Today we’d like to introduce you to Stanley Nwosu.
Stanley, we’d love to hear your story and how you got to where you are today both personally and as an artist.
I grew up in a very strict household. My fondest memories were watching cartoon and playing video games. By the time I discovered anime that changed the game for me. I was super fascinated with the action and style of the shows that aired at the time. Spent most of my time as a child in front of the television and drawing my favorite characters. My mom wasn’t happy about it. She yelled at me and grounded me on multiple occasions when she will catch me drawing, watching cartoon or playing video games. Till the point, she would take away all of my games and restrict me from ever watching the television unless it was something educational. After all of that, all I had was a radio and paper to draw on in secret. My friends from school were awesome; I told them my situation, and they introduced me to comics and manga. I was never a model “A” student; I thought that school was lame and boring. I wanted to learn things that I was interested in. My mom told me that I can never make it as an artist and that people are making money off of me watching and indulging in their shows. “YOU CAN MAKE MONEY FROM MAKING CARTOONS?” At the time the internet was still new, and my parents banned me from ever using it. (haha) So I gave up on investigating how I can start. But I still drew when I can. By the time I was set to graduate high school and start going to big boy school, I was never interested in college. For the fact that I couldn’t do what I loved. Parents try forcing there hand and make me choose something in the medical field. I felt that I had no control over my life. But I had teachers that took interest in me, and they loved my drawings. They told me that there are schools for artists like myself. I was shook! Again I was never a model student, so my GPA was really low. So instead of going to Otis or Art Center, I went to the Art Institute instead. Got to meet awesome friends and get a better idea on how I can break in.
We’d love to hear more about your art. What do you do and why and what do you hope others will take away from your work?
I’ve tried almost everything when it came to creating art. I paint on canvas, shoes, hats, and shirts for starters. Then I got into sketching more, following that I even was a tattoo artist for a couple of years. My sense of style and art mostly came out of anime and video games when growing up. I’m mostly traditional with just a sketchbook and a pencil, but I have now transitioned my way into digital art. Using photoshop, paintool sai, and many other programs. I’m still learning how the professionals get stuff done with independent studying. I still don’t consider myself as a really good artist, but I’m trying to learn how to better myself every day. I wanted to show people that it’s okay to suck at art. And show people that you can become better by putting in the time and effort into your craft. This message can be applied to anything really. But all I want to do is help and inspire people to go after their dreams no matter what’s standing in there way. I’m just trying to prove this message by being an example. I came to this realization when I lost 100lbs of pure self-loathing fat. I used to be overweight all my life and when I started to take my weight issue seriously. I quickly joined a gym; I worked out every day sometime two times a day. I was 300lbs when I started, with consistency and determination I was able to drop to 200lbs of lean muscle! Feeling great and looking great, I figured that I could do the same thing with my artwork. And show people that If I can do it anyone can!
What do you think it takes to be successful as an artist?
Success is acknowledging how far you have come in your personal journey of self-improvement. Remembering where you started and where you are now. I think more people should look back more often. Its a great boost in morale! To be successful, you would need to have consistency and an obsessive nature over your craft. Let it consume you, not to the point where you drop off the face of the earth but to the point that you’re always hungry for information and knowledge — and taking action right after learning something new.
Do you have any events or exhibitions coming up? Where would one go to see more of your work? How can people support you and your artwork?
I mostly post all of my work on Instagram. But I also have a deviant art, youtube, facebook,twitter, and a Tiktok account. All my accounts have the same name “Getgudmillhouse.” Currently, I’m starting a community project where I’m creating a story that I have been writing for years. And If people follow my Instagram account and watch my stories they viewers get to vote on character designs that I should pick. So it feels like a group project, while I try to improve my skills by drawing my viewers’ favorite characters.
Contact Info:
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/getgudmillhouse/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Getgudmillhouse
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/GudMillhouse
- Other: youtube-getgudmillhouse
Image Credit:
Even though I drew and painted these images. The credit goes to Jojo’s bizarre adventures, and chance the rapper.
Getting in touch: VoyageLA is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
