Today we’d like to introduce you to Mae Adao.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Mae. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
I started doing caricatures in the summer of 2010 at SeaWorld San Diego for Kaman’s Art Shoppes and in 2014 I moved on to work for The California Boys at the San Diego County Fair and various other fairs in the country. The biggest factor that got me where I am today was probably meeting and befriending amazing people and artist with different backgrounds that I’ve encountered in my journey.
Great, 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?
Starting a career as an artist have its ups and downs. It’s like no other job where you do the task handed to you then you go home and come back the next day and do it again. On top of learning how to draw I had to be my own manager, a salesperson, an accountant and many other things because there was no steady paycheck it was feast or famine so I did a lot of things on my own to cut cost. Creating was on my mind 24/7 because I either had commissions or I always thought of big and bright ideas that might potentially make me some money, which this definitely takes a toll on my mental health. The biggest obstacle that I still face even after all my accomplishments is my self-esteem and my depression.
Mae Adao Art – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
I’m a freelance artist. I specialize in caricature and illustration commissions. However, some might say that my artwork is different from traditional caricatures and that it has a unique cartoony style with fun and interesting color palettes. In my communities, I’m known to have a colorful and cute feeling with in my artwork which earned me “Outstanding Color Technique” during the 2018 International Society of Caricature Artist competition in my hometown of San Diego and again in 2019 Memphis, TN along with 9th best caricature of the year. I’m very proud of these awards but I think what I was most proud of was when I was asked to teach an illustration workshop and to be a speaker for a seminar about color theory. I am SO grateful to know that there are people out there that appreciate my art so much that they are willing to listen to me talk their heads off about it!
Do you look back particularly fondly on any memories from childhood?
Probably, when I got a gameboy color with pokémon red and blue for my birthday.
Contact Info:
- Email: mae.adao.art@gmail.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mae.adao
Image Credit:
Calicaricatures Santa Cruz 2019
International Society of Caricature Artist 2019
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