We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Hector Castillo a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hector, thanks for taking the time to share your stories 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?

Learning different tricks and ways to understand how to manifest the things within your imagination or even what is in front of you is always exciting. Things like learning how to simplify subjects into the most basic shapes really changes the way you see the world. Due to the fact that I loved finding out all these different ways to deconstruct and reconstruct the world I stayed on Youtube and Deviantart looking for all sorts of tutorials and one that I still use today was a how to draw a dragon tutorial on Deviantart. I was in 6th grade and this tutorial made one of the coolest mythical creatures accessible to me, All it took was a circle and four lines and you could make any dragon you wanted! I spent hours just doodling little dragons all over my notebooks. Learning all these techniques is amazing but getting to apply that knowledge is what makes art so fun.

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.

My name is Hector Castillo and I’m a creature designer living in Washington D.C.. Since I was very young I loved creating new worlds especially drawing out the different organisms living in those spaces and once I found out that I could make that my job I knew I had to go for it. A lot of my work leans toward creating cute cartoony creatures similar to something like Pokemon or Digimon. Often times I design merchandise based on the creatures I create such as pins, keychains, posters, toys and many other little trinkets. I’m currently working on creating a trading card game based on my designs. I’ve always loved collecting art and I know many others who do as well, so I thought what better way to collect art than through trading cards. I post most of my work and news on my projects on my Instagram account, Sephire25.

What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?

There are so many things that can be done to support artists and to create a thriving creative ecosystem. Making art as accessible as possible is one way. I think that because we can simply go to google images now that people have come to believe that that’s as accessible as art can get but I disagree. For example being able to visit art museums here in DC for free is something that made studying and gathering references so much easier but many people throughout the country don’t have that kind of luck because museums are for those who can afford them. Art museums are sources of inspiration, and while I’m not sure of the etymology of the word it is quite fitting for it to shelter the word muse within it. Also monetary support for smaller galleries would give more spaces of inspiration for folks. All public schools should have art programs because like so many like to say kids are the future. So often children are told that being an artist isn’t a real job, that it is a waste of time, that focus should be only directed toward other subjects like math or history but if all children listened to those kinds of comments we wouldn’t have all these incredible movies, and songs, and games that we so love to consume. A kid should not have to choose between arts and academics because they can have both. Provide spaces in cities where art is celebrated and hire artists to partake in these projects. I’ve been seeing multiple of these projects in DC actually, one of the more recent ones being for showcasing art at certain Metro stops throughout the city. Art is made for the people so let them have it. Let them experience the beauty of what they can create. Show them, Inspire them, and provide a space to let their imaginations run. Also get rid of the privatized for profit monster of a healthcare system we have in the states because as we all know you can make more art the healthier you are. More affordable housing would also help artists and creative environments thrive. You have to be able to afford living if you are going to pursue something like art and currently this society is making survival impossible. Like I said, many things can be done.

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

I have multiple goals, but a big one I find myself falling back on is making younger me proud. Making all the worlds that he would’ve loved to see but could not create. Making pieces that he’d try to copy on his sketchbooks. Making work he’d print and paste to his folders and binders. I want to make the child I was so proud of how far he’s come. I also want to keep that small flame that little me left behind alive by having fun while I bring these worlds to life.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://linktr.ee/sephire25
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sephire25/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/sephire26
• Other: Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/sephire25.bsky.social