We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Ed Vargas. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Ed below.

Hi Ed, thanks for joining us today. Learning the craft is often a unique journey from every creative – we’d love to hear about your journey and if knowing what you know now, you would have done anything differently to speed up the learning process.

Learning Visual Development and Entertainment art was quite a journey from me! I originally started my career as a graphic designer and pivoted after realizing I needed a more art oriented day to day to be fulfilled. As for learning it, it was a lot of trial and error and intense practice. I didn’t have that many resources back then so it was mostly a self taught approach that eventually helped me make the most of the few classes I did get to take.

I think the most important skill bar none was the ability of being self directed. Especially as someone who didn’t go to college for this, it’s very easy to lose steam when you’re just practicing on your own. So in many ways it’s about getting up every day and doing what you know you’ve got to do, and getting a system that allows that kind of consistent, almost obsessive training. I would say that is in many ways more important than getting information about the craft itself, which is easily accessible online nowadays.

Ed, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

Of course! I’m Ed Vargas and I’m a Costa Rican born Visual Development Artist. My work has been used for projects with Netflix, Warner Animation Group, and Titmouse. I am currently the Background Supervisor for the Legends of Vox Machina, Season 4.

So for those who don’t know, visual development is basically what you do for media like animated shows or movies to establish the look and design of basically everything in the world the story takes place. It varies very widely from doing stuff like painting a background for a 2D animated movie or show or designing something as humble as a teapot for someone to build a 3D model afterwards. The really great thing about animation that, and this is very easy to forget, every single random object you see anywhere (and many you won’t ever see!) have to be designed by an actual person, and one of those people is me.

One of the things I am most proud of is having my art recognized in the field. I received an Honorable Mention Award at the 2024 Teravana International Juried Art Competition. I also received a Merit Award at the iJungle Illustration Awards in 2023.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

Back when I first moved to Los Angeles to take some classes and I just basically picked the most affordable Airbnb to live for 3 months I could. Back then my English was pretty questionable and I didn’t know literally anyone in California and I was pretty much just taking a leap of faith. So I flew in pretty late and by the time I got to the house it was something like 11 pm.
It was a rainy, dark night and I got to this random suburb in North Hollywood (in a neighborhood I learned after wasn’t super safe) and feeling lost looking at the address on my phone. Bear in mind I didn’t have a phone line that worked in the U.S. at that point, so no internet. Anyways, I tripled checked the address and, luggage in hand, hair wet, I start knocking on the gate with faint hopes of someone hearing me. After 20 mins of waiting on the rain someone comes out, I look at him, and start awkwardly trying to make conversation in English. He looks at me and turns out HE doesn’t speak English! We come in and he takes me to a door with a written list of instructions written (in English and Japanese). Turns out I’ve found myself living in the one house in L.A. that hosts Japanese dancing students as they take classes in LA and NO ONE there speaks English, or Spanish, for that matter. I go into the room where a bunch of young Japanese dancers who I can’t understand and they point me to the top bunk bed I will sleep in. That night was a long one, as soon as I got there my immediate thought was: I made a mistake, I’ve got to go back. Then I called my family, freaking out and they were like: Okay, you can come back but just remember, if you do, you might regret that for the rest of your life. I laid down in bed that night and my resolve kicked in, I had to stay. Eventually, after like one month I believe, one Japanese student that did speak English came to stay there and after not being able to talk to anyone that felt like an oasis in the desert. After that I learned to value the ability to talk to people like never before! That’s for sure.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

I think being an artist is in many ways a gift, not because of the things we can DO, but because of the way you have to learn to SEE. When we go through life it’s very easy to get caught up on things and most of our senses get dulled or taken for granted. Being and artist is basically the task of seeing things as if for the first time, every time. Whenever I’m researching any topic, say like how things behave underwater, it gives me the chance to appreciate that slice of life in ways that are indescribably beautiful. So in that example, how refraction deforms shapes, how color shifts and how ripples make reflections jump, it’s endless! Every single thing you look at that way just becomes it’s own rabbit hole. I think it’s easy to think being an artist is having being born with some kind of special ability or gift but I think it’s the opposite. The gift is the chance to sit down and see things in that way. Becoming absorbed by it. The art that is born afterwards is just a product of that way of seeing. In that way I believe all people are potential artists and all fields are creative fields, it’s just a matter of the way you look at things and how deeply you get into their inner workings.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.edvargasart.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/edvargasart
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/eduardo-vargas-illustration/

Image Credits

Ed Vargas