Art & Life with Sergio Navarrete

Today we’d like to introduce you to Sergio Navarrete.

Sergio, please kick things off for us by telling us about yourself and your journey so far.
I was born in Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico. My parents migrated to the United States after my 8th month of being born. At the age of four, my father gave me my first art instructions on how to use simple shapes to translate what I saw on to paper. It’s not until the middle school years that my passion to create art began. My self-taught skills directed me towards illustrating after a local Amarillo rock band reached out to do banner, flyers, and apparel work. Soon after that commission artworks boomed. At 19, my life-schedule was filled with work and playing hockey which constantly had me on the road and put me on a 20-year hiatus from art. In 2010, I moved from Amarillo to Houston, Texas where I would pick up pencils and begin to draw again. While most of my creations were done while living in Houston, the move to Austin in 2016 ignited a new-found passion for my talent where other artists have influenced me to experiment with different mediums and ideas.

“I’m still learning.” – Michelangelo

Can you give our readers some background on your art?
For as long as I can remember, I’ve had this love for the symmetry of the human body and face. I find it fascinating, both on and off paper/canvas. If you go through my galleries you’ll see that I go through phases of graphite to ink to color pencils to watercolors to digital. From faces to bodies to athletes to architecture to comics to words. I just create what I feel and go with what inspires me. 90% of the time it is people I come in contact with that inspire me. Creating art gives me that time to myself, to meditate, to learn. I’ve never really given thought as to what message I want to get across other than just create anything. And I think the simplicity of just creating has inspired people around me to go out and create their own art. My artworks are all phases of my life. You can find women I’ve loved, whether I felt like being detailed to an extreme or just wanted to be simple, or violent, or peaceful, you’ll find all those clues in my artworks.

Any advice for aspiring or new artists?
Practice every day. It doesn’t matter what it is, one drawing a day. Accept productive criticism. Gain confidence by experiment with different mediums, paper, canvas. Explore, research, ask questions, ask for advice. Don’t compare yourself to other artists but do take from them and make your own art out of what you take from them. Collaborate with other artists. Go to art shows, museums. Don’t get discouraged if you feel that you’ve created a masterpiece and it only gets one like. You create art for you, to then share with the world.

What’s the best way for someone to check out your work and provide support?
Currently, I don’t have any artwork on display. My workload at my day job has picked up but I am secretly working on some paintings that I plan to exhibit later this year or early next year. I’m currently transforming my garage into my studio as we speak and once it’s complete I will certainly have my artwork on display for anyone who finds me working in it. As for now, everyone can see my galleries on my Facebook page, Instagram or purchase prints through my society6 account.

Contact Info:

• Address: Austin, TX
• Email: serg.ss.arts@gmail.com
• Instagram: instagram.com/sergnavarrete
• Facebook: facebook.com/Serg.Navarrete.Art
• Other: society6.com/sergionavarrete

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