Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Rich Pellegrino. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Hi Rich, thanks for joining us today. What do you think it takes to be successful?

What I think it takes to be successful are a handful of things working in tandem. The first for me personally would be a passion and interest in what it is. I’m trying to be successful at. If I’m not 100% committed and engaged with the subject, then large growth and success will not come quickly or at all. Further, a consistent workmen like approach to creating is essential. Creating a rhythm of work flow will lead to consistent growth and stability. Given the creative.nature of work I am in, that repetition of creation snowballs into new approaches to idea building.

I approach each project with a consistent beginning. Obviously, you have to read thoroughly and understand the clients needs and branding. What are they after? Then given the subject matter explore all research opportunities related to it. This will lead to unrelated areas that may become interesting to intersect into the work. Being open to this is essential to my approach. However, this lead to time waste as well. So, time management is integral to the process. Then I’ll move onto the sketch, ideation phase, exploring design in composition, all within the context of my idea. From there, I’ll refine the sketch into a tighter drawing and create color studies. Once those are approved I will work on the final.

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 Rich Pellegrino, and I am an illustrator and painter based in Massachusetts. I have a BFA from RISD and an MFA from NEC. My clients range from film and TV studios such as Warner Bros. creating licensed posters for their properties to book publishing kids books and young adult Science Fiction fantasy picture books. I’ve moved into gallery work and have exhibited globally. And recently I have worked with professional sports teams creating illustrations for Gameday posters, and their social media channels. Some project highlights are creating the faux Egon Schiele painting scene in Wes Anderson’s Grand Budapest Hotel film, beer label for Blue Moon, marketing campaign Xbox’s acquisition of Bethesda games, and a illustration of Tom Brady used in the NFL West Coast headquarters based in California.

What I enjoy most is getting to work with clients on projects that speak to their fan bases. With my recent work in sports, I have had tremendous fun creating illustrations from the point of view of a fan for the fans. I’ve been countless games spanning multiple sport leagues and have played sports much of my life, so getting to capture that excitement in an illustration that will be seen by fans of teams celebrating their favorite players is amazing

The collaborative process working with clients solving visual problems a huge part of the fun for me. How do I present the idea? How does it communicate? How am I approaching composition? How do I integrate type within the artwork? These are all things that are fascinating and part of the creative challenge of making interesting work.

Finding my artistic voice was very important for me early on. What made my work mine was important to me, and it’s something I hope current and future clients enjoy. In fact, what I want most from people when they look at my work is to see the joy I have and making it. If that comes through then for me, it is personally successful. It is my hope others see that.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

The community is one of the most rewarding aspects of being creative. We come from many different backgrounds, but we all connect through the art. I found in all the genres of illustration I’ve worked in the friends I made were very open with their knowledge. A lot of it was just talking shop about favorite artwork or different types of paint, etc. When I started out, I used to work with other painters collaborating on the same artwork. We would paint on giant boards with inventing figures and new realities to explore all through the paint. That sort of freedom is something I’ve seen in music often, but not so much with art, which is often done singularly in the vacuum. Social media has opened up so much opportunity for collaboration and discussion so now I can collaborate with people across the globe artwork over the Internet. It may not be the same as a giant painting, but the intentions still there.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

I had to figure out how to approach clients that would be a good fit for the work I made. Sometimes clients have a specific look in mind, and I may not fit that aesthetic as well. It could be a new design direction or a simple matter of taste. Working in a vacuum, where the judgment of work is more subjective than not, it could be confusing for a young artist, and that is something I found at the start of my career. What’s my experience now? I understand that it’s not as simple as and can be quite a complicated decision process.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.richpellegrino.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/richpellegrinoart/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rich-pellegrino-art

Image Credits

Image Copyright © 2020-2024 Rich Pellegrino