An Interview with Crunchy Hands, October 2024

 What do you sell/make?

I make a multitude of things !! Currently in my main shop are original handmade prints, printed t-shirts, stickers, and digital prints. My recent creations have been centered around block printmaking; a process in which designs are carved into blocks (in my case, linoleum, rubber, and erasers), then those blocks are rolled with ink and pressed into the desired surface. I highly admire the variety of texture and level of craftsmanship that's involved in the whole process. Each piece has its own fingerprint, its own identity. My stickers are digitized versions of prints, as well.

In addition to being a printmaker, I am a painter and mixed media/ multidisciplinary artist working on getting my fine art out into galleries, shows, and hopefully a collector's hands !! As of right now, most of my pieces are narratives elaborating on self, perception, and introspection as a Latine, queer, transmasculine person figuring stuff out in this world. I've made paintings, clothing, sculptures, and combinations of these as well. I love playing with the idea of a painting becoming a sculpture, and sharing art by wearing it. Blurring the lines between seemingly distinct categorizations is a parallel to my existence.  A clothing item can be part sculpture, and part painting too, while still living next to everything else in a closet.

Tell me about yourself as a creator! What got you interested in starting a business/graphic design?

I just graduated this year (2024) with a BFA in "Visual Communication Design" which is also known as graphic design with a side of fine arts, but have been making art ever since I can remember. I see myself as an artist for fulfillment, and a designer for the job, to be completely honest. Any design for myself will show that blend of skills; I've of course spent more time illustrating and crafting, but I went to school for design. The type of education is different, but they coexist and mingle often. I like to say that if I can get my hands on the thing I'm making, then I'm able to enjoy it. This became very apparent around my second semester in school, learning about design and practicing things like using grids, typography, layouts, making websites, and such. I've always tried to find a way to involve more than just a computer and desk into the process. Scanning prints, digitizing textures from images, drawing/writing on top of pictures, or even a hand-drawn typeface for a project are ways to mitigate the "stuck at a desk" vibes that discourage me from coming back to graphic design. I've also learned that my art can be converted into assets, turned digital for multiple levels of online delivery.

I started officially selling prints and things early this year !! It feels like I've been doing this for much longer, with how much more progress I've made than expected. In February, the local pride center was sending out an open call for queer POC artists and vendors and I, having a bunch of prints (and a new special interest after learning printmaking only a few months prior), shared the open call to all my friends hoping to do this one cool thing together and just hang out around cool people all day :) My partner and I shared a table, and a pair of friends shared a table behind us, all under the same canopy. We all took the same printmaking class together the previous semester as well, so everyone was super excited to share the fun new thing we just learned. The weeks leading up to the event we all put some time aside between classes to gather up the inventory to sell, and made it work !! Luckily my first experience was wonderful and lively, I loved each interaction with visitors and even at the end, fellow vendors were trading items bouncing between booths they've been eyeing since the start but were too busy to visit with how many guests there were. Since then, I've been interested in actually starting up a shop/small business and continuing to do vendor events especially.

I'm always looking for my Next Thing. It could be an event, a milestone, deadline, whatever. If I have any idea, no matter how small, I put it out somewhere; usually it's just in my notes app or sketchbook that I carry everywhere. I come back later, and the ones that stick out the most I just run with. There's this urgency I get, to let the concept out of my head, and get it translated into the form it's supposed to take. Kind of like an itch but the way to scratch it is to see my idea come to life, I guess. I think to put it simply, my artistic motivation is myself. I want to make a name for myself and someday have my own studio where I can make anything I want, not worrying too much about size or space. Additionally, I've always wanted to get my art in people's homes !! I think the day I see a large painting of mine sold and displayed somewhere should be a big celebration for me.  On that note, money is also a pretty good motivator !! Of course I'd like to make profit from my art, but I also would prefer to not lose any by making it, either !! I've always tried to wiggle my work into less expensive/wasteful paths, which adds to the look and stories they follow. Patchwork, repurposed materials, paper and fabric scraps, leftover dried paint, the list can go on and on, really. When I buy materials, I definitely will try to make the most of them, and then some.

What keeps you motivated to continue creating? What are some of your creative inspirations?

My fellow members of the community inspire me, dreams of the future, textures found in nature, and even just the way my hair looks sometimes will do that too. My newest illustration series was actually inspired by a new hair style I tried in July, and now I'm working to get those drawings on shirts !! Since starting to really dive into my art, I've noticed I continue to take lots of inspiration from punk, metal, and grunge scenes; the message, the music, the aesthetics, and more have always attracted me since I was a kid (yes, I had an emo phase too). This, pairing up with a favoritism for muted tones and then primary colors, is the recipe for my current direction. I mix the "hard" parts, like chains, spikes, and heavy textures, with my own perspective. This is mostly shown in my printmaking; printed patches and patchwork clothing definitely connect with me and my DIY/do it yourself foundations.

Tell me about your first exhibition!! What was the process of securing it/getting it set up? 

Thanks to my university's art department, gallery, and jurors, I've shown art on their walls for 3 of my 4 years attending. Our gallery has a yearly juried art show open to all students in art department classes, and I've always applied to it, encouraging as many people as possible because there's no harm in applying! Spaces are limited and the show goes on for half of the spring semester, coinciding with a portfolio exhibition for the upcoming VCD graduates in the same gallery. This year, I was part of both, being able to really bring my portfolio to life by showing a physical piece in the space while talking about it right then and there. The very first time I was accepted into the gallery, school was still online so my painting (a self-portrait) was turned into an image, placed in a VR version of the gallery made by one of the professors for public viewing. Though it was cool to see and be a part of, I feel that the first time I truly had an exhibition was this year. In my major, we have a portfolio class and everything comes up to a point leading to the exhibition. People in the industry are invited to view the work, we are given a booth to decorate with our own personal branding, and that whole evening is dedicated to basically marketing ourselves. Everyone with a booth is also encouraged to make takeaways (things like stickers, zines, buttons, pins, business cards, etc.) along with a physical book and any other supplemental work to demonstrate and show off our strengths/ interests. My experience was definitely memorable; I poured most of my efforts into the making of my book, the cover is a big square of linoleum carved with a design, mounted on a wood panel and bound with hand-dyed canvas. Pages in the book are a heavy printer paper, a few are printed vellum to add layers of transparency, and the back cover is another wood panel with my personal logo painted on it. Despite what the curriculum urged everyone toward (things like digital media and UX/UI), my personal branding and portfolio are centered around craft, concept, and the physical interactions each person will have with my pieces. On opening night, I even brought in carved pieces for guests to hold and touch while exploring my setup !!  I also made stickers and business cards for anyone who'd want them. And after the end, all the extras leftover just went to my shop's inventory !!

Why should someone hire you? (what can you provide/what should people come to you for?)

If you like mixed media and doing things the long way for the sake of craft and quality, I'm your guy !! I'm a perfectionist, goal-oriented, hand-on, and very thorough when communicating with clients throughout the process. I have a wide range of capabilities and love to learn with every project that comes my way !! 

Where do you sell? (art festivals, store front, online? ALSO please include where people/potential clients can best reach you!)

Currently I'm using a few online platforms to sell art on !! I keep them all on my Link Tree https://linktr.ee/rossdraws02  for organization's sake, and I'm working on updating/consolidating everything but for now they do what they need to !!