Today we’d like to introduce you to Gary Villarreal.
Hi Gary, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
Creativity has always been a part of my life. I had brothers that drew, a father that loved music, a mother that cooked up a storm and a sister that burned rugs with her dance moves. All of their passions subconsciously fueled my mind as a child. I grew up in a small town called Bryan, Texas and moved out to Los Angeles to become a Concept Artist almost three years ago. Choosing art as my career seemed like a joke at first, but life can have a funny way of panning out. I’ve always had an interest for drawing and often found ways to express myself creatively where ever I was. Whether in the meat market cooler, creating designs with a pressure washer on the dirty floor or drawing characters on the back of coupons when I was a cashier. There was always something to create. It was my way of venting. At the time, I didn’t have many plans most of which were stirred by the traditional route of going to college. I was finishing up classes at Texas A&M in their Visualization program with a focus in Animation. Yet I was secretly falling in love with Concept art in games, which I discovered late in my senior year. On top of that, I worked long hours at HEB, a grocery store in Texas. A place I ended up working ten years for. This place taught me a lot, and it kept me humble. However, being the only job I ever had, I grew an attachment and a fear to leave it. Yah, the money wasn’t great, but it was something I was used to. I was comfortable. This mindset is one that haunted me for years and still does today to a certain extent.
Once I graduated college, I kind of stayed idle. I was in limbo. Still working at the same spot and with hopes that my degree, like any other degree, would automatically get me a job. However, creative degrees work differently. It’s not about your GPA but more about the quality of your work. So no lie, my portfolio sucked. Plus, there were little hopes in finding a concept artist job in a small country town at the time. So I rebuilt my portfolio to suit a graphic design position. A year later, I applied for a package designer position within HEB and got a 3-month trial position. A position they ended up extending me for another year. And with that came the idea of success. I thought I made it. But whom was I kidding, deep down in my heart, I hated the work I was creating, and it clearly showed. Plus, my work desk was filled with monster drawings. Fortunately, after more than two years, they replaced me, and although I didn’t see it at the time, this was the best thing that ever happened to me. Being laid off shook my core and my mindset, but it made me realize the passion I was pushing aside all these years. 27 years old at the time, recently married and unemployed, I took the plunge and dedicated myself to developing my skills during the next seven months. I even was fortunate enough to work on some small freelance jobs. Until one random day, a friend from college contacted me about a full-time Concept Artist position out in Los Angeles and… well… the rest was history.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
I think every creative goes through a rough road. I haven’t met one that hasn’t so far and it’s always interesting hearing everyone’s story. It’s really just part of the ride, but it makes it so much valuable once you get to that space where you are truly comfortable with your art. I’d say I struggled a lot with finding my art style, or my voice as I call it. At the beginning, I mimicked a lot of artists that I admired and learned anatomy, perspective, etc. But I didn’t want to just produce duplicates or do fan art. I wanted to have a style that was easy to distinguish from others. It’s so much easier said than done, but you just have to keep pushing, practicing and listening to what speaks to you rather than what’s popular. Once you get to that space, the number of likes don’t matter anymore because you are truly producing what you love.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I am very proud of getting out of my shell and finally publishing an art book. I launched a kickstarter right after COVID in April 2020. I was very nervous that it wouldn’t be funded since all the craziness and honestly, as a creative, you always wonder if people will love your work enough to purchase from you. So many people had been asking if I would come out with a book for years. We all tend to procrastinate and push things as much as we can. In the end, I was glad I did because I was able to add a lot of artwork from across 2016 – 2020. It really shows the progression in style and I loved being able to show that in one book. Not only did the kickstarter get funded but also successfully fulfilling all the orders. It’s so much work but my wife and I pulled it off.
Is there a quality that you most attribute to your success?
So many qualities needed that I can think of, patience, perseverance, etc but what I feel really sets me apart is my visual storytelling. Don’t get me wrong, my actual storytelling is really awful. I find it hard to find the words to describe things and tell a story from beginning to end. But when it comes to an art piece, I always like to create characters with a story; Where are they from? What are they doing? What are they feeling? The facial expressions are never the same. I try to make the pieces dynamic, detailed and unique so that everyone can create their own story out of it.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.artstation.com/villarrte
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/villarrte
- Twitter: www.twitter.com/villarrte
Image Credits
Image of me: Isaac Parakhen
