Victor Mosquera is a Colombian illustrator and concept artist based in Toronto. His list of clients include companies such as Ubisoft, Scientific American, Universal Music, Tor Books, Orbit Books, Five Seven Music, Volta, One Pixel Brush and 3D Total.
The iconography for this article has been taken from the “Vessel” series and various projects: the common thread is Mosquera’s particular use of colors creating metaphysical lanscapes and dreamlike imagies.
Victor, where do you get your inspiration?
I get my inspiration from all kinds of sources. I’ve always been grabbing inspiration from music, photography, movies, fashion…etc. Music is a huge one for me. For the last couple of years my work has been inspired by life. It blows my mind everyday that we are alive here in this world, so my work became a celebration of life and a way for me to express my spirituality. As “Hippie” as this sounds I think art is the ultimate medium to express those feelings and thoughts.
Which is the reletioship and influence beetween your cultural backgorund (country, studies, etc.) and your artworks?
Great question! I’ve never been asked this before. I’ve been thinking a lot about that lately. And I’ve been finding a MASSIVE relation between my cultural background and my work. I’m from Colombia. I grew up in the 90’s in a country that at the time was going through a really dark time. I remember growing up listening to news about people dying, drug cartels, corruption and that sort of stuff. I didn’t experience any of that first hand but the overall vibe of the country was pretty dark. So I immersed myself in stuff that was positive and inspiring. At the same time I kind of blocked everything that reminded me the actual situation the country was going through at the time. This was not a conscious decision. I guess my brain just started to gravitate towards the things that made life awesome for me like drawing and making music. I’ve been doing it every since I was a little kid and I hope to be lucky enough to keep doing all my life. The other side that really influenced me was that colombia has a a great culture and history. Most of the country is very traditional and religious, but at the same time things like shamans and healing energy is a common thing there because of the rich rich native background we have. I feel like is a very spiritual country. I was never into this kind of stuff growing up but I guess some stayed in my subconscious.
What are you much focused in?
CREATING! I think the “meaning of life” is different for everyone and for me is creating things. Is what makes me the most happy. Get inspired, create something and hopefully inspire someone. Rinse and repeat.
Have you encountered any difficulties when you first started your art/freelance career?
FOR SURE! Starting with the fact that when I started I was still living in Colombia and at the time the country had a really bad economic situation. Unemployment was through the roof, so it was almost impossible to make a living out of something like illustration. I just started because I loved it. I was ready to be broke forever, or to get a job doing whatever and keep making art on my free time. But I always stayed motivated and proactive.
Over these years, what is the most important thing you have learnt from your profession?
The most important thing is that money comes and goes. And that the main goal with this profession ( at least for me ) is to be able to work with inspiring people on awesome projects. If you want money there s better careers out there. But with art I cant imagine the goal being other than creating beautiful things! to inspire! I mean c’mon….if you are an artist out there making a living out of any form of art, think about how lucky you are and how cool is your job. Sometimes when I take a job just for the money I have a really hard time remembering that. Which makes me realize again that money is not supposed to dictate my actions.
Do you think that a creative job is just creativity or it’s discipline too?
Oh I would even say that discipline comes first!. Sure there is talented people out there, but most creative people I admire are also the hardest workers I know. I don’t know ANY inspiring person that doesnt work hard at their craft. You always have to be learning, experimenting, Moving forward. Discipline 100%
Are you currently work on new projects?
Yeah! always! cant say much but I always try to have something cooking.
“Get inspired,
create something and
hopefully inspire someone.
Rinse and
repeat”.
“Sure there is talented people out there,
but most creative people I admire are also
the hardest workers I know.
I don’t know ANY inspiring person
that doesnt work hard at their craft.”
“I was ready to be broke forever, or to get a job doing whatever and keep making art on my free time.
But I always stayed motivated and proactive”.
Artist Website > www.victormosquera.com
Shop > victormosquera.bigcartel.com
Twitter > @victormosquerar
Facebook > www.facebook.com/victor.mosquera
Instagram > @victormosquera
Tumblr > victormosquera.tumblr.com