Today we’d like to introduce you to Ty A. Goodwin.
Every artist has a unique story. Can you briefly walk us through yours?
I was born and raised in East County, and have lived out in that area my entire life. Exploring Mission Trails among other hikes in the area really sparked my sense of adventure as a child. To grow up here in San Diego has been crucial to my identity. I’ve always been captivated by what each part of town has to offer, and exploring everything from the cities to beaches keeps my creativity fully charged.
I’ve had an aptitude for drawing since I was young, but despite taking art classes throughout school, by skills really didn’t begin to flourish until after I graduated high school and began to study more intensely on my own. Instead of going to University, I started working part-time right away, soon realizing I had enough of a driving passion to progress my skills on my own in my free time.
Social media has helped immensely in my pursuit to improve my art. Back when I first started an Instagram coming out of high school, I instantly knew I had a home there. I steadily grew a close knit following that encouraged and supported me, and existing there alongside professionals was always inspiring. A few years ago, however, I hit a pretty low point where I felt I was at a dead end.
My art really only existed on the internet at that point and I felt invalidated by that. In an attempt to turn things around, I made “Lump”, a physical art book of a very personal collection of work. Thankfully it was met with an amazing reception, and as of this year I’ve completely sold out of it.
Ever since releasing Lump back in 2016 I’ve been really driven to push myself further. I’ve been able to pursue more and more freelancing opportunities, and continually profit from my drawings and designs. It’s been a great ride so far.
As of right now I’m in the process of creating another book as well. However, instead of a collection of artworks, it’s a full story. While I’ve created small comics before, this will be my first serious publication.
Please tell us about your art.
For the most part I make stand-alone character designs and illustrations. While sometimes I enjoy drawing just for the sake of making a visual pun or making something pretty, at my core I’m a world builder. I want the pieces I make to invite viewers into a different reality and make them curious about that world.
As such, a lot of what I make is a bit more obscure. I dislike the idea of drawing something “normal”, and when presented with a very basic idea to draw, I work hard to showcase how odd or weird the nature of said object (or animal, person, situation, etc.) really is.
Drawing is just my preferred form of communication; it’s how I talk. My art is just a physical manifestation of my thoughts. I know that sounds pretty obvious that you need thoughts to make art. But really, there’s so many layers to it. I don’t just draw the things that pop into my mind which interest me, I’m constantly trying to express my views about myself and the world.
People who follow me will notice that I draw myself a lot, in many different ways. That’s just an example of how I communicate to the world who I am. Instead of taking a selfie or writing about how I feel, it’s easy to just create an image that caricaturizes it. If I feel old or young, complex or simple, like a hero or a monster; I can show that in a very visual way. On the surface there’s a cool image but in reference to the real me it says a lot about who I am.
Despite my work being very personal to me, I’m still just another person and I hope I can be vulnerable enough with my art for others to really resonate with it as well. In this particular age, with the internet and technology, we have a very broad spectrum of content. Many aspects of the world we live in now are very innocent and beautiful, but there is plenty of dark and disturbing aspects to it as well. Ideally, I want my content to reflect how the world encompasses both of those sides. I want it to tread the line between being pleasing and unsettling. If my art can make people more self-aware about how their lives relate to that balance, then I’ll feel fulfilled as an artist.
Do you have any advice for other artists? Any lessons you wished you learned earlier?
As I mentioned previously, art is literally just communication. There’s plenty of facets to that, most of which would have seriously helped me if I realized them sooner. The most important though is as simple as knowing what you want to say. Not in the just physical sense of what your subject matter will be, but what message you want to deliver and how you can best deliver it to your audience.
This is crucial in the small scale of guaranteeing a piece you’re making has purpose. And it’s even more important in the grand scale of knowing what sort of artist you want to become. Many artists want to “get better”, or make really grandesque concepts, or make a living off of their art. In most cases though, they lack a lot of definition in what they want or where specifically they want to end up. Truthfully, I was like this as well.
It’s easy to get intimidated and hope that the more you wait and the older you get the more everything will make sense. While that’s true, you shouldn’t sell yourself short of what you can do right now. The more clearly you can define your creative goals, the easier it is to take steps towards them, which means you’ll get there much faster.
If you’re already established as an artist, reevaluating what you’re saying with your art is beneficial in continuing to grow and avoiding art blocks. Has your art become visual gibberish? Do your pieces speak eloquently but lack any substance? Is your work talking in circles and becoming redundant? Assessing those matters, as well as figuring out the next message you want to deliver to your audience and how to communicate it is essential for all artists.
How or where can people see your work? How can people support your work?
I post my drawings primarily on Instagram @tyagoodwin . If you live in San Diego you most likely can catch me drawing live at various cafes in North Park, Kearny Mesa, or La Jolla. If you want to support me, I have a Patreon where I post a lot of personal sketches and development for my current book @ https://www.patreon.com/tygoodwin. An official website will launch following the completion of the book.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.patreon.com/tygoodwin
- Email: artof.tyagoodwin@gmail.com
- Instagram: tyagoodwin
Image Credit:
Ty A. Goodwin
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