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

Cody , 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?

I’ve been able to earn a full-time living from my creative work, but it definitely wasn’t like that from day one. I’ve been drawing every day for over 15 years, and for a long time, it was just something I did because I had to. It felt like a natural extension of my thoughts, emotions, and identity way before I ever thought of it as a job.

The real shift happened during the pandemic. I was fresh out of high school and had nothing to do sitting at home, like a lot of people, and decided to go all-in on art. I started posting consistently online. First on TikTok, then branching to Instagram. I treated it like a full-time job even before it paid like one. My early wins came from commissions, selling prints, doing tattoo designs, and eventually launching my own clothing brand, Sinthetic.

But it wasn’t just about making cool art, it was about learning to communicate my ideas, build a brand, tell a story, and provide something people could connect with. That took time.

If I could’ve sped it up? Maybe. But honestly, the years of slow growth taught me discipline, how to overcome creative droughts, and how to build something real. I wasn’t just chasing trends, I was building a world.

Cody , 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’m Cody Tarantino. I’m an intuitive surrealist artist, creative director, and the founder of Sinthetic, which started as just me sharing drawings and ideas, and eventually evolved into a full-blown art brand and universe.

I’ve been drawing every single day for over 15 years. What started in the margins of school notebooks turned into my life’s work illustration, painting, world building, product design, and storytelling. I never went to art school. Everything I’ve built came from consistency, curiosity, and the refusal to quit.

My work explores themes like time, identity, symbolism, perception, and childhood imagination, often through characters like the Time Devil, Forest Spirit, and Masked Flower. Over time, I’ve expanded from prints and commissions into clothing, collectibles, books, and larger-scale projects like animation, infinite zoom art, and brand collaborations.

I think what sets me apart is that I’m not just making art to be trendy or aesthetic. I’m building a mythos. I treat each product like it’s a portal into a larger world. My goal is to offer more than just visuals, I want to make things that people feel connected to, things that make them think, feel, or remember something real.

For clients, I bring originality, depth, and a unique ability to visualize abstract concepts, whether that’s a tattoo design, album cover, animation, or a full branding system. For followers and fans, I want them to know that Sinthetic isn’t just a brand. It’s a living archive of imagination, made for people who see the world a little differently.

One of the things I’m most proud of is how far my work has reached without losing the core of why I started. A recent highlight was working with Uni-ball on a global commercial campaign as both an artist and on-camera talent. That was definitely a full-circle moment for me, considering I used to buy their pens to draw in my sketchbooks as a kid.

On the flip side, I also just sold one of my earliest Clockman drawings, an 8.5″ x 11″ piece I made years ago—for $25,000. It wasn’t about the money as much as what it represented: the value of an idea, the trust of a collector, and the reminder that even something created with limited tools and no resources can become priceless to the right person.

Those two moments of being recognized by a major brand while also seeing an original piece become a serious collector’s item, really capture both ends of what I care about: reaching people on a global scale while still building something deeply personal and meaningful.

Other accomplishments I’m proud of include collaborating with FaZe Clan, creating official artwork for Sleepy Hallow and 347Aidan, working with TCL to produce an animated infinite zoom piece for their tablet launch, and building a collector community that supports everything from woven blankets to limited-run art toys. And I feel like I’m just getting started.

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative?

Yeah, I think one of the hardest things for non-creatives to understand is that being a creative isn’t just a job, it’s a way of processing the world. It’s not clock in, clock out. My work doesn’t stop when I leave the studio, because my mind’s still turning, observing, sketching ideas internally even when I’m doing everyday things.

People often assume it’s fun all the time, or that because it’s “your passion,” it should never feel hard. But the truth is, turning creativity into a livelihood requires an insane amount of self-discipline, resilience, and belief, especially when you’re building something original and there’s no blueprint for it.

There were years where I had to convince myself this was even worth pursuing. And even now, with some success, I still face doubt, burnout, and pressure to compromise what I make just to fit trends. But what keeps me going is the belief that art has the power to shift people’s perspectives, even if just for a moment.

So if you’re watching someone pour themselves into their creative work, even if it looks effortless, understand that behind it is probably years of unseen effort, sacrifice, and a whole inner world that fuels it.

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

My mission has always been to build something bigger than just individual pieces of art. I’m trying to create a world—one that blends imagination, symbolism, and raw emotion into something people can actually step into, wear, experience, collect, or live with. It’s about making meaning tangible.

At the core of it, I want to help people reconnect with their inner world. A lot of us lose touch with imagination as we grow older, we stop asking questions, stop creating for ourselves. Through characters like the Time Devil or the Clock Man, I explore themes like perception, identity, time, and the masks we wear. The goal is to offer a mirror or something that helps people reflect, feel seen, or even just feel something real for a moment.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.codytarantino.com/
• Instagram: https://tr.ee/OsHRKo8yZ8
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cody-tarantino-680516370
• Twitter: https://tr.ee/gTQFtN06Zw
• Youtube: https://tr.ee/JDlReSpvk7
• Other: https://tr.ee/UiivjfdqLh