Today we’d like to introduce you to Serena Romero.
Serena, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I have a lot of artists in my family, so I’ve always been surrounded by creative people. My Dad is a professional caricature artist, so growing up, my parents and I traveled to arts and crafts shows all around Texas. This was a fantastic experience for me, as I really got to know so many amazing communities and meet so many incredible people. Around twelve, I began drawing alongside my father as an “artist in training.” I would offer free drawings in order to gain practice. It was very fun and helped me build a lot of confidence. Eventually, I reached a professional level, and by the time I reached college, I launched my own art business.
Besides being a caricaturist, I am also an enthusiastic comic book artist. While I have always enjoyed newspaper comics, such as “Calvin and Hobbs” or “The Far Side”, I didn’t fall in love with superhero comics until middle school. A friend introduced me to the Avengers, and I was instantly hooked. Next thing I knew, I was spending my weekends drawing my own weekly superhero comic. Most of the comic books I was reading at the time took place in New York, so I wanted to create a superhero story that felt closer to home. My story was about a saxophone player called “The Jazzmaster”, who protects the city of Austin using his musical superpowers. This started my love and appreciation for drawing the Austin landmarks and cityscape, which is a theme that continues throughout my art. I didn’t know it at the time, but all those childhood comics I drew gave me the foundational art skills needed for my illustrative work later on.
In college, I studied anthropology with a minor in digital arts and media, at the University of Texas. This allowed me to learn the digital tools to bring my artwork to a new level of professionalism. I also wrote a weekly newspaper comic called “The Forty Acre Blues,” for the university’s student newspaper, “The Daily Texan”. The title of the comic is a reference to the university’s nickname, the Forty Acres, after the original size of the campus. The series was about student life and the lives of the local animals, such as the turtles, pigeons, and squirrels. It was nominated in 2017 for a national cartooning award by the Associated Collegiate Press.
Going forward, my goals include expanding into dog caricatures, continuing my illustrations, and publishing my first graphic novel.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
When I first entered college, I had actually wanted to be an astrophysicist. One of the events my family visited when I was a little girl was the NASA hot air balloon festival. I got to meet all the astronauts and get a behind the scenes tour of the control rooms. Since then, I was determined to study astronomy at the University of Texas. I held onto that dream throughout my school years, and even started an astronomy club at my high school. Unfortunately, once I entered college, I began to struggle academically. After working in a physics lab as part of a freshman program, I came to the hard realization that lab work was simply not what I wanted to do. I made the difficult decision to leave my science major.
At first, I didn’t know what to switch into, and it became a time of great self-doubt and uncertainty for me. While I was already doing caricatures at the time, I hadn’t yet settled on making art a full-time career. Many of the councilors I met with expressed apprehension about the change and were occasionally outright dismissive of my previous caricature experience. It can be hard sometimes for people to understand what my job actually is unless they’ve seen me draw in person. Eventually, I had to let go of what other people thought was best for me, and lean into what I knew was best for myself. Around that time, I took my first Anthropology course. Anthropology is the study of people, and as a major, can provide a rather broad and well-rounded skill set. While not translating to a specific career, it provided me with the flexibility and customization to learn a lot of useful skills that would help me with my art career later on. This included things such as research, writing, photography, social media, graphic design, and more. Combined with a minor in digital arts and media, it soon became the perfect combination to achieve my career goals.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
The main part of my work is caricatures. I love to draw people. I specialize in speed drawings, meaning each face takes about 60-90 seconds. This speed allows me to work large events such as weddings, football games, project graduations etc. I often work alongside my father, as part of a duo we call “Crazy Fast Caricatures.” I can draw large groups of up to five people, allowing me to draw whole families. I also love to do pet caricatures and have worked at several pet-themed events. I’ve drawn animals ranging from dogs and cats, to the more unique and exotic ones such as horses, chameleons, and even hedgehogs. Through my caricatures, I get the privilege of meeting people from all over the world. There are families that have made it a tradition to get their picture drawn from me every year. I’ve had some clients tell me they mailed their drawing to a loved one overseas. Overall, I am grateful to have a job that makes people happy.
When it comes to my comic work, I enjoy drawing urban settings, especially my local Austin community. I can often be seen taking reference photos of the city skyline, the buildings, and other important landmarks. My other illustrative work includes many elements of sci-fi and fantasy, such as robotic chihuahuas, space aliens, and magical creatures. The graphic novel I am currently working on, entitled “Santa and the Sandman,” includes a lot of holiday folklore and fantastical elements. Much of this work can be read on my website.
Alright so before we go can you talk to us a bit about how people can work with you, collaborate with you or support you?
You can find my work on my website www.serenathecartoonist.com, as well as email me at smrome3@yahoo.com.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://serenathecartoonist.com
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@SerenaTheCartoonist
