Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Marcel Santos. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Hi Marcel, thanks for joining us today. Are you 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?
I’ve always known I wanted to be an Artist, there was never any other option for me because creating art is what brought me genuine joy. It did not happen over night as you may imagine, there were countless trial and errors, good and bad days, but I never thought about giving up, that thought never crossed my mind. I started by setting up stations at board walks around LA. I was inspired by, and took that idea from when I was younger and took a trip to the beach with my parents, there I saw Artists on the board walk drawing caricatures, people’s pets and etc… So a few months after that, I saved enough to buy the necessary materials to have a similar set up. Every weekend after that I took a bus to Venice, Santa Monica and even Universal City Walk, to set up my station and try to earn money by drawing people. Due to my unique style of art, it wasn’t long before I started to garner attention from locals and people who would visit those places. Before I knew it, the line of people waiting to get art from me started to get bigger, and bigger, and every weekend the line would increase… And shortly after that, it started to be a little more than I can handle on my own. Eventually, I met a lovely older couple who adored my unique style of art, who so happened to own an Art Gallery in LA. Before I knew it, I was doing Art Shows and selling my paintings for a decent amount of money. But none of that would’ve happened if I didn’t put myself out there. To answer your question, knowing what I know now… Yes, I could’ve sped up the process by simply “launching” before my projects were perfect. If you’re reading this now and you are a creative, one of the biggest advices I’m able to give you is… just launch, your product, your webstore, whatever you’re trying to accomplish, it doesn’t need to be perfect. Launch it and don’t waste time. Perfect your project along the way, don’t wait for a perfect time or place. Just launch it.
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.
For those of you who haven’t yet read about me or seen my work, my name is Marcel and I’m an Artist. I paint in oils and I have a very distinct style of art which has become very popular within the last few years. I specialize in creating very fun art that could be found in many restaurants, hotels and businesses around the country. And as of late, after many tries, I finally managed to go international. My art style can be categorized as contemporary art, because it is very modern. Inspired by the movie (Who Framed Roger Rabbit) and the character Jessica Rabbit… I paint what I see, capturing the glamorous night life around LA bars, nightclubs, concert halls & red carpet events, as well as the emotions displayed within those environments. Known for painting themes such as, music, lust, love & relationships, I try to capture anything from people’s personality traits, to their fashion styles and behaviors. During my years as an Artist many have called me “the backwards artist.” That’s due to the fact that the titles of my paintings always come before the painting itself, which is highly unusual in this field as many artists upon finishing their paintings, would then come up with a title for them. Because of that, collectors and art lovers really connect with my work, and I personally think it is due to the fact that every single one of my paintings has a story behind it. Stories that may have either happened to me, someone I know, or simply just something I witnessed or someone who stood out to me in my day to day life.
What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?
In my humble opinion, something people could do to help support Artists is to buy art from living Artists. I understand that there are collectors who love art from Artists who are no longer with us, and that’s totally ok. But buying art from living Artists will ensure a new generation of Artists for the future, and that will undoubtedly help an Artist to keep the flame of their passion burning brighter and longer. My top collectors buy art from me, because it is from me… They got to know my story, they got to know why I do what I do, and they choose to support me, which I’m eternally thankful for. So I’d like to encourage all the readers to buy art from living Artists. You may be browsing social media and you may stumble upon some art you really like and connect with, contact that Artist and purchase some art from them, it will make their day, I promise!
Are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?
That is a great question, I was recently talking to a friend of mine about this… A resource I wish I knew about earlier was, Social Media and how to properly use it. Here’s what I mean… The art world is changing, and changing fast. Unfortunately due to social media, people nowadays are less inclined to visit an Art Gallery to shop and purchase their art. Social media made it more possible for artists to put themselves out there and cut out the middle man so to peak. Please do not misunderstand me, if you’re an Artist and you’re reading this, you absolutely need Art Galleries. The point I’m trying to illustrate is that I wish I had used social media a little better when I was first starting out. Social media can be both very good, and very bad, I call it a double edge sword. Let’s get to the obvious, the good… You can easily put yourself out there by posting regularly and using the proper and recent tools and hashtags. Now let’s get to the less obvious, the bad… One thing I noticed about social media, specially for creatives is that, before you know it you’ll find yourself creating content you think people will like, versus content you yourself like. I too found myself on that trap, struggling to post something because I haven’t posted in a week, so you create something you think people will like… But when you do that, you lose yourself as an Artist little by little. I suggest you put out content that you like and enjoy yourself, and by doing that you’ll attract people to you that enjoy and like the same things you do. That creates authenticity, and people crave authenticity. There’s too much of the same out there nowadays, all the movies, books and even art are getting less and less authentic. And the only way to make it as an Artist is to be authentic, to be you. If you can do that, you’ll grow your business in no time… That’s what I wish I knew earlier.
Contact Info:
- Website: marcelsantos.com
- Instagram: @marcelartstudio
- Facebook: Facebook.com/marcelartstudio
- Twitter: @marcelartstudio
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@marcelartstudio4161