We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Fian Arroyo a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Fian, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Did you always know you wanted to pursue a creative or artistic career? When did you first know?
As far back as I can remember, I always new I would pursue a creative/artistic path professionally. When I was 5 years old I made my first dollar making a clay dog for our neighbor, a veterinarian, and created paper puppets for a kids show on the military base we were living on in Japan at the time. It really kicked into gear when I discovered the artwork of fantasy artist Frank Frazetta in high school which really motivated me to study illustration at Southwest Texas State (now Texas State) where I graduated with a BFA in commercial art and a minor in fine art. I remember when I was a young teen my mother was cutting my hair (she did a terrible job at by the way) and criticizing my longish hair and saying I was never going to get anywhere looking like that. She said, in her thick Puerto Rican accent, “One day you are gonna have to get a job where you will have to wear a suit and tie and cut your hair short like everyone else.” I replied, “One day I’m going to be an artist and wear what I want to wear and grow my hair as long as I want and you won’t be able to stop me.” She laughed out loud but I came back with “You’ll see one day mom…you’ll see.” After her initial reluctance of my career choice, she eventually realized how well I was doing and accepted the path I had chosen for myself. That moment was the flame that started the fire that has been burning in me ever since.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
While I was still in college, I got a part time job as an in-house illustrator for a small graphic design studio in San Antonio, Texas. During my senior year, I left the design firm and started to freelance doing illustration work for advertising agencies in town. After graduating college, I moved to Miami, Florida and started my career as a humorous illustrator. Being very personable and fun to work with, my ability to problem solve and conceptualize visually, and possessing artistic execution skills, I immediately started to get illustration assignments from ad agencies, design firms and magazines in the area. I even had a brief stint as a staff illustrator for the Miami Herald but soon realized that freelancing was the way for me where I was now starting to get work on a national level. After years of a successful career illustrating, I moved my family to Weaverville, North Carolina to get away from the big city and decided to pursue my initial love for fantasy art to accompany my illustration career. I got into a local art gallery in downtown Asheville, NC and then started to get into other galleries in the area as well as some out of the area. I started applying to the most prestigious fantasy art shows and comic cons in the country and immediately was juried into them and before I knew it I was traveling the country and creating art for the galleries and shows. My schedule can be a little nutty nowadays juggling two careers, illustration and fantasy art, but I am fulfilled by getting the best the both worlds have to offer. This includes being recognized by my peers nationally and worldwide by having my art accepted into awards books such as The Society Of Illustrators NYC, The Society Of Illustrators Los Angeles, Spectrum The Best In Contemporary Fantasy Art and Infected By Art.
Is there a mission driving your creative journey?
Being able to make a good living doing something you love to do is a true blessing and I am forever grateful for it. I will probably never retire because this is what I would be doing if I were retired. Whenever I am at a show and someone connects with one of my pieces and has that look in their eyes and tells me they just have to have it because it brings them joy, it just reaffirms I made the right choice in going down the path I did. I guess my mission is bringing a little happiness into the world one piece of art at a time.
Have any books or other resources had a big impact on you?
When I first started my career, I read an article in Print magazine where a photographer had read Ayn Rand’s book “The Fountainhead” and how it impacted his view on his career. That inspired me to read the book and it had a big impact on me as well. The book is about an architect who goes through tremendous obstacles and hardships due to sticking to the integrity of his work and not going with the main stream but being original and in the end reaping the rewards of sticking to his guns. I recommend this book to any creative.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.fian.com
- Instagram: Fian_Arroyo_art
- Facebook: FianArroyoIllustration
- Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/fianarroyoillustrator
- Twitter: @fianarroyo
Image Credits
All art images copyright Fian Arroyo Photo copyright Audrey Goforth