Today we’d like to introduce you to Forrest Coloroso.
Forrest, we’d love to hear your story and how you got to where you are today both personally and as an artist.
I’ve always been drawn to art ever since I was young. I was drawing as soon as I could pick up a pencil. I had a troubled childhood and art was always there to help me cope and get out of my headspace. When I was 19, I had an uncle sit me down to have the “what do you want to do with your life” speech. I said I wanted to be an artist. He pretty brutally shot me down and being young and impressionable and more than a little naive I let his talk hurt me more than I should have. I stopped creating for about ten years. One day I was doodling a character I was playing during a Dungeons and Dragons game I was playing with some friends, and one of my friends loved my drawing and asked me to draw his character, even offered to pay me for it. That’s really all it took to bring the spark right back. I practiced on my own for about a year after that stubbornly sticking to the notion that being “Self taught” was some kind of badge of honor or something. But I realized I had hit the ceiling on what I could learn on my own. I decided to get some formal training and enrolled in Palomar college and worked for the next several years to get both graphic design and illustration associates degree. My art has been improving every day since I made that decision. As an artist, you will never be truly satisfied with your work, because when you are you stop improving. Perfection is the enemy of progress.
We’d love to hear more about your art. What do you do you do and why and what do you hope others will take away from your work?
I’ve always loved video games and comic books, and so my art tends to focus a lot on pop culture subjects like that. I’m really just a big nerd at heart. I like to find the magical in the mundane. Two hummingbirds fighting with each other is a pair of fairie knights jousting on their noble steeds to me. Magic and art are everywhere if you know where and how to look. I love science fiction, fantasy, cyberpunk, horror, Crime noir, and steampunk and a lot of those elements come out in my work. I just hope people look at some of my artwork and feel something, Nostalgia, Happiness, unsettled, whatever it is they feel, art should evoke a response. I work in a variety of mediums. Digital, Ink, Graphite, markers, colored pencils, acrylic, watercolor and guache. Sometimes multiple in a single piece.
Have things improved for artists? What should cities do to empower artists?
This is a tricky question. It’s become vastly easier to learn to create art and become an artist these days, the internet provides all the reference you could ever need as well as a ton of tutorials and how to guides for just about any technique you could want to learn. The ability to put yourself out there online is a huge benefit as well, though there is still the struggle of getting noticed. But in other ways, I think it’s harder. Artists are less respected now than they have been in centuries. I’ve found that artists suffer what I call the “it’s magic” paradox. People who aren’t artistically inclined look at artists as magicians of a sort who wiggle their fingers and voila masterpiece. Unfortunately, I’ve found that they expect it to actually be that simple. It’s not a skill like any other that needs to be honed to them it’s an innate gift that just happens, and they want to pay accordingly. The reality can’t be further from the truth. Every artist has put tens of thousands of hours of practice into their craft. Encourage art, Nothing of value has ever been lost by encouraging an artist. But who knows what magical new experience is lost when you discourage art? Imagine if no one had supported your favorite artist or director or author. If you like an artist’s work, Buy their work, Share their work with your friends and family, show them off help them get exposure. But also realize that it is a craft like any other that takes time, practice and effort to make happen. It’s a skill honed over a long period of trial and error and should be treated with respect.
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?
Most of my work is online on Instagram or Deviantart under my handle of Genocidesquirrel. (it’s an inside joke between me and my wife that stuck, I do not support anything remotely close to actual genocide in any form.) I stream my art on twitch and sell art merchandise on red bubble, I also take commissions and freelance jobs.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.redbubble.com/people/Genosquirrel/shop?asc=u
- Phone: 760 290 5398
- Email: Fcoloroso@gmail.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/genocidesquirrel
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GenocidesquirrelArtist/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/SquirrelAz
- Other: https://www.twitch.tv/genocidesquirrel
Image Credit:
Mad Doctor, Kefka, Super Hero Self Portrait, Astral Scarab, Grace, Nosferatu, Dracula, The Creature from the black lagoon.
Getting in touch: SDVoyager 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.
