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

Amanda, appreciate you joining us today. Can you talk to us about how you learned to do what you do?

I learned my drawing, painting and other mixed media skills from my grandmother or my own. My grandmother worked well with watercolor and acrylic paints so she taught me what she knew on that topic and she also taught me other forms of media like collages and scrapbooking and other physical crafts. From there I tended to teach myself especially with drawing, and I went about that process by looking at various animations I grew up with, whether it was western cartoons or anime if I liked it I wanted to draw it, I even took inspiration from comic books in high school and manga. One of my favorite artists has to be Kenneth Rocafort when I saw his rendition of red hood for DC comics. Knowing what I know now though I feel like I should’ve practiced more to “speed my process” however rather than speed I think it makes the result better, I’m not in favor of “speeding the process” I believe people have their own time to take what doing their craft no matter how slow or fast they go, in the end if your effort shows I think that’s what matters. The skills I think are most essential in terms for drawing I’d say is practice the basics and anatomy depending what you do. For me because I tend to focus on people I think what I’ve learned is to go back to basics which not only warms you up but also helps with muscle memory and how easy it gets when you draw on your own, especially gesture drawings which younger me hated but now I absolutely love. I think another essential skill is “copying or tracing” which when practicing I feel helps build what you like and your style when doing art, I just will say I don’t condone tracing if someone sells or states that this is their own work. For practice on personal time I feel copying and tracing helps a lot in art in general when used correctly. An obstacle though when doing my craft that stood in my way probably has to be anatomy which I love and hate, mainly because it is essential in my opinion however in certain times it can be very difficult but that’s why I love and hate it, it’s a challenging obstacle but a fun one. I think another one has to be color theory which I somewhat have a grasp on but depending on the piece it can definitely be frustrating.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

For those who haven’t read about myself, hello my name is Amanda Aguilar (my alias is Astra which I prefer), I go by she/her pronouns and I am an aspiring artist. I say aspiring as I have not started much in terms of my art career. I go by AstraMoth (I’ve been considering a name change but not sure) and I draw what I feel like is me and what catches my eye or aesthetic which hopefully you all love and if I’m not your cup of tea hopefully others around you are! Regardless I welcome everyone! I got into my craft at the age of 5 and from there just always and still have the desire to create! And later in my adolescence when I saw you can make a career from art my heart has been set on it! As of now I don’t have products but the art I provide is surreal, odd, whimsical, macabre, and feminine and maybe more. A problem I hope to solve in the future is to make products for those who like this aesthetic especially those who love alternative, I plan especially to do stationery supplies which I feel for this aesthetic there’s not too much of and I would like to provide that for those who what something that can be used in everyday life and satisfy there aesthetic. I think what sets me apart from others is overall my work and vibe. Although a simple answer I know that everyone is different and unique and I feel that’s a number one factor that sets me apart. I’m most proud of getting back in my groove of art, I had a block a few years back and this opportunity and many others have honestly sparked my inspiration once again! I think the main thing I want everyone to know is I hope you all love what I provide in my work and everyone is welcome. Most importantly to never stop creating even if you’re not in an art field, art is so important on so many levels and many mediums and it’s really important depending what you like to create anything and keep the body and brain flowing!

What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?

I think society can help support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem by speaking about it and even sharing if possible. Once main issue I see is the lack of artists being seen especially with social media and how it’s algorithms been messed up and even the major impact of AI which has left actual artist in the back burner, so I feel if people can to promote others work even if it’s one post you know. I also think providing more advertising for art events could help because I noticed there are art events but I don’t see big advertising for them which bums me out knowing I myself can go support and even network with more people. But overall I think another way people can help is creating themselves to not only get a grasp how important art is but if they like it to hopefully research what they like to do and from there share and make attention to said artist or their own art.

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

One goal I have that’s driving me is my overall goal of what I want to do as an art career. Make an art business, make my own products, inspiring others and even helping those who has the same or similar like as myself to inspire or make them happy with what I can make. Another goal that’s pushing me is to get rid of my fear of starting. There’s been factors that has made me not start and it’s anger inducing at the same time where I’m just fed up with it, and that anger is helping me to get up and do what I need to do to get rid of this fear.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: AstraMoth17

Image Credits

Digital pieces by Amanda Aguilar
Gesture drawing shot by James Rao