Charringo a Graphic Designer and An Illustrator From Mexico City (Interview #10)

For this week’s interview we have here someone very special – Marco Pichardo, who is better known in the art world as Charringo. You can find his works on:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/charringo/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Charringo/

Tumblr: http://charringo.tumblr.com

Behance: https://www.behance.net/charringo

Anna (Your Art Bud): Charringo, so glad you are here with us this week! Tell our readers a little bit about yourself 🙂

Charringo: Hi! First of all, thank you very much for contacting me. So honored. Well, my name is Marco Pichardo a.k.a. Charringo and I’m a graphic designer and illustrator from Mexico City.

A: At what age have you started making art and what motivates you to keep going?

C: I believe my first contact with art or drawing was during my first years at elementary.

Dragon Ball was at its peak and the only way I could calm down my inner fan was replicating goku over and over again in my notebooks. Eventually, that became my hobby and I started getting better at it.

A: When did you first realize that it is art career you want to pursue?

C: I think I never really conceived graphic design as my final choice of a career, at first I wanted to do some cooking, then I spent a whole year on communication science but it really wasn’t for me either.

The thing is, my family is not artistic at all, so I didn’t have any advice that could help me choose a proper career, but deep down I knew graphic design was the one.

A: Have you finished any art schools? How important do you think they are?

C: Only graphic design school, but it was way more focused on software usage than drawing skills.

Since I do not have any art degree I couldn’t tell if they are important or not, but I really believe they do make you a more complete artist. Everything I learned comes from the internet: anatomy studies, drawing lessons and a lot of drawing advices from youtube and pinterest, so one could say that Internet was and is my art school.

A: What is your process like for creating your piece? Where do the ideas come
from? Where do you start?

C: I always start with some written ideas, I always make myself answer three questions: How am I gonna approach the idea? Has it been made before? Is it understandable?
Those are the three main questions I answer for myself before starting to sketch.
Then I jump into thumbnailing, small composition sketches that lay the main form of the final illustration. Then it’s sketch time. I used to sketch always traditionally but I just bought a Cintiq and oh man it just reduces the working time by half, so now, my latest work is done digitally. I uploaded some timelapse videos of my whole process on YouTube, check them out if you have the chance.

*here is one of his videos guys, watch it if you are in love with Speedpaint stuff like I am <3

A: How long does it take for you to finish one art piece? And how many hours per
week do you draw on average?

C: It takes me between 5 to 8 hours, 9 hours top, but that always happens when I don’t have a solid plan of where I’m heading. I also have some pieces that took me less than 3 hours, other 20 minutes. It really depends on the illustration style.

A: Do you feel happy about your current style? How did you develop it?

C: I actually love it! It has evolved for over 4 or 5 years and it keeps changing from drawing to drawing, so I could say I still haven’t found its final form, but it is at least defined, it really helps me concentrate on the final product rather than the process of choosing where lines should be or how am I gonna approach color.

I also love to play with different illustration styles because I feel that not leaving the comfort zone is the same as death to any artist/illustrator.

A: What is it that you find the most challenging in the life of an artist?

C: Pay rates! Ha! just kidding, but not really or am I?

With all the exposure we have today from so many artists around the world, it is easy to feel uncomfortable with your work, but there are two paths you can take, the easy one and the hard one (which is the one we should all take if we want to grow up as artists). I call it hard because it’s much easier to accept your current skill level than work every day and try to improve it.

Motivation is key so don’t feel afraid to show your work and receive feedback from coworkers and friends.

A: What are your thoughts on talent vs hard work? And how does it apply to being an artist?

C: In high school I used to draw pretty terrible, I had no knowledge regarding proportions, anatomy or even technique. Still, I loved it, and I think that’s when talent comes into play, it keeps pushing you to become better and better over time without losing interest, but it takes hard work to keep doing it on a daily basis.

There’s nothing sadder than lazy talented people.

A: What is your big Art Dream you are working towards?

C: I often look at my previous work and have a good laugh at it, so that’s what I’ll try to do for years to come. I want to evolve constantly so my last weeks’ work, becomes irrelevant and motivates me to create the next big piece. I don’t think there’s a limit to what we can learn, so never stopping the learning is my main goal.

A: Thank you so much for joining us today! And for the last question – 

Who are the top artists that have inspired you in the past and continue to be an inspiration on a daily basis?

C: Oh man, everyday Internet amazes me with top artist appearing on my feed, but there are some that made me wanted to walk this path, such as Cesar Moreno, “el pinche moreno”, Saching Teng, Loish, Kim Jung Gi, and you know what, I could go on for days!

I really feel inspired by a lot of artists, and I’m so glad that Mexico is giving to the world really talented people, such as Tavo Santiago, Carlos Lerma, Malo Galindo, Dia Pacheco, Totoi, Cesar Hdnn, Raul Urias, Chabe Escalante, Alan Daniel, Smithe, Mike Sandoval, and so many others.

Thanks for inspiring me every day!

Well, that was inspiring indeed! Charringo is a great example of someone who learns using the 21st-century method – Internet! So why don’t you?

Check out  ” 14 Best Figure Drawing Books for Beginners “ if you are just starting to learn or looking to improve! Or a short post ” Top 13 Oil Painting Supplies List “ to start off on your painting journey 🙂 Also, much more we have to offer here at YourArtPath.com!

Good luck in your creations,

– Your Art Bud ?