dream. I dreamt of these weird shapes that kids were throwing out the window. I did not know what was happening but the imagery felt very DADA-esque to me. After that dream I felt compelled to paint, there was a powerful craving to make this imagery. My introduction to art also began with my mother, she would always take me to museums all over Los Angeles. She introduced me to Picasso, Van Gogh, Rembrandt, Klimt the list goes on! I was always allowed to express my creativity. Fast forward to my teenage years and into my pool of teenage depression and mood swings, I began to listen to a lot of heavy punk music, that heavy punk music introduced me to some pretty cool music videos with some very surrealistic imagery. I felt compelled to paint what I was seeing. My mind started to make up stories of other little worlds, maybe there were some friendly monsters that lived there too! I would spend hours on one drawing and then writing a little story for it.

I slowly began to find a love of horror movies and scary stories. Artists like Stephen Gammell and Edward Gorey were two of my favorite artists growing up. I realized I also loved production work, set design, and filming! I explored making stop motion movies in my room and uploading them to my YouTube Channel. With the support of my parents, I was able to continue to experiment and explore this passion for art. A few years into community college I went ahead and applied to Art school. I attended Otis College Of Art and Design and studied Illustration. Taking the knowledge that I received at Otis, I went ahead and began work on my small art business. Using Instagram and TikTok to sell my work, I posted stories of new pieces that were for sale, on TikTok I would introduce these new monsters that were available. I took some time and developed my Etsy page as a more stable platform to sell my work.

To think that my introduction to art started in a dream, being able to sell my work and show in galleries feels like just another dream I am having. Meeting other artists and other creatives has been so amazing and a huge inspiration for me to keep going.

What are my favorite art supplies to use?

When I first started making art, the supplies that I used were just things that I had at my disposal. A cheap pen and lined college-ruled paper did the job just fine. Fast forward 10 years into my art journey and the quality of art supplies have changed, most importantly the paper itself. My go-to paper now would be Strathmore’s Bristol Paper, this type of paper is smooth with a slight thickness to it. It's perfect for scratchy lines, filling in negative space with a heavy marker without the ink bleeding through too much or almost not at all!

Though recently I have just started to get into watercolors. I was always intimidated by watercolors, mainly because I struggled with the medium itself. After many trials, most of which had failed, I ended up taking a break from it for a few years. After being around artists who use watercolors, I realized that the paper I was using just was not compatible with the watercolors! Now, I was using watercolor paper, just not the best quality. Again, I would use any materials I could find but I didn’t realize that the quality of the paper plays a huge role in the art-making process! I went to Blicks in Santa Monica and invested in a pad of Arches Watercolor Paper. I have always heard of this paper and I always wanted to try it out, I will say, it definitely lives up to the hype! I noticed a huge difference in my water coloring, the paper is smooth and takes in the water well. The paper doesn’t buckle so fast or as much as the cheaper grade paper out there. The Arches paper now is on my list of must-haves for art supplies!

So, if you’re just starting out, using what you have is just fine. However, along the way try to invest in the best quality supplies you are able to obtain. I am aware that not everyone has access to an art supplies store or funds to purchase these supplies. My dream is to one day be able to help fund young creatives and give them the opportunities to explore their creativity without the burden of paying so much money on supplies. Because the truth is, the world needs creative people.