Today we’d like to introduce you to Allie Ballesteros.
Allie, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I am a Peruvian-Cuban American Houstonian. My father and his family are from Havana, Cuba for obvious reasons, and my mother was born in Lima, Peru with her twin sister, Patty. Patty was born with a congenital heart condition so my mom migrated with her family to Houston when she was around seven years old so that Patty would be able to have open heart surgery as Houston is home to some of the best pediatric heart surgeons in the world. Together, my mom and dad made me and I feel so incredibly blessed to have been able to grow up surrounded by both cultures.
I began seriously drawing when I was about eight. Anytime my uncle Ricky Catter would come over he would draw whatever I asked him to, which would usually be a pokémon or Sailor Moon, and I would just be so amazed by the fact that he could do that. So, one day, I decided I would practice and practice and practice until I was as good as him. From that moment on I would try and replicate any illustration I saw. I had always been super into fantasy and fairy tales and all that. My first favorite artist was Amy Brown. I found one of her books and became immediately infatuated with her fairies. She used watercolors and ink to illustrate these winged women that were mostly clothed but a few were naked; as I felt they should be. “Because fairies don’t need clothes” I would have to explain to my family and friends. Bear in mind, I was in like fifth grade so I get why they were all squeamish when they saw I was drawing boobs but I didn’t see it the way they were receiving it. Nudity was never explicitly linked to eroticism to me, unfortunately, it was for everyone else around.
After getting a lot of negative reactions from my friends, I decided I would keep my art a secret from them from that point on. So, come eighth grade, my mom tells me about high school for the Performing and Visual Arts and that I should audition for their Visual Arts department. I definitely didn’t think I would get in and at that point in time thought my friends were the most important people in the world. I was adamant on staying with them and going to West Side High School. To satisfy my mom I auditioned, and it was during the audition process that I realized this was something I desperately wanted to pursue. I decided to leave it up to fate and if I was supposed to go to PVA I would get in.
To my surprise, I did and I swear it was one of the best things to ever happen to me. I owe where I am today to that school. I was able to refine my technical skills tremendously and was surrounded by incredible people who didn’t find my art “weird” or “inappropriate.” I was instead encouraged to expand on what I was creating and give it meaning. HSPVA essentially guided me to my dream college, The New School: Parsons School of Design in New York City. One of my best friends Allen Robbins, who is an amazing artist, graduated from PVA a year before me and went to Parsons and was raving about it so I basically followed him there. Moving to New York was wild! The amount of independence and wonder that filled me my first year there was almost incomprehensible. Attending Parsons was a real privilege. I was accepted and offered a scholarship that nearly covered my entire tuition, definitely still needed a large number of student loans to cover all other expenses, but so far it has been 100% worth it. Aside from the fantastic professors and all the facilities I had access too, I think what I value the most from my experience at Parsons was the amount of social awareness I received. I learned to not only fully embrace my heritage, but exude it.
Up until college, I had never realized that my illustrations had almost exclusively been of Caucasian women. I never noticed what that was communicating with other people about myself. Here I am, a very much Hispanic woman, illustrating what I found to be beautiful and wasn’t even including myself in it. I had accustomed to thinking that a small nose and light eyes were the most beautiful features a woman could have. This epiphany immediately incorporated itself into my work. It’s not that I find those features or that race to be unimportant or ugly now, I was just frustrated with the fact that my whole life it was what was constantly projected on to me. Whether it be Sailor Moon or the Victoria’s Secret Angels, or opening literally any magazine, all I saw was white women. So, instead of thinking, “why don’t I see more Hispanic women or women of color?” I just would think I had to be like that and that’s what is apparently nice to look at, and it definitely showed in my work. Now, I want to see myself, my mother, my aunt, my grandmother, my people in these places.
Thankfully, the internet has allowed people of like-minds to express these same sentiments and we are now in a time of inclusivity or at least we’re getting there. My goal with my work is to empower women of color to embrace their power, to be proud of where they are from, and to encourage them to not take any shit from anyone. I am very much for the anti-damsel-in-distress and I feel that it is detrimental to women as a whole to continue the traditions (for lack of a better word) that women have been expected to follow.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Absolutely not, there have been so many struggles. Emotionally, mentally, physically, I’m firin’ on all cylinders here! I’m kidding, my struggles are so insignificant compared to others for sure. But I will say the most consistent struggle for me has been not knowing how much I need to censor myself. I don’t have much of a filter and my original ideas always need to be toned down at least a little. I think the best form of communication is just being completely honest and sometimes it comes off as too blunt but I hate beating around the bush. So, I think my work is a lot like that. There are problems that need to be addressed and it’s silly to be subtle and polite just because I’m a woman. Aside from that, I have a really hard time knowing when to stop. I am a total perfectionist and so often, I find myself working on something for so long, I start to hate it. I guess that’s a lot of artists though.
Please tell us about your work.
I’m an Illustrator/Designer who specializes in the human form. I take a particular interest in merging graphic design with the organic nature of humans and explore current issues dealing with race, culture, politics, and sexuality. Over the years, I have learned that digital painting and traditional graphite drawing are my strong suits but I am fairly proficient in all mediums. I take to sculpting with polymer clay as a means of therapy and have become quite good at it because of this. I wouldn’t say I have one specific art style as I find that to be too confining. I’m happy to say I’m now at a point where I’m able to change my style as I please in order to communicate ideas better. Semi-realism, though, will forever be my preferred style as I find it to be the most compelling no matter the idea. I’d like to think what sets me apart from others would be how obsessive I am over details and perfection. It doesn’t matter who the client is, I will always put myself into a project 200%. I’ve spent so many years practicing and refining my technical skills, so I do take the most pride in that. I’ve done quite a few show posters for my good friend James Francies who also graduated with me at HSPVA. He’s a brilliant pianist and composer who just dropped his debut album and it is absolutely amazing. I’m currently working on a concept art project where I’m developing the characters for animation, so that’s been really fun. I also have a background in graphic design. I was close to minoring in it but ended up taking more classes to better my illustration portfolio instead. That being said, I interned for an outdoor advertising agency in New York, Silvercast Media, for about six months. They own the largest digital billboard in the world in Times Square, were the coolest bosses, and since I was one of their first employees, I was a part of everything. Such a great experience.
Do you look back particularly fondly on any memories from childhood?
It’s so sad that this question is the hardest for me to answer. I have a pretty horrible memory for things that matter, but I can recite like all of Dumb and Dumber and Happy Gilmore for you. Hmm… honestly, the only two memories that come to mind have to do with poop? And now, I feel like I should really take some time to recollect my childhood memories.
Pricing:
- Flat rate of $200 per illustration commission, but pricing after that depends on the commission as some ideas take longer than others.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.allieballesteros.com/
- Email: allieballesteros@gmail.com
- Instagram: @allieballesteros
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