Rising Stars: Meet Joy Martinez of Los Angeles

Today we’d like to introduce you to Joy Martinez.

Hi Joy, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I was born in Pleasanton California. My family moved to the Central Valley and resided in Clovis California. I lived there a majority of my life until moving to Los Angeles for college. I attended college at Otis College of Art and Design and majored in Digital Media with an emphasis in Game and Entertainment Design. Now I freelance, looking for commissions or full time work, truly open to whatever life throws at me and open to any artistic opportunities. Who knows where I will end up. I have always felt like I float where ever the ocean currents take me. My art style constantly changes daily and I blame my ADHD for that. Where ever I end up I know I will make the most of it and work as hard as I have to to show others my passion and drive.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Otis is where I truly flourished and found myself as an artist. Even though I discover new things about myself every other day I feel like I got a solid foundation of who I am through the intensive curriculum and through my friends and chosen family. Otis was an amazing experience for me but I found myself struggling tremendously through my first couple years there, mind you I transferred in as a Sophomore and continued until graduation in 2024. Otis was a huge struggle for me in the beginning and I blame that on the lack of education within the arts at an early age. My high school only had two art classes and most people there did not take them seriously. So I decided to express myself through music and study drawing in my free time. I always knew I wanted to be an artist but there was so much push back in the beginning with my family and my community. The Central Valley truly only cares about medical and agricultural education. I tried the medical system path and failed terribly… Back at Otis I felt I was so far behind my friends and peers in my artistic abilities. Also due to financial issues it was easier for me to transfer in rather than go all four years there and attend the “Foundation” year where the basics were drilled in. I felt behind everyone else so I felt like I had to study three times as hard to even catch up to their level. That hard work ethic was instilled to me by my mom and the creative drive I feel was given to me by my dad and brothers. Without my extremely supportive boyfriend and my family I know I would not have made it as far as I currently have without them, especially my mom <3. My senior year is honestly when I was driven to my maximum. I was preparing for my senior show and a lot of the art you see on my website was created weeks before the show. I truly thrived under that pressure to make beautiful and graphic art. I am grateful for all the late nights and friends to truly push my potential.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I am mainly a digital artist I also do traditional mediums like colored pencil, marker, oil, acrylic, and watercolor. A lot of my art is Visual Development and illustrations. Which means I enjoy doing the backgrounds and concept art for movies and tv, also video games. I enjoy stylized animation like Mitchell’s vs the Machines from Sony Animation. I enjoy that graphic and vibrant, and also exaggerated look. I feel like I am known for my vibrant and styleized artwork. The way I paint digitally reflects what I feel and visually see. Of course I do not see pink clouds but if the mood warrants it then that is what I am adding. If the grass is feeling blue as I am then I will match their energy. I feel most proud of my Griffith Observatory piece, that piece really set the tone and the mood of just how I feel as a person and an artist. I was inspired by the Graffiti of Los Angeles, the warmth of the sun, and the excited energy I had when I was there with my boyfriend Ryelyn. I made that piece my senior year at Otis, it was my final piece and my header piece I added last minute and I completed it within a couple hours and three weeks before the senior show. I felt so spontaneous which is scary to feel in an important time like that, but I wanted to capture my feelings and myself as an artist. I feel like what sets me apart from others is my vibrant outlook at life and my notice of texture and detail, and color shifts in the environment around me. Even just looking at snow there are hue shifts and chroma shifts my eyes pick up on and I tend to just exaggerate them and capitalize on the styleization of that.

( Afterthought, my work is heavily inspired by the early Master Impressionists, one of me and my boyfriend’s favorite Masters was Calude Monet. His visual style, with the blending of colors, the subtle yet noticeable shifts of hue truly inspired me and my current work and honestly my future work from here on out. I have studied so much of his work to get where I am at, which I like to think of my work like a graphic and modern impressionism. )

What were you like growing up?
Oh god, I was reluctant to do anything my parents wanted me to do. I just wanted to make them proud though so I continued to suck it up. If it were my choice I would have been playing with My Littlest Pet Shop toys and Disney Princess tea sets but instead I was in sports, a lot of sports, like honestly too many sports. I will just name them just to illustrate my disdain for each one. Soccer, I was goalie and picked grass while they ran around with a ball. Basketball, I don’t even know why. Tennis, I actually liked this one. Hockey, oh my god. My and brother and I would be fighting on purpose so I can be put into the goalie box because I did not want to play. All I wanted was the pair of figure skates to twirl and to skate with my best friends back then. Swimming, this one I was actually good at I won a lot of metals because I love the water. Anything with water, ocean, river, lake, pond, stream, RAIN, snow, clouds, I want it I need it. I will just assume it is because astrologically I am a Cancer.

Pricing:

• Comissions for digital prints: starting $40 depending on size
• Original scenes: Hourly $30 – I do backrounds, characters, and visual development for animation and games.
• I also paint acrylics and oil paintings: $ determined on size and material, also subject.
• Colored pencil and markers: $ determined on size and material, also subject.
• Open to any opportunities

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.joymardelarosa.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/joysjoyjoi
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joy-m-de-la-rosa-3b809a239