Instagram: @holalou Website: www.holalou.com
1. What's your story? Where are you from?Hola! I'm Lou, a graphic designer/visual artist from north of México, currently living in the Caribbean. Got here working full time on our own (Stevie + I) design agency, till we got sick of dealing with clients that were not taking action on their own businesses. Looking for some radical new thing to do ourselves, we decided to open what I still think is México's coolest travel agency. Besides this, I've always enjoyed painting and drawing (something I 'forgot' about myself for a loooong time), but went back for good on it recently. Nothing else makes me reconnect so strongly with who I really am.2. Tell us about your aesthetic.3 words: Back to basics. Impressed by watching a pair of toddlers (my son included) painting without limitations, references or fears, I knew I needed to feel that once again in my life, so I took my illustrations back to basics: Simple yet strong shapes, bold colors and wildly balanced compositions.3. What is your favorite medium and why?Both, Adobe Illustrator and acrylic on paper or canvas. Imperfect strokes and spontaneous change of plans of paint will always calm my head, while Illustrator drives me crazy into making a thousand color combinations/compositions. Guess it depends on what I'm looking to feel that day.4. What is your artistic process like?I like to think of scenes or objects that are visually rich (according to myself and the place I currently live in), and then sketch a lot of different options for each one. Once I have all these options, it always comes obvious which one is the one that I should be working with. Distributing these shapes and objects is really important to me since I'm a balance creep. Lastly, I get to my favorite part, choosing a palette to express a continuous vibe of the previously drawn.5. Who and/or what inspires your work?The jungle and the Caribbean. Never thought how much it would influence me visually to change cities from the desert to the complete opposite, the beach. Also, this touristic side of México shows some of the strongest contrasts I've ever seen: Not just talking color-wise, but also on how the city lives and breaths.6. What role does art play in your life? How does it change the way you view the world?It saved my life. Being a mom is incredibly though, and through this process, I gotta admit I totally forgot who I was.. I felt like a passenger of life. Going back to art and being a creator did not only showed me some of the greatest stuff I forgot about myself, I was free for the first time in a long time. It takes me to being Lou again.7. Where did you study?To be honest I studied for a short time, graphic design at a university on Torreón. I was really mad, I never stopped feeling I was doing nothing but wasting my time in there, so I got out. Took me a couple years of self-taught experiences (most of them learned from Stevie, who is 12 years older than I am) and long nights of tutorials to get into 'pro' designer mode.8. Where do you see yourself in five years?I want to take these illustrations higher, nothing would excite me more than seeing them applied to fabric textiles, home goods or exciting products from other brands. My main goal is to travel as an outcome of my artworks.9. What about in ten?Definitely traveling (still), maybe living at an interesting place on some remote location, painting and still living as a creator. I'm 25 years old, so 10 years doesn't sound that much into the future for me right now.10. What do you hope to achieve with your art?It may sound stupid, but I'm looking to achieve iconic. The kind of bold that huge brands want to have in their 'special edition' products (haha). That's my ego talking, though I would love that, the truth is that if it keeps me connected to my inner self and consciously aware of the world and what's happening out there, I would say I have had reached my goal.11. Now, tell us a little more about you as a person: what is your favorite food?Probably shrimp ceviche, which is this Mexican super spicy dish made with shrimps only cooked with lemon juice, onions, tomato, cilantro, and habanero. I looooove spicy food.12. Favourite book?Don't really have one, reading is something I really enjoy but don't practice as much as I would like to. I'm more of a visual kind of person.13. Favorite genre of music?Minimal electronic, reggae, hip hop, jazz, cumbia, alternative rock, whatever. Too much good music in the world to pick a single genre.14. What are your hobbies?Looking up for new design-related stuff, buying unconventionally-looking objects and clothing, travel photography & learning how to be a better friend and parent for my kid.15. If you weren't an artist, what would you be?Bored. As I mentioned before, I would be lost without If I weren't constantly creating stuff and ideas.Comments are closed.
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