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

Alright, Angelino thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. What’s been the most meaningful project you’ve worked on?

A lot of my work will have religious imagery as I am working through my spirituality. One piece that stands out today is a digital Painting of a self-portrait that represents how I’ve felt about religion throughout my life. I was raised in a Christian family that practiced mostly Baptist and Catholic traditions. I went to a catholic school. The church I went to on Sundays was pretty closed-minded and discouraged questions. I remember being in Sunday school asking why things are the way they are, only to be dismissed for not reading the scripture enough, or praying hard enough. The inconsistencies in what I was taught were clear as day to me from the moment I could read, and rather than open a conversation I was silenced. Silenced by the church, by family out of the fear of eternal damnation.

The idea of Christianity I was taught was beyond corrupt and only had a negative impact on my life. I became aware of death and hellfire as young as 9 years old. I became anxious and paranoid over talk about “the end times.” The topic was often used to scare people into being “Good enough” and I spent nights in fear of my own life, whether I was good enough, praying enough, quiet enough, compliant enough, to not die a horrible death. I found no love in the organized religion, there was no kindness, and if there was, it was conditional. Over the years the congregations would change as I moved but the overall energy was the same.

This piece is titled “Forsaken.” This is a digital self portrait of my overall feeling of insignificance and loneliness as I struggled to learn where my place was and will be In this world. This painting is the first of many and is a reminder of the time I was finally comfortable enough to think for myself.
The painting is paired with a poem:
Let me see for myself.
The light in darkness,
The so called salt of the earth.
I want to see for myself.
This savior of mine,
The worlds delightful taste,
Yet the light revealed there was nothing there.
I now see for myself.
A mass of lies,
A fading beguilement.
There was no salt, Only rancid vinegar.
I wish I never looked.
Why did you let me see for myself?
This tasteless earth.
My soul cries out.
I’ve been deceived.
Manipulated,
Forsaken.
To whom will this frustration fall upon?
Who shall feel the consequences of my deception?
Surely the blame falls on me, l asked to see for myself.

Angelino, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I go by a few names, Angelino, and ArKangel, depending on my mood. I’m a digital artist, studying Illustration at RMCAD. I’m an aspiring comic artist though I have more experience with character design. Honestly, I’ve spent my whole life drawing. Every day after school I would sit by the computer and look up a “how to draw…” video on YouTube and go from there (Did anyone else grow up on Mark Crilley?). These videos were usually anime tutorials, I loved the exaggerated eyes and expressions you could create with this style and so I made it my own.
Today I make pop culture-themed illustrations, charms, and stickers. I sell locally wherever I can, and I plan to open an online store soon. My original illustrations are more surreal, with angels and characters from a comic I am working on. Almost all of my work is on Instagram, where I post character design progress, school projects, and self-portraits that make you stop and think about what goes on in my head all day.

How did you build your audience on social media?

I will be honest today’s current social media Is still a great tool for building a business, It’s just harder for visual artists to get proper recognition thanks to how we now consume media. Even Instagram, the site dedicated to still images now prefers filmed content that’s at least a minute long. A lot of artists can be introverted, and so it can be exhausting to keep up with the demand of putting on this influencer persona just to attract business. It can be easy to lose yourself in the hustle culture and keep up with trends. At first, I stressed too much about how often I should post. “What would get the most exposure?” “What is trending right now?” I made art for the algorithm and it became a chore. I was taking the numbers too personally rather than just creating.

I will say just don’t ever forget why you’re posting. Post what you want, not what you think you should post. Let your customers see who you are, rather than what the algorithm favors. Artists from my generation tend to equate what their art is worth by how many likes it gets on a screen. Its not about that, and if it distracts you from your business, you can disable this feature to keep your mind at ease. Social media as a business is for networking and exposure. Find confidence in your art and surround yourself with people who can give you more intimate feedback. Go out and sell your art locally! Get into local galleries. No amount of likes can ever compare to a real person looking you in the eye and saying “I love what you create.”

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

I had to (and still do) let go of my perfectionist mindset to create better art. I am probably the biggest perfectionist I know. When it comes to art I’m twice as hard on myself sometimes. Over the past few years I’ve put a focus on improving how I draw people. I had a moment when I felt like my art was the most technically impressive its ever been. It was clear I had an understanding of anatomy and how the body moves in space, yet it lacked the charm and character my older works had. Sure the older ones were not proportionate but I was not thinking about what “should” and “shouldn’t” be in the piece, I was just creating.
The more I improved, the more I strived for accuracy, to the point where I would spend hours on details that didn’t add to the composition as a whole. It can make the whole process exhausting. On top of that, I would set very high standards for myself. I never shared work-in-progress sketches in the past, I watched professional artists online and thought to myself “My process needs to look like this!” Even here, as I answer this question I think and overthink, “What is the perfect answer?” I have to remind myself that it’s okay to be vulnerable. I embraced the imperfections in my work. I don’t have to flesh out a rough sketch before showing it off its fine as is. Sometimes I draw too fast and color outside the lines. I leave them behind now. Sometimes you can see the uneasiness in my penmanship, I don’t clean it up as much as I used to. All of those elements are what make up my style and it works!

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @archangelfeathers