We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Gerardo Venegas. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Gerardo below.
Alright, Gerardo thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. How did you learn to do what you do? Knowing what you know now, what could you have done to speed up your learning process? What skills do you think were most essential? What obstacles stood in the way of learning more?
I began as a self-taught artist from a young age, learning to trace and sketch things from my imagination. I also had the opportunity to grow my creativity as a kid by helping my mom design and set up bulletin board decorations for the day care she worked at. While in school I learned how to elaborate my ideas and skills into something more practical and eye catching. With age and wisdom, I started pursuing freelance work including new opportunities for creative projects with other local creatives, artists, and business partners. One of my favorite ways of continuing my learning post schooling is by working with like-minded individuals willing to give me any tips or skills they picked up along the way. Other than school and through others, learning on my own through reading, videos or life experiences has been most valuable. Having the knowledge and skills I have acquired over the years keeps me on my toes because you can never have enough knowledge about something you are passionate about.
Knowing what I know now, I have to say the one thing I could have done to speed up my learning process would be to have said yes more and taken more chances on myself vs wanting to be a perfectionist. The trial and error process has been the fastest learning process for me. I’ve learned and grown as an artist by taking away the fear of making mistakes and have created many things I didn’t even imagine to be possible to begin with. The best mindset you can have when creating is a positive one!
The skills I find most essential for my work are hand control, which I find helpful in being able to get the exact stroke for each painting or project I work on. Sometimes I feel I just get lucky, but mostly I know I’ve been doing it for what seems to be forever so it’s second nature. Understanding color theory was a huge help for me as well. When clashing with unfamiliar colors, or some that may seem to be not a good match, there are always ways of making them work together with a poetic balance.
I feel the main obstacle that got in my way of learning and still gets the best of me from time to time is procrastination and time management. While I love working on multiple projects at a time, I tend to focus on projects I like more than others and cut it close to the due date on others as a result. While I tend to thrive under the pressure of a clock, I also feel it held me back from growing to my full potential as quickly as I could have.
Gerardo, 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 am a multimedia artist, born and raised out Houston, Texas. Most of my work is hugely inspired with a Houston influence and a strong graffiti presence. I do a wide variety of work including but never limited to; portraits, graffiti lettering, landscapes, logos, designs for promo items and more! I got into freelancing mainly through word of mouth by getting clients from mutual friends or networking to find others in need of someone with my skill set. Every relationship is something I value and try to use to my advantage by creating new opportunities through people who trust me and my skills. I create designs for anyone with a vision – including logos, clothing designs, murals, canvas work, graffiti lettering, graffiti portraits, animal portraits, family portraits, personal paintings, and any other ideas my amazing clients can challenge me with.
I like to have a discussion with a new client or about new projects beforehand to be sure I can execute the project, match the vision the client has, and offer any other creative ideas they might not have thought of initially. By doing this, I am able to obtain a mutual vision with my client by bringing their ideas to life and making it something they didn’t see possible before. I enjoy being challenged with new projects and ideas just as much as I love challenging my clients to trust the vision and relationship we have created together. I love the feeling of creating something of value for someone that they can cherish as their own one of a kind piece. As a freelance artist, I am continuously growing and becoming better at what I do. While I thrive in my element of my own style, I would love to let anyone who’s potentially thinking about working with me in the future, I am open to adjusting and trying new things to meet the creative idea you might be holding on to! Expect to see tons more work around the city from me along with some new skills I’ve been working on.
What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?
I would say the most rewarding aspect of being a creative would definitely be when I create something for the client more than they expected. I love to see the smile of happiness or tears of joy when revealing the final product. I take a lot of pride and joy in the feeling of having accomplished something unimaginable for someone and receiving such genuine joy and appreciation as a result.
Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?
My main goal driving my creative journey is to try to emotionally move and effect as many individuals as I can with my artwork and creative influences. I try to take on as many new and unusual tasks or concepts, so I can slightly be more effective in many aspects of art or art forms.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: @GerryVega5
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100072547152046
- Linkedin: https://linktr.ee/cubesha
- Other: https://www.sophisticatedsociety.social/
Image Credits
Jesse Soto https://jexsestudios.com/contact Colleen Packman https://linktr.ee/bigreputationmedia