LIGHTBOX: Micah Mate

Through out these 6 years in California I have met some cool people. I've met a lot of passionate people and some not so passionate. I've met party goers and home bodies. Oh yeah, and I have also met a ton more artists than when I was in NY. I see it this way, here I am more in tune with the art world than I was when I was in NY. That being said, I had a chance to sit down with one of my buddies from Modesto and ask him some questions.

• What is your name or what you'd like to be called?

Micah Maté

• Tell me a little bit about your art background?

I've been drawing my entire life, took art in high school and have my A.A. and B.A. in Art. As a kid I wanted to be an animator, but once I got to university my focus was fine art painting and illustration.

• How and when did you start drawing?

I've always drawn, but the start of my actual pursuit to improve and add to my skill set, I was about 8.

• Do you find that you have a style in your art?

I don't have a style and the graphic and illustration work that I've done in the past keeps me flexible to work within the parameters of any given job. I haven't arrived at a style even within my personal work. I do, however,  feel that having a recognizable style can be helpful to build your brand and bring you more work.

• What are your favorite tools to use to create your art?

Pencils, pens, brushes, ink, watercolors and really good paper.

• Who's work would compare your art to?

Honestly, I have many influences, but those influences don't necessarily carry over in a visual sense. Sometimes it's the mentality of the construction of a piece or the mentality of certain artistic processes.

• Which artists have been a huge influence to you?

Well, a lot of my influences aren't visual artists at all, but writers and philosophers. I have a tendency to be very cerebral when it comes to thinking about art and I find myself often inspired to create work that examines ideas. The influences in this category (some being comic writers) would include: Daniel Quinn, Lao Tzu, Jack London, Alan Moore, Grant Morrison, Thich Nhat Hanh, Emma Goldman, Peter Kropotkin, Ernest Callenbach, Aldous Huxley, George Orwell, Upton Sinclair and Chris Claremont.

In the visual artists category (which includes filmmakers) include: Frank Frazetta, Arthur  Adams, Marc Silvestri, Jim Lee, Ben Caldwell, William Adolphe Bouguerreau, Alphonse Mucha, Martin Scorsese, Terrence Malick, Darren Aronofsky, Alejandro Jodorowsky, Orson Welles, Dan Brereton, Jimmie Robinson, Fritz Lang, Juanjo Guarnido and Hayao Miyazaki to name a few.

• What are your biggest accomplishments in art?

I don't think that's for me to say, but I can say that, for me, artistic accomplishments are doing better art-making today than you did the day before. I might be able to better answer this questions when I'm 80.

• What are your biggest failures?

My biggest failure to this day is failing at failing. I've always been afraid to make mistakes and it has negatively impacted my life on a grand scale in all areas, not just art. Fear of failure twists you up and makes you feel imprisoned in a life that you don't want to admit is yours. It bottles you up and, in my experience, the best work I do is when I feel free of that. In short: Be true to yourself and your vision, even in the face failure.

• If you could draw/paint/create like anyone alive or dead, who would it be?

I don't want to create like anyone else. I feel I have lots of beautiful things and stories to share with others. My goal is to share them in a universal and economical way.

• What would you say to someone who wants to start drawing but feels insecure about their art?

Firstly and most importantly: Be kind to yourself. Progress is only ever made through trial and error. Who you are now is not who you are becoming. Be fearless and make the necessary mistakes to push you through road blocks and speed up your evolution as an artist and as a human being.

A Turlock Toon Skwad Production

This is the 5th time that we do a collaborative project with the Turlock Toon Skwad team and I feel I've grown with each one. The hardest thing for me to do is making the time to work on them since it always seems I have no time. The easiest part for me is to merge text with the layout. I think because I work as a graphic designer, those things come easy for me. When I am creating, provided, I am assigned to create something, my favorite thing to do is draw. If each project allowed me to draw, then that's what I would do. It just so happens, I only did one drawing in this one, Black Widow. The rest was done by Adam and Omar. I had to ink their work. This tended to be a little difficult because they both have such different styles, so I hope I did their artwork justice. I can honestly say, that I am happy with the final product.

Omar, what about you?

Omar Salinas

Art teacher. Art maker.

When collaborating on projects where your art is mixed with other artists, what is the hardest thing to do for you?

"I’ve only collaborated on comic style projects so the hardest thing for me is working in comic style while still trying to create and incorporate hints of my own ‘style’ into it."

What is the easiest?

"The portrait and caricature style is easiest."

What is your favorite thing to work on when you do these projects?

"I like drawing faces. Especially in the caricature style."

Are you always happy with the final product?

"Not always. The cool thing about a collaboration is that when it gets passed on to the next artist/step fixes can be made to help with composition or layout. So if you aren’t feeling something about your part in the artwork you have a few more sets of eyes to help fix issues. As long as the corrections and adjustments don’t take on too much of the look or style of the artist making those adjustments."

What about you, Adam?

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Adam Harris

Upper Deck and Topps SketchCard Artist - Storyboard Artist - member of the #TurlockToonSkwad

"The hardest thing is understanding how to best interact with the other artists. If your style is normally cartoony, how will it fit with someone who is doing a more realistic area of the piece. You almost need someone to oversee the project;  someone who has a vision in mind and can be dynamic enough to make those edits (change subject matter / direction) to ensure a seamless piece.

As an artist it’s easy to just do your thing. The toughest thing going back to the first question, is getting the layout right. Meaning making sure everyone is in the spotlight (talents utilized / character represented).

Working on these types of projects, the collaborative aspect is the best. A lot of ideas get thrown around and you get to focus on putting your best efforts forward.

As Jake Parker says, finished is better than perfect. You’ll always have issues with something you’ve worked on. The trick is to focus on not running into those same issues again. That’s how you grow."

Hopefully, this sheds some light on some of the work we do when we team up. Until next time, thanks for reading.

-Haro

LIGHTBOX: Vion4444

When I first started posting on my Instagram I had no purpose. I posted some pictures occasionally trying to figure out the platform. I added some filters, I skewed some pictures, but wasn’t too happy with what I added. Then, as if by some great inspirational magic, I had this bright idea of posting my sketchbook pages. “Eureka!, that it! I could post my sketchbook pages onto Instagram and if I lose any notebooks, like I have in the past, I could still have them, online.”

Uploading my sketchbook pages became a daily thing. Day after day I posted. Week after week people started following me and liking my sketches. I got comments, compliments and even requests for commissions. I began to engage many people. I started following some myself. Throughout this time I met many great artists. Some have even inspired me and helped me stay motivated. Today, I want to spotlight one of those artists.

Vion4444 has been a great source of motivation for me. His comments and critiques as well as his ideas have helped me push myself as I create my webcomic. He has shown me that there are people out there that want to read my story. Thank you for your enthusiasm and for being a loyal follower.

Vion4444 has some great artwork himself and today I would like to say thank you for the support and the inspiration. If you would like to follow his work feel free to click on the button below.