Today we’d like to introduce you to Andrew Orozco.
Andrew, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
What can I say, I’ve had a lot of similarities with the stories of other artists. I grew up drawing as a kid. Give me a pencil, a crayon, marker, anything, and I was drawing up a storm with pirate ships, trucks, favorite video game characters, etc. My mother actually pulled up some old books I did in 2nd grade where I talked about playing Nintendo and Sega Genesis with my cousin with accompanying illustrations. Video games and art were basically my favorite things almost to the point that it was unhealthy, at least to my mother. “You’re gonna go blind!” she would always tell me as I was hopping over green pipes with Mario.
During my youth, my parents would take me to the library often. I was always seeking books on how to draw cars and comic book characters. We would also stay for arts and crafts at the library and working with scissors and construction paper just felt natural. Really, anything artistic felt natural to me. After I had received my own set of actual drawing pencils in middle school, I kept making art with my favorite video game and comic book characters. Mind you, I had no classic training. The art classes I did have, I actually didn’t do so well in them. I hated them and how structured they were and how it forced me out of my comfort zone with mandatory techniques. I ignored the fundamentals for many years, and eventually just threw them out altogether. Slowly, I started to notice my skills plateau, and I eventually stopped drawing as I started college.
I didn’t finish my first run in college. I dropped out with a butchered transcript after many years of failed attempts at school. I had called it quits. Mainly because I was never able to enroll in the classes I needed. I had dreamed of becoming a mechanical drafter and designing cars for Japanese car brands but had to let go of that idea. I had even taken classes in 3D animation but was discouraged by my teachers saying it was an overly saturated job market. Not until I was 28 did I actually decide to return to college, but I had returned in hopes of something completely different but still get that “paper.”
My return to higher education wasn’t until 2015 with intentions to go back to school for graphic design or marketing design. The counselors at Irvine Valley College decided it would be best if I studied Studio Arts since they were required for either path I chose. I ended up enjoying traditional mediums so much. I forced myself to forget everything I knew about art to get rid of my bad habits and start anew. That’s when my artistic abilities really took form and made me believe I actually could have a career in making art.
When researching my options on how to get hired as an artist, I immediately thought of my favorite video game artwork that I had seen on covers and in games. Among these artworks, I had admired the works of Yoji Shinkawa and Ayami Kojima, both whom made artwork for some of my favorite titles, Castlevania and Metal Gear Solid. Though they are more illustrative as artists, they were still regarded as concept artists which made me want to pursue that direction. I’ve been at Laguna College of Art + Design for the past couple of years where I’m studying in my last semester now with an emphasis in concept art, taking everything I’ve learned to build a portfolio full of hard surface concepts. I guess I’ve made a full circle with mechanical design, now just focused for video games instead!
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
It was definitely not a smooth road. I had many personal trials and tribulations over the years. Dropping out of college was extremely disheartening. I thought I’d never go back to school when I was told my transcript wasn’t salvageable. Life kept kicking me down over the years and the one thing that I felt solace in was creating art. Drawing was always my crutch, though it never should have been used so sparingly. I only confided in my artistic sense when I hit rock bottom, and boy how I’ve hit the bottom sometimes. There was a time when a long term relationship of mine had ended in such a turbulent way after what almost lasted nearly a decade. I was stuck with a mortgage, my house suffered a burglary shortly after, I was falling into debt trying to stay afloat, and dealt with a deep depression for nearly a year in a house that no longer felt like a home. It took me two long years of mustering up my confidence and courage to continue onward in life. I had to lean on family and friends while picking up the remains of my shattered life.
Much of my time and efforts went into fixing up my house for sale and move to a different city to start anew. I chose to move to Orange county after spending over 20 years in the High Desert and with the move, I had shifted my career to one in hospitality which was new and different to me. Things were finally looking up, yet, I still wasn’t satisfied with where I was in life. After having listened to my family repeatedly telling me to go back to school over the years, I eventually went back, enrolled in the art program. At first, I wanted to take it slow, just try a couple of classes at a time because I had a big disadvantage this time around. I had to work full time to survive in Orange County. However, pressures of life and aspirations told me I needed to have it done as soon as possible before I get too old. So I dove in with a full school schedule knowing I had a full-time work schedule but I had to make it work. There was no more messing around as I had to prove to myself and everyone that I was capable of success. I have learned to thrive in the face of challenge and to keep fighting for what I want in life. So how did that go? Well, I managed to get two associate art degrees within two years, maintaining a perfect transcript. I left Irvine Valley College with Summa Cum Laude honors. I had ditched the idea of graphic design when I saw that my art skills were sharpened tremendously as my love for creating traditional art rose to new heights.
I had entered the IVC Student and Faculty Art Exhibition and was awarded Best in Show for my charcoal drawings. My artwork also had won an award in acrylics in an Orange County Fine Arts members exhibition. My determination was firing on all cylinders and I had no intentions to stop, even if I derail. There is an unfortunate saying that goes, “the path to success is often a lonely one.” There were many long nights of frustration, anxiety and self-doubt, with a crammed schedule that often pushed friends and loved ones away. I know my path is one that is followed by only a few and I don’t wish it upon the worst of my enemies but one that I created for myself to feel fulfilled. At times I felt I was maybe being selfish, but if I don’t do this for myself, how will I change for the better? This dilemma often stays with me as I continue onward, but I try to balance it by helping those around me and trying to inspire those that feel they either can’t keep up or that they’ve strayed from their own paths. I also learned a difficult lesson of the importance of making time for those that matter in your life, no matter how busy life gets.
We’d love to hear more about your work and what you are currently focused on. What else should we know?
I am a hard surface artist that works with both 2D and 3D workflows. I create concepts featuring vehicles, weapons, props, and environments for game development. My starting point is usually somewhat loose as I try to give all my works and designs a sense of movement but I tighten up the designs with crisp linework. Designing with hard surfaces means I typically stay within sci-fi genres but I never try to aim for complete realism, giving my concepts a sense of fantasy to them.
I’d say I am most proud of my abilities to design with function and believability. If I can make my concept designs feel like they are grounded in the imaginations of my audience, then I know I have done my job right. My aim is to build sci-fi worlds and fill them with mechanical designs. I feel that my line quality and design aesthetics set me apart from other concept artists.
What were you like growing up?
Growing up, I was really quiet with a mind that ran fast. I was always a fast learner and my parents fed into that by teaching me math and writing very young. I was able to skip ahead a full year in the middle of my kindergarten year and finish up with first grade since I already learned simple math functions at home with my parents. I went to five different elementary schools so I never got to really make friends with other students. My closest friends were my cousins and I would hang out with them nearly everyday. One of my fondest and oldest memories is a day where I watched Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze when it released in theaters. I must have been about five years old and still remember having pizza and ice cream afterwards and playing arcade games.
Having to grow up in the 90’s meant watching Saturday morning cartoons, having action figures of favorite comic book heroes, and playing my favorite video games. I always surrounded myself with video games because I loved every minute of playing them either with my friends and family or alone. My NES was my most cherished belonging for the longest time. Heck, my online profile for my art accounts is an old photo of me wearing 3d glasses and a Bartman shirt and an NES controller in my hands. Too cool for school!
Even through my teenage years, I was still relatively quiet, though I actually made more friends through high school. I hung out with the metal kids and even joined a band as a guitarist. I spent my afternoons filling up sheets of paper with drawings that may or may not have carried over the next day while in class. I probably should have been more attentive in class instead of doodling but hey, I still graduated early!
Contact Info:
- Website: andreworozco.artstation.com
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: instagram.com/andreworozcoart
- Twitter: twitter.com/andreworozcoart
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