Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Antwhan Diaz. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Antwhan, appreciate you joining us today. Are you happier as a creative? Do you sometimes think about what it would be like to just have a regular job? Can you talk to us about how you think through these emotions?

As a creative, I feel much happier when I produce my art. Being able to create a piece that someone can enjoy or even sit and think about is a feeling I love to produce. When I’m not creating, I’m planning my next piece or getting inspired. As a college student, I work part-time at a non-creative job and although I do enjoy it, I usually am counting down the clock because I can’t wait to get back to my art.

Antwhan, 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?

My name is Antwhan Marquise Diaz and I am a 20 year old college student at the University of Hartford. I’m currently in my junior year working towards my BFA in Illustration. I fell in love with art at a young age through multiple outlets like cartoons and comics, but I started taking it seriously when I saw my cousin, Alexander Og’bonna, and his paintings. Seeing his portraits made me want to create my own portraits and capture my own vision of people. Currently, I make portrait heavy pieces whether that be people around me, model studies or characters. Capturing the likeness of a person is very interesting to me because it gives the viewer a sense of connection to the art and allows them to be more interested.

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

When it comes to goals in my artistic journey, there’s never a final destination I’d like to get to. It’s more of how I’m feeling at that moment and what I’d like to achieve. One day I’d like to try a new material or learn a different technique, and other days I may want to focus on spreading my art out and expanding my audience. No matter what the goal, it all comes down to improvement within myself and my art.

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can provide some insight – you never know who might benefit from the enlightenment.

I believe that a non-creative might not understand my journey because they haven’t created enough yet. If you take time out of your day and get your thoughts on paper, even if it’s just writing, you’ll feel more enlightened and probably produce something out of it. This can lead to brainstorming, analyzing and improving your initial thoughts, and that is what artists do as well. If you as a non-creative question a creative in why they do what they do, or create what they create, try and make something yourself and I can guarantee you’ll have a different outlook and gain understanding.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @artbytwhan
• Facebook: @artbytwhan
• Linkedin: Antwhan Marquise Diaz

Image Credits

Image credits by Me, Antwhan M. Diaz