We were lucky to catch up with Daniel-Andres Jimenez recently and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Daniel-Andres thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with 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?

I’ll be honest…being an artist can have it’s enriching moments. But depending on what you choose to focus on, burn out can quickly engulf you and make you lose the desire to create anything else. And for the longest time, prior to 2022, I wasn’t exactly happy. The pressure to make something to sell was incredibly painful; the desire to make something else for myself wasn’t there and picking up the pen or stylus to draw was harder to do by the day.

Ironically, after losing my brother in 2022, I’ve been significantly much happier with my work. Because I have a main source of income not related to art, I can use my art as a personal hobby that occasionally brings in extra cash, rather than stressing to pay rent. I think it’s more important to focus on your own happiness than to try and find it elsewhere, and trying to get people to like my work for income was incredibly painful for me. With this new set up, I’ve never felt happier creating artwork at my pace, and when the occasional commission comes in, I can easily devote time to ensuring the piece comes out beautifully.

I do admit that I’m not 100% happy; I do have a lot of moments where I fall into sadness and it lingers for a good while. But compared to what I had gone through with the stress and pain, I am considerably happier and healthier for it.

Daniel-Andres, 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?

Well, my full name is Daniel-Andres Jimenez, and I used to focus on graphic design and illustration work since 2014. I was out of high school and I wanted to be able to earn money on something I enjoyed doing as a past time. And although I was able to make decent income during the years, the amount of stress that came with using commission work as a source of income was overbearing, honestly. And after losing my brother back in 2022, I realized that my mental health was more important, and putting my sole focus on the business was not helping.

I still handle commission work, but I’ve focused more on character illustrations and use my business as a recreational outlet, rather than a source of income. By taking the time to slow down the pace, I’ve been able to still enjoy my craft, earn some extra income every so often, but most importantly I’ve been able to better appreciate what my brother couldn’t do while he was alive. He had a lot of passions involving art and music, but his biggest desire was to improve and make a name for himself. Although I don’t aim to make myself “big” in the art community, I do embody his drive to improve my own craft and see how far I’ve come.

I think what really sets me apart from most other artists is the focus and drive. Although we all have our own problems, outlooks, and upbringings, most artists want to earn enough recognition so that they can have their artwork generate income for them, regardless if it becomes a main or supplemental source. But with what I dealt with, my main focus is to just improve on my artwork and help others express their innermost emotions or desires through my work. Money is always nice, but I’d rather take the time to ensure your piece comes out the way you want, rather than feeling like money was spent on something of lesser quality.

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

I’ve made several references in my past questions, but the main thing that took place was when my brother took his own life back in March of 2022. It caught everyone in our immediate family and friends off guard, and even when reading his journals after the fact…we couldn’t determine why he had decided to do that. He never cast blame on anyone, explained that his life was fine, everyone should have been just fine, and yet….he was miserable. And it hurt a lot to lose him, especially since he was someone I would go to sometimes for feedback on my work or to help me brainstorm new pieces. And I had even helped him get into the illustration field and helped him learn how to do digital work.

With him being gone, the desire to create art just hurt. I didn’t want to do anything that reminded me of him, or rather my lack of not spending time with him due to being engrossed in my own work. But after some time, I realized that putting off stuff that we both did together just wouldn’t have helped. Although I could have done things better in the past and make more efforts to spend time with him, through his journals it was evident that he enjoyed the art process and was happy to see me constantly learn a new technique or complete another commission. Although the drive to make my art as income is gone now, I want to focus my art on what he saw: self improvement, self expression, and enjoyment of the craft.

Are there any books, videos, essays or other resources that have significantly impacted your management and entrepreneurial thinking and philosophy?

I’d say the books that have helped me the most have been a mix of both art and self-help related. These are the books that I feel have helped me both as an artist and as a person.

“Drawing the Head and Hands” | “Figure Drawing – For All It’s Worth”
Art-centered books on analyzing the body and head by Andrew Loomis

“Fastest Way to Improve Illustration”
An art guide on how to quickly develop your art skills by Naoki Saito via a rigorous regime of illustration and self-analysis

“The Style of Loish” | “The Sketchbook of Loish” | “The Art of Loish”
A series of art books and guides by Lois van Baarle

“The Art of Tactics Ogre – Let Us Cling Together” | “Bravely Default Design Works – The Art of Bravely 2010-2013” | “Bravely Second Design Works – The Art of Bravely 2013-2015”
A collection of art books featuring the work of Akihiko Yoshida, a former Square Eniz character designer that has gone freelance and has also done character work for games including the Final Fantasy series, Nier: Automata, and varies other titles.

“Letting Go – The Pathway of Surrender” by David R. Hawkins | “You Can Heal Your Life” by Louise Hay
These two self-help books were what really helped me accept the trauma of losing my brother, as well as other traumas I endured in my childhood.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://colorico.art/
• Other: https://tumblr.com/colorico-art