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

Analicia, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Have you been able to earn a full-time living from your creative work? If so, can you walk us through your journey and how you made it happen? Was it like that from day one? If not, what were some of the major steps and milestones and do you think you could have sped up the process somehow knowing what you know now?

Two years ago, I never thought I had what it took to be a graphic designer working on tight deadlines. Everyone that knows me, knows I like to take my time when making art or designing things, so it was scary to think I couldn’t meet those standards. There was also a lot of unknowns that made me fearful and holding myself back. Luckily, I had my fiancée who reminded me that I had already went to school for all this, and I have my bachelor of fine arts degree for a reason. Sometimes you just got to take the plunge and figure it out as you go. That’s exactly what I did.

Obviously there were some rejections, but one advertising company called me back even after stating they couldn’t hire me. Since they loved my art style and personality so much, they wanted to keep me in their radar for whatever became open. I was forever grateful, because this job taught me everything I needed to know moving forward, and my skills have sharpened immensely since I started.

Analicia, 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?

A little about me, I’ve known I wanted to be an artist since I was a child. I’m a painter by nature, but I do profesional graphic design and illustrations as well now. Making whimsical and creepy art is my passion, most of my inspiration comes from Tim Burton films and 1930’s – 50’s cartoons. Tom and Jerry, Betty Boop, Disney movies and Looney Tunes during this era speaks the most to me, I guess that’s why people say I have an old soul.

I was able to get into the commercial art industry because I actually knew someone in my family that worked at an advertising agency that was hiring. I actually didn’t get the job at first, but they loved my work and personality so much they called me back after another position opened up! Now I’ve been there for almost 2 years and the knowledge I’ve gained has been astounding to say the least.

What I do for my job now is create advertisements featuring different brands’ products in the forms of Instagram posts, website banners, and email advertisements. I create these with help of my senior designer, using the 3D program Blender, Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Illustrator. I also help manage the influencers and campaigns we run for our brands new products, make product photos for online stores, as well as handle all the postings for our main Instagram.

What I am most proud of at this point is the growth of my knowledge in using 3D programs because I never thought I would be able to understand it. What sets me apart is the proportions I use in my work, creating a forced perspective that can create a cartoony feel. I always love to make exaggerated smiles on characters that comment on the pressures society makes us feel to be perfect or happy all the time. It’s actually quite creepy if you think about it.

All of my art has to do with daydreaming, creating scenarios in your mind that would never exist, which sometimes turn to nightmares. I was always a little disappointed with my reality for most of my life, so creating Rabbit Hole Dreams was purely escapism. And now it brings me so much joy, I hope it creates a sense of feeling to others just as it does for me, even if the escape is just for a moment while you’re staring at one of my paintings wondering “what is going on here?”

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

When I was in college, I didn’t have a car, so I took the public transportation from my house to school everyday. From Long Beach to Westchester, just getting to school took me around 2 hours. Otis College of Art and Design was my first choice in universities, so I wanted to make it work no matter what I had to do. The next year I finally had my car, but moved back to my hometown in Lancaster, where the drive from there was also around 2 hours. Eventually I got a place in my Junior year and stayed with people who were closer to my college, but I will never take having my car for granted, that’s for sure.

Fast forward after my graduation in 2017, I was engaged and tragedy struck my 25 year old fiancé at the time. I had to organize his funeral while I was still working my way in community college to complete my credits for my degree. There was so much happening that I didn’t want to go back to school at all, but I knew he would’ve wanted me to continue fighting and finish what I started. So with a heavy heart, I passed my last classes and cried when I finally got my diploma in the mail.

I feel like I’ve always had to do more to get where I wanted to be, and there are things that have happened in my life at this point that have humbled me to my core. All that determination and struggle has made me into the artist I am today.

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

Some things people can do to support artists is simply buying their merchandise or prints, it means the world to us. Sharing our social media or reposting things we do helps a lot as well. Even just talking about your favorite artist or someone you saw online to a group of people sometimes makes connections that we end up having later on, and that is another avenue of natural networking. Buying from small businesses instead of getting artwork from large department stores also keeps the faith in artists alive. Any of these and more would help and be so appreciated.

Contact Info:

• Website: Www.rabbitholedreams.com
• Instagram: Instagram.com/rabbitholedreams
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rabbitholedreams?mibextid=LQQJ4d
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/analicia-benavides-bb650486