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Illustrator Profile - Ana Benaroya: "Making art is always on my mind"

By Robert Newman   Thursday May 12, 2016

Ana Benaroya is an artist and illustrator based in Jersey City, New Jersey. She creates powerful, vibrant, graphic images for a wide variety of publications, posters, zines, books, animation and more. Benaroya has also produced imagery for clothes and product design and is a frequent contributor to gallery shows. Her most recent book is 120 Ways to Annoy Your Mother (And Influence People), and she illustrates and designs a brilliant ongoing poster series for Cheer Up Charlies in Austin, Texas. In addition to painting and illustrating, Benaroya works as a graphic designer at MLB.com.

MY LIFE:
I live in Jersey City, New Jersey, and have been illustrating since 2008.

My dad is an engineer and my mom teaches and writes poetry. I was born in NYC and moved to suburban NJ when I was young, which is where I grew up and went to school.  

I studied Illustration and Art History at MICA down in Baltimore—which is where I graduated from in 2008. I also received a Certificate in Typeface Design from the Type@Cooper program at Cooper Union.

I’ve had (and still have) various design jobs. I used to work at Nickelodeon magazine, Time Out New York, Simon & Schuster—and I now currently work part time at MLB.com—in addition to illustrating.

MY WORKSPACE:
I work out of my home studio in my apartment. I love it. I get to have all my books around me and hang a ton of artwork on the walls—and have the comfort of being home. 

HOW I MAKE MY ILLUSTRATIONS:
I start by drawing everything by hand, usually in my sketchbook. My process usually goes pencil, pen and ink, scanning, then Photoshop. With my personal work I’ll usually draw with pen and ink or paint with gouache. 

MY BIG BREAK:
I still feel like I haven’t had my “big break.” I’m not sure it will ever really happen! I don’t think you can count on something like that. To me it seems like you always have to work hard—only a lucky few appear to have it made.

MY INFLUENCES:
As a young girl I was always obsessed with superheroes and comic book characters —not necessarily for the story lines, just how they looked. I’d spend most of my time copying them and also attempting to learn how to properly draw all the muscles in the body. I am not really sure why I became obsessed with drawing muscles—probably a good question for a therapist. Anyway, this pretty much has continued up until now. Although now I incorporate more women into my work; I used to only draw men.

In college I became really interested in Greek and Roman sculpture and some Renaissance artists—mainly Michelangelo—probably because they all depicted a muscular (mostly male) body. I had weirdly conservative taste when I first entered art school, but eventually I became more and more interested in more emotional and experimental artwork.

Concert posters were my entry into lettering and also the style in which I work today. I started doing gig posters my junior year at MICA and I still do them today.  I love the freedom that comes with picking the imagery that goes with each band/type of music.

As I get older I came to realize that gay culture has also really influenced my work. It probably influenced me all along – I just wasn’t aware of it.

MY MOST ADMIRED CREATIVE PERSON:
Jean-Michel Basquiat. I am obsessed...I’ve watched the documentary The Radiant Child at least 12 or 15 times. I think his artwork is beautiful and his life is fascinating. I am also really interested in the art scene in NYC in the 80s and wish I could travel back in time to see it. I guess one of the reasons I’m fascinated by Basquiat is not only his art but his persona. I’m always interested in (and maybe slightly envious of) artists whose personalities shine just as bright as their work.

MY CREATIVE INSPIRATION:
This is always a difficult question to answer. As I mentioned above, I’ve always been obsessed with the human body and all the weird shapes and forms it comes in—particularly very muscular men and women. I get inspired by museum visits, fine art, music...seeing other artists’ work in their studio. Athletes always inspire me. Drag queens...I love RuPaul.

THE BIGGEST CHALLENGE OF WORKING ALONE:
I find the biggest challenge is making time away from the computer. It’s so easy to get sucked into emails, looking at social media...I think it really detracts from being creative. It’s something I've been trying to pull away from. I’m very into the idea of scheduling my day and love to read and hear about how other creative people organize their day. The book Daily Rituals: How Artists Work got me thinking about this more.

A MEMORABLE ASSIGNMENT FROM THE PAST YEAR:
Definitely having a show at FISK Gallery in Portland, OR. The whole experience of making a new body of work and then flying to Portland and staying with the gallery owners was amazing. This is something I’d like to do more of.

DREAM ASSIGNMENT:
Designing a line of shoes for Camper or a line of scarves for Hermés.

MY FAVORITE ART DIRECTOR:
I love working with Cinelli and Alessandra Cusatelli. Cinelli is a bicycle company based out of Italy—they make beautiful bikes as well as accessories. Alessandra helps art direct many of the products.  She always picks my most interesting ideas and encourages me to be myself. I think Alessandra (and Cinelli) understand and embrace the energy behind my work more than any other client. I recently painted a custom bike for them and have also designed bicycling caps, socks, and bike tape.

SOME OF MY FAVORITE ILLUSTRATORS:
Inés Estrada—for the raw energy and power of her work.

Yann Kebbi—because his work is so poetic and simple and beautiful. It’s something I don't think I could ever attain.

Keith Shore—I love the simplicity of his work and his sad characters.

OTHER WORK:
I have published two books, a couple zines, worked on two short animated advertisements, and designed some socks, t-shirts, hats, and other apparel products.

My most recent book, 120 Ways to Annoy Your Mother (And Influence People) is a project I’m really proud of. It’s the first time I was able to combine my writing with my illustrations…the project feels like 100% me.

The book is essentially a humorous guide-to-life for young girls and women. The narrator of the book (a more obnoxious version of myself) instructs you on how to do everything you could ever possibly desire...except her advice may not actually be very helpful. Some of the subjects she discusses include: “How to Be A Wallflower,” “How to Become a Shadow of the Person You Used to Be,” and “How to Be Rebellious Within the Confines of Society.”

I wanted to create a book that I would have loved to have as a young girl; a book that addresses girls as whole people. My hope is this will inspire girls (and women) to embrace their weirdness and find comfort in knowing there’s more to life than fashion, makeup, and boys.

Another ongoing project I’ve been working on for almost two years now is a series of posters for a venue called Cheer Up Charlies in Austin, Texas. I do on average three or four posters a month for them and get complete creative freedom. The posters are for online-only usage so I get to go extra crazy with the colors (ha ha).

I love incorporating lettering into my artwork, which is why I love designing posters. With Cheer Up Charlies in particular I feel like I get to test out new ways of working and get a little more experimental than usual. I feel like I’ve grown a lot as an artist because of the freedom that they give me.

HOW I STAY CURRENT:
I make the work I make and hope it resonates with people and stays relevant. Making art is always on my mind. I’m always thinking about how I can incorporate art into my daily life, and how I can sustain being an artist my whole life. I probably spend more time thinking about that than anything else.

My interests are also really varied—I am not just interested in illustration. I love fine art (both contemporary and historical), design, lettering, product design, writing, and teaching. Because of this I think my career has spread out a little in each direction. I’ve never really liked the idea of being one thing. I always thought being an artist meant doing everything—being open to different types of creative experiences and jobs. To me, each job I do informs the others; I’m not sure I could work any other way!

HOW I PROMOTE MYSELF:
Usually through email, and every now and then through a physical mailer. I also try to keep up with posting on social media though I haven’t been able to see a direct correlation between that and getting actual jobs. I’m best through email, really. I’m so glad I live in an age where I can write my thoughts out via email and not have to speak them out loud too often. 

ADVICE FOR SOMEONE STARTING OUT:
Believe in the strength of your own work. Keep making work for yourself, not just for clients—otherwise you’ll never grow. Also, you’ll probably end up
somewhere in your career that you never expected...you should try to be okay with that!

See more Ana Benaroya illustrations, new work, and updates:
Ana Benaroya website
Tumblr
Instagram: @anabenaroya
Twitter: @anabenaroya
Video for National Geographic




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