Art & Life with Oscar Rodriguez

Today we’d like to introduce you to Oscar Rodriguez.

Oscar, please kick things off for us by telling us about yourself and your journey so far.
I was born and raised in Los Angeles, CA. I’m the youngest of 4 siblings. I’ve been freelancing as a painter and photo retoucher for the last 3 1/2 years. Growing up I loved drawing. I was inspired by my late uncle Jesus Rodriguez who worked at Hannah Barbera Studios for over 20 years. He taught me how to draw some of their characters like The Smurfs & The Flintstones from a young age. I think I was the only kid in kindergarten that wasn’t drawing stick figures. I always wanted to work in a creative field, but I was never clear on what or how I could do that. I struggled with school and dropped out of 2 colleges before completing a program at Brooks College, Long Beach in 2003. By that time I had already been working with DAMAGE, an independent comic book company as a colorist and cover artist for a few years. I was also making photoreal airbrushed canvas paintings during that time. Eventually, I worked at a small animation studio in Burbank, CA as a colorist and production artist but work was slow, so I had to move on. That’s when I landed a job with a pre-press company, and I was introduced to photo retouching for publication. I loved it and excelled at it; I believe that because of my painting background I was approaching difficult problems better than my colleagues. Somewhere in this timeline, I bought a digital camera to take photos of my paintings. I fell in love with photography and later partnered up with my best friend to offer photography services. We shot weddings and portraits for some years. Within the last 12 years or so, I’ve worked on-site as a senior pre-press specialist/photo retoucher for various publications such as Playboy, Hollywood Reporter, and Billboard.

Can you give our readers some background on your art?
With landscape photography, I hope to inspire people and bring a sense of appreciation and wonder to get out and explore the world. I’ve spent most of my adult life working in front of a computer and just failing to make it a point to get outdoors once in a while to appreciate some of our amazing national parks. Landscape photography is a nice balance for me. It pulls me away from a computer and motivates me to go places. I often ponder on spirituality, psychology, astronomy, and philosophy, and I aspire to convey that in my work.

What responsibility, if any, do you think artists have to use their art to help alleviate problems faced by others? Has your art been affected by issues you’ve concerned about?
I don’t think world issues affect my art personally, but I do think in general that artists can help sway or influence change especially when they have a wide audience. I’m a fan of artists like Mear One & Obey Giant for their bold street art.

What’s the best way for someone to check out your work and provide support?
My work can be found on www.o-scar.com. My landscape photography is on instagram @oscarimagines and my retouching account is @oscars.retouching

Contact Info:

• Website: www.o-scar.com
• Email: info@o-scar.com
• Instagram: @oscarimagines

Image Credit:
Profile portrait shot by Yazemeenah Rossi.
Photo of me with Jack Nicholson painting taken by Steve Lucero.

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