Artist study 5: Andy Cristoffi
Decided to start my crazy artist study early this week so here we go! Andy Christoffi, an artist who is still young enough to be attractive( just had to put that out there), is the lucky contestant of the week. Like all the other boring artists I've annoyed, Andy has always been drawing. He claims that developing your art skills only takes a crap load of practice and says, “It’s not like riding a bike where you never lose the ability once you learn it, you need to practice everyday and that’s the only way to improve.” On the topic of media, he has been practicing his bold line work and when he realized that he wasn't so good with colors he simply looked at other artists work and then practiced some more! He only quickly touches on the topic of how to develop your skills and get noticed, but the point is clear: If you can’t live without art, then don’t. Do all you can to throw your work in peoples faces until you have enough work to sustain yourself on art making alone. If you try hard enough you can succeed but what helped him after high school was finding a good teacher in college to make him step outside his comfort zone and give him a new look on things. Since his start in illustration he has learned that the best way to sell art is to shift your ideas to what people want. “This sounds restricting but If you embrace it you soon realize that the boundaries and rules you set for yourself can be quite silly.” Since he is still in his 20’s, he has mostly been influenced by other artists and his huge collection of art books. Although deadlines and Andy’s day job mostly direct his day, he still takes art very seriously as a second job; finishing pieces after work and on free days he spends pouring over sketches and illustrations, plowing through commissions one step at a time.  His final advice is to not wait for luck. the more skill and effort you put into your work the luckier you will get.
I also found that this interview was not as helpful as some of the other, more experienced artists who are well into their careers. Since he very recently got out of college (literally, summer of 2012) I feel like he doesn't have as many bumps and bruises as the the rest of the gang who can go on for paragraphs about financial troubles, commissioning experiences and long hours. I just want to get everything straight here, I’m not dissing Andy! Just pointing out that since he is in the beginning of his career, his advice wasn't as expansive as some other folks I have interviewed I am going to give Andy three stars. Although Andy’s work doesn't seem like it has reached it’s full potential, I really love his cross hatching technique and the blend between media that he often uses. It’s also at least five years better than my work so who am I to judge?