February's Featured Artist!
Welcome back to a new year of featured artists! Meet Regino, a graphic ink artist from Southern California. Let’s learn more about him and his journey.
Welcome, Regino, tell us about yourself, when did you start creating?
I’ve always been pretty good at traditional drawing, which is my main medium, but it wasn’t until I was in junior high that I started actively showing an interest in it. I’ve always enjoyed it, but middle school is when I started doodling on my school work and drawing in my free time. So I’d say at the age of 14.
What other mediums do you like to use?
My favorite would have to be traditional (pencil, paper, and ink), it’s just what I’m most experienced with, used to, and what feels most natural to me. My main preference for canvas is card stock because it handles a wide variety of mediums like pencil, pen, colored pencils, markers, etc. really well, so working with that gives me a lot of creative freedom to experiment and do anything I want with a piece. I do experiment with digital art, painting, and any other medium whenever I get the chance, because I want to expand my horizons and try new things. One medium I really want to try my hand at though is tattooing.
I like using card stock too for the same reasons. Are there any artists, photographers or designers you look up to or aspire to be like?
There’s so many! If I had to name a few who inspired my current style of inked traditional art I would say; James Raiz, Mark Morales, and Joe Dragunas. Their use of line weight, cross hatching, and detail has clearly inspired a lot of my work and I’ve learned so much just from studying what they do and how they do it. They’re all extremely detail oriented and I’ve always been the same way, so I think I have a knack for observing and appreciating that and reverse engineering those fine details through studies to apply them in my own work.
What else inspires you?
Everything; friends, family, music, movies, TV shows, video games, real life, everything. If I see something I like, it could be anything from anywhere, I tend to want to draw it in my own style. Whether it’s a flower I saw on my way home from work that I thought was pretty or a frustrating boss from a video game I can’t beat. It’s why I enjoy doing fan art and “Draw This In Your Style” challenges, I get to give my own spin and rendition of something I admire while at the same time honing my own skill, mastering my craft and networking with other artist who are trying to do the same.
I love that. Do you have any special talents aside from your creativity?
I really love making music! Specifically rapping, I find it therapeutic, challenging, empowering, satisfying, rewarding. Any and every thought and emotion I could be thinking or feeling at any given moment can be converted into rhymes. It helps me get perspective on life and connect with people.
Very cool! What are some rituals or processes you do while creating?
Well like I said I get inspiration from everything around me, but I don’t have any ritual or criteria that has to be met before starting a project, I never force anything I just let the inspiration come to me naturally as I go about my day. I’d say it starts with a vibe or idea I have in mind or sometimes a suggestion (Victorian archer assassin, mysterious Female shinobi, Aztec warrior princess), at most I’ll jot these ideas down so I can come back and elaborate on them later. I then research the topic to get a better idea of what would be practical or appropriate for that sort of character. Looking up dynamic or fitting poses for them as well. Then I look at references, to see what I like and want to incorporate into my drawing. Then I start to just sketch out my concepts on paper. Once I have a pretty good idea of what I want in the final product I get to work on drawing a pose through basic shapes and measurements with a soft blue lead. I then start adding details (facial features, clothing, accessories) with a soft red lead, finally anything I want to keep I ink.
As for fan art, the drawing process is the same, I just skip straight to looking for references and find a picture I like. If I can, I’ll come up with original poses for fan art or do cross overs, like my favorite Overwatch character with a team of Pokémon I feel they’d have. Or an encounter or interaction between two fictional characters who would otherwise never come across each other that I think would be interesting. I feel like both play an important role because designing original characters allows my mind to be creative and really create whatever I want, while the fan art relieves the stress of having to come up with something original and lets me study someone else’s work to learn from while also gaining exposure with that particular fandom.
Your process is so detailed, have you ever sold any work? Are you interested in doing any art shows?
I have. I don’t actively look to sell my work or provide my services, since my main motivation to create art isn’t for monetary reasons, but I have been commissioned from time to time and I have been offered money for certain pieces I’ve done. If the opportunities present themselves I usually take them, at least for the learning experience. I have thought about becoming a full time freelance artist since I’d be able to basically draw all the time, but I know that I’d be giving up a lot of my creative freedom and something I love to do could become something I have to do. For the most part I’m fairly content with where I’m at currently, creating art for the love of creating art and occasionally making money on the side, but I plan to expand and brand myself in the near future.
I have not. I’d be open to it, as one of the main reasons I do art is to showcase it and share it with others in hopes that they feel joy from seeing something I worked hard on. I’m fairly confident in my skills and I’m always open to constructive criticism so I don’t think I’d have a problem with displaying my art for the world to see.
I’m sure you will do great once you take that step. What are your plans for the future of your skill?
I haven’t told anyone this but, I’ve been looking into putting my artwork onto clothing as well as selling prints, stickers, etc., it’s why I’ve been working more and more with digital art lately. I also want to start an Art YouTube channel, where I would give advice/input on art and just life in general. I don’t know if I’d want the stress of making my art a career I’m dependent on. I think the perfect middle ground, for me anyway, would be turning it into a lucrative hobby rather than my main source of income. I feel like that would allow me to create happily and at the same time see enough revenue to finance it and live more comfortably.
Regino’s advice for emerging artists: “Don’t throw out your old artwork as you improve. It helps to look back and see how far you’ve come, and it will help you in any moments of self doubt. Stay consistent and dedicated, you’re not gonna see the results you want over night and you should always be looking to improve and move forward regardless of where you’re at.”
To find more of Regino’s work, visit:
Thank you for joining me for this month’s featured artist! Tune in next month for our next featured artist!
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