We were lucky to catch up with Brandon Wennin recently and have shared our conversation below.

Brandon, appreciate you joining us 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?

As a kid growing up I always wanted to do creative work, and self expression. I always drew and loved at a very young age taking my toys apart and figuring out how they worked and would put them back together. I really figured out what I wanted to do when I was 19 enrolling into trade school.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I was born in Houston Tx, and raised in a small central Texas town of Clifton. A small hometown like my own you have your typical fall fest, festivals, rodeos sometimes community cook offs. Artist from the county and surrounding counties would come and display work/sell work, that being said I was always surrounded by art. There have been four influential people in my life, Grandparents, my Mother and Father. All of them were artists in their own way and did some form of artistry. my perants were Graphic designers, my mother was also into pottery and doing anything creative. She had taught me the importance of textures drop shadows when it comes to artwork. My Dad and I use to do the really cool rc car building kits and painting the bodies, on top of watching him create websites brand logos and Brochures for clients, also the creator of the brand logo you see before you today, Red Dawgs Custom Paint. Being both my perants worked full time jobs my grandperants would be the ones that took care of my little sister and I including my younger cousins after school. I remember watching my grandmother and grandfather working together to create peices of art that they would show case from time to time. Grandfather did wood working he would build wooden clocks, Multi peice sculptures. Nothing large scale, items that could be hung on the wall. He also gave me the opportunity to experience it for myself. After school one day I watched both my grandmother and grandfather work together and create peices of art that I found fascinating!!! He would cut out Silhouettes of cowboys, country side scenes and also native american scenes. My grandmother then would then take those peices and do wood burning with a sodering iron to add depth and texture. As most kids growing up we all would draw, paint play with clay. And my perants were always very supportive of me and my little sister. They would take us to art stores buy art supplies, or take us to home depot early Saturday morning were they had a little workshop for kids and they would teach you how to build bird houses, nd wooden tool boxes. Yea…… they were pre-made kits and it’s was plug and play, but as a kid you don’t know that. Your brain is firing off million mile an hour and you are immersed in some thing that you are building this with your own hands.

As I got older and continued down the path drawing creating leading into 4-5th grade I was having problems focusing in school. The school told my perants and they took action took me to Scotish Rite Hospital in DFW area. Ran some test evaluated me and told my perants I was Dyslexic. Honestly that in it self helped make more sense of who I was. And made a massive improvement in my schooling. I struggled as I got older and moved into middle school, and started taking art classes. I had a art teacher in the high school who also taught the middle school
classes and I remeber butting heads with her, and it got to the point were my perants were notified. She mentioned that she wasn’t able to teach me art because I wasn’t able to learn or understand what she was teaching, it was said that I would never become and artist. Which lead me down the path to focus more on sports, which I enjoyed a great deal and taught me alot about discipline team work, and self accountability.

Fast forward to graduating I didn’t know what I wanted to do with my life and I believe alot of folks out of highschool don’t. But i did know there was a desire to build, and create and express myself with out speaking. My perants wanted me to go to college I didn’t know what for so my dad told me take a year off and figure it out. Freshly graduated I got to experience alot. Nothing bad but it was definitely the turning point for sure. I had buddies that had mustangs, and Tuner import cars and so we did want most would do and customize them, install performance parts so on and so forth. a good friend that I grew up with in highschool Justin, whos in the same industry as me, went to trade school for autobody. A mutual friend of ours needed something painted. So we called Justin up and he helpped as we are sitting there watching him do it that desire and passion that was inside grew so much that it couldn’t be contained. And it was at that moment I knew I wanted to do what I’m doing today.
When I was going through trade school I started to research custom paint the art side of it. And boy was I overwhelmed not in a bad way. I did nothing but go to school learn the fundamentals and researched the industry while also studing the custom painters in the industry. During that time I was also offering custom paint jobs, when I look back now I wasn’t even doing them for the cost of materials that was used. I didn’t have alot of money while going to school. Night stocking at H.E.B, going to trade school, full time student. All while living 45 miles from school and work.
I was working part time at a body shop, buffing and detailing cars. I spent alot of nights teaching myself how to operate a airbrush and how to do the things I’m doing now. I also had some professional influences. The body shop I worked at the owner J.R. Sanchez did airbrush work when he started his business and he taught me some stuff on top of inviting me to go to a Craig Fraser airbrush class. When I was researching I always came across this gentleman and his work online. And some of the things he spoke about had resonated with and still to this day do!!!
After graduating college I took off to start my career I set a goal to be a painter by job title in a collision shop, 5 years after finishing school. I had achieved that within 3 years. At this point I had stopped doing custom work because I wanted to learn the craft of painting and fundamentals of just painting a car. I was still doing little projects for myself just didn’t have the confidence to do it large sclae. Fast forward about 5-6 years, At this point it’s the beginning of 2020. Remember I couldn’t contain my creativity? well the lock down had happend and my fiance Brianna was a personal trainer at a gym they closed down. And my company was giving us a guarantee for the week. Collision work is commission pay work. The more work you do the more you make. Well we couldnt support our family off what they were paying me. So I made a decision I’m not getting any younger and we have a family to support so I decided to work out of our one car apartment garage and start the side hustle.
One year after the one car garage, the beginning of 2021 we got a personal workshop commercial unit and it was off to the races. The shop has been open for 3 years and honestly I’m not looking back I enjoy creating the custom peices you see before you. There’s alot that goes into some of the paint jobs, my heart, my love sometimes tear and even sleepless nights.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

The most rewarding thing for me is being able to sit back and be proud that no one can take away the ideas and things I crete away from me. Knowing that I personally bring value to the world.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

Recently I had to pivot and go back to full time collision painting in order to keep the shop doors open. A starving artist life is no joke!!

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://instagram.com/reddawgscustompaint?igshid=NzZlODBkYWE4Ng==
• Facebook: Red Dawgs Custom Paint

Image Credits
Brianna Cantu Cody Bennett