Sergio Suarez is an illustrator and concept artist specializing in environment design: from conceptual drawings to color and mood sketches, from paintings to 2D or 3D assets for use in games or cinematics. Through his artistic works, Sergio is able to transmit not only an idea (about a scenery) but also the mood of a place in a precise moment, we are totally immersed in the evocative atmosphere of his tales. Inside every sketch there is a story that we perceive through the snapshot that he is giving us: we have a clue that tells us what happened or what will happen. We have reached Sergio Suarez for an interesting interview.
Where do you get your inspiration?
I get my inspiration from various sources, such as life, books or movies, but for the most part it is by looking at other artwork. There are artists out there that really amaze me, and most importantly inspire me to continue with my own ventures. I believe creating art should be done as a collective, since everyone has it inside themselves to be creative, whether to a lesser extent or not, so there has never been a time where i don’t either compare myself or take inspiration from others. Creativity is nothing more to me than the combination or recollection of what inspires you.
Which is the reletioship and influence beetween your cultural backgorund (country, studies, etc.) and your artworks?
There is very little that could be said about this relationship. I am from Cuba, and growing up I had no access to the internet, cell phones, computers, or even TV. Every so often, my family would obtain a movie from certain shady individuals that distributed DVDs, since it was illegal to own or sell any, and I received a lot of inspiration from these. Otherwise, I spent all of my time outside, namely in the wild (given that my home town is a a handful of miles across), climbing trees and having a good time with friends, and I think this cultivated my imagination more than anything else in my life. It was the equivalent of growing up in a different world free from the distractions of the every-day commodities. My artwork is largely inspired by video games though, which I had such a longing for growing up, and could finally fulfill upon arriving to the U.S. The only system I could play was a Super Nintendo, and this was in 2008, so that served as inspiration as well.
What are you much focused in?
Focus is something I practice every day of my life, and since I had no proper education in my field of study, I have focused lately on helping others who are in similar situations, or don’t have the resources or time to get an education. I make tutorials on CubeBrush for this very reason, and try to put a fair price that anyone can afford, while sharing what I have learned throughout the years. When I started however, I focused largely on becoming better via any means necessary, and as it turns out it’s only a matter of perseverance.
Have you encountered any difficulties when you first started your art/freelance career?
Of course! It has been, and still is, a very difficult road to travel on. This is particularly what makes me continue, realizing after a while that art really has no end, and that you are always a student, there is something about this that makes people either hate it or love it, and I feel the latter. Realizing as well that there will always be someone better, that you may never in your life be the best of the best, this is very attractive to me, because it means that there are so many wonderful people to learn from and work with. Starting up in art is also not an easy task, due to the fact that there are thousands of ways to start, and it is very hard to know what branch you want to study or even what you would like to accomplish without some guidance.
As far as clients; I am a very accommodating person, and consider myself to be very generous, so I had lots of trouble with clients in the beginning because I was so nice to them, that I was eventually taken advantage of and ended up working for very little. I later learned that there is nothing wrong with setting some value to yourself, and simply separate sentiment from business.
Over these years, what is the most important thing you have learnt from your profession?
To learn from others and appreciate others. There is something invaluable about making connections, and admitting that you could learn something from even the most untrained artist. Helping others to succeed and become better artists is the best way to help yourself, because as you help you also learn and grow as not only an artist but a person.
If you are an absolute beginner, it might not be the best idea to help others, instead, let yourself be helped, and follow the path which was laid out for you by other professionals instead of trying to forge your own. Eventually, you will also carve a path, and others will follow.
I do not mention things such as “learning the fundamentals really helped my work” because this is something that should be intuitive, and thousands of others have said before me.
Do you think that a creative job is just creativity or it’s discipline too?
Discipline! For the most part, while you may be doing something that you like, the actual job can be very tedious. It is still a job at the end of the day, enjoyable as it may be–and more often than not, you don’t get to exercise your creativity as often as you would like, and you may get redundant or boring tasks. Important and necessary as these tasks may be, someone needs to do them at the end of the day. I try to think about the end goal, as opposed to the short term creation of an amazing piece of art, and the fact that you are working toward the creation of something that took so much effort is reward enough for me.
Discipline is the most important thing you can get accustomed to, creativity always comes second, and contrary to what some may believe, i think discipline actually cultivates creativity as opposed to hindering it in any way.
Are you currently work on new projects?
I am working at the moment on a variety of projects, some have been put on hold, some are going really slowly, and some I actively work in and enjoy. Unfortunately, most of the things that I do and have done are under contracts (NDA), and thus cannot be shared.
Artist Website > www.sergiosuarezart.com
Instagram > @sergio_suarez_art
Artstation > www.artstation.com/sergiosuarez
CubeBrush > cbr.sh/ai429z