Awesome Artist We've Found Around The Net: Victor Barreto

For years, Awesome Art We’ve Found Around The Net has been about two things only – awesome art and the artists that create it. With that in mind, we thought why not take the first week of the month to showcase these awesome artists even more? Welcome to “Awesome Artist We’ve Found Around The Net.” In this column, we are focusing on one artist and the awesome art that they create, whether they be amateur, up and coming, or well established. The goal is to uncover these artists so even more people become familiar with them. We ask these artists a few questions to see their origins, influences, and more. If you are an awesome artist or know someone that should be featured, feel free to contact me at any time at [email protected] month we are very pleased to bring you the awesome art of…

Victor Barreto

JOBLO: What got you started as an artist?
VICTOR: I’ve always liked drawing since I was a little kid. Drawing on walls, drawing on notebooks during class, or drawing on desks. That last one was not the most appropriate surface to draw on; especially during an exam. Even though I enjoyed drawing, I never expected to make a living as an artist. Thankfully when it came time for college, my parents suggested I take a career aptitude test. The results showed I liked art/computers and it suggested graphic design. I had no idea what graphic design was but I figured that if I could make art and make a living, then I was all for it. Over the next four years, I learned what graphic design was and how to use it. I ended up graduating with bfa in graphic design and illustration. While I was happy to have a job in graphic design, I really wanted to work in entertainment. After that I spent my evenings and weekends working on my portfolio till I was finally able to land my dream job of designing movie posters. These days I do design work in entertainment advertising and work on my own illustration artwork on the weekends.

Who were some of your favorite artists growing up?
As a kid I enjoyed reading goosebumps but what I really loved was the covers by Tim Jacobus. They were always so vibrant and colorful. I love using color in my own work so for sure an inspiration.

Another artist I liked was Chuck Jones, animator and director for Looney Tunes. I enjoyed watching Looney Tunes as a kid and drawing the characters all over my book school book covers.

The art of Mark Fredrickson on the Mead No Rules folders really captured my eye. The perspective on each one was always interesting and the color like the goosebumps covers was so vibrant.

As I grew older, I appreciated illustrators of movie posters John Alvin, Bob Peak, and Drew Struzan. The ability to show what a movie was about based off one image was inspiring.

Milton Glaser was also one of my favorites when I was in college studying graphic design. He is another artist whose use of color has inspired me.

Who do you really dig these days, follow on Instagram?
Enjoy their posters:
Oliver Barrett, Dan Schlitzkus, Vance Kelly, Marie Bergeron, Laurent Durieux

Enjoy their use of color:
Doaly, Matt Taylor, Barry Blankenship, Robert Sammelin, Jonathan Bartlett

Enjoy their Poster concepts:
Eileen Steinbach, Julien Rico Jr, Phantom City Creative, Thomas Walker

Enjoy their Illustration style:
Patrick Ballesteros, Dan Hipp, Audrey Estok, Nicky Barkla

What advice would you have for budding artists today?
Be persistent while going at your own pace. Burnout is real. Whether that’s drawing, working on your portfolio, posting to social media, you need to go at a sustainable pace. It’s something that’s helped me achieve certain goals. I may not have time to draw everyday and that’s fine. Life gets in the way. Sometimes I end up picking things up a week or three later.

What should we be looking out for from you in the future?
I recently started attending conventions as an artists alley exhibitor and it has been a great experience. It’s always exciting to talk to other people who like art, or aspire to be artists themselves. I’ve been wanting to do more horror movies and wrestling posters lately. I’m planning on focusing on those in the near future. Once I get enough done I might start attending horror and wrestling cons.

Being a fansite, we have to ask you… What are some of your favorite movies/TV shows of all time?
Movies:
All time favorite movie is Back to the Future.

Favorite movies growing up:
Heavyweights, Mrs Doubtfire, Hook, Jurassic Park, Ghostbusters, The Goonies, The Sandlot, The Karate Kid, Uncle Buck, Home Alone

Movie people hate but I love:
Fast and the Furious Tokyo Drift

Favorite movies when I was older:
Paddington 2, Moneyball, Scott Pilgrim vs the World, When Harry Met Sally, Goodfellas, The Dark Knight, Mad Max Fury Road, The Good the Bad and the Ugly, Blade Runner 2049, Shawshank Redemption, Catch Me If You Can, Mission Impossible Fallout, Enemy of the State

Favorite Horror:
Halloween, Mandy, 28 Days Later, Shaun of the Dead, Alien, Get Out, Scream, A Quiet Place, Prey, Ready or Not, Green Room, The Thing

TV shows:
Comfort shows I like to rewatch:
Community, Parks and Recreation, The Good Place, Malcolm in the Middle, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Superstore, Ted Lasso, New Girl

Animated shows:
Bob’s Burgers, Gravity Falls, Cowboy Bebop, Avatar the Last Airbender, Futurama, Rocko’s Modern Life, Bluey

Favorite Dramas:
Mad Men, The Americans, Succession, Breaking Bad, Better Call Saul, Andor, Legion, Glow, Wandavision, Loki, Daredevil, Mr Robot

Scroll down to check out some of our favorite art pieces from Victor as we continue to follow his journey across his Website and social media hubs: Instagram / X / Store / Victron Printing

Barbie