Meet Armin Alaniz

We were lucky to catch up with Armin Alaniz recently and have shared our conversation below.

Armin, first a big thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts and insights with us today. I’m sure many of our readers will benefit from your wisdom, and one of the areas where we think your insight might be most helpful is related to imposter syndrome. Imposter syndrome is holding so many people back from reaching their true and highest potential and so we’d love to hear about your journey and how you overcame imposter syndrome.

I just decided one day that I didn’t care if everybody liked my work. But also what’s so bad about being an imposter? Everybody has their public facing persona mine just happens to be expressed in an art medium. We all have felt like the Scooby doo villain just waiting to be unmasked. Except instead of an old business man trying to fool the public I’m an old starving artist trying to fool myself. Well I’m not that old.

Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?

I am an artist that creates bold stylistic painting and screen prints from the comforts of my home and garage. My work incorporates tattoo, horror, punk rock, Mexican, skateboarding and street culture. When people see my work they are usually drawn in by the bold colors and heavy black lines but there is also meaning in my work. Whether it’s a dichotomy of hard and soft or an expression of love stated in my own dark way. The audience might see a monster but it might be a self portrait that represents a part of me. Along with my painting and screen prints I also make graphic t-shirts using images from my work. All of my work is done with water based acrylic paints including my t-shirts to try and reduce the impact on the environment. Right now I am very excited because I have a seven panel outdoor mural exhibit I am working on for the city of Round Rock Arts and Cultural center. It should be installed at Prete Plaza in downtown Round Rock sometime in August. I have worked really hard creating a beautiful and hopefully powerful set of panels to express something that is important to me. While I don’t want to give too much away, it is a celebration of the power of people and the sacrifices people will make for the ones they love. Apart from this project I am trying to screen print as much as possible and create new things for cool people to hang in their homes. In the past I have focused solely on poster sized prints. I am currently working on creating smaller prints to offer a variety of sizes in my shop and at events.

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?

Looking back I think the 3 qualities that were most impactful on my journey were my willingness to try something new, my work ethic, and my understanding that art is subjective. All my life I have simply drawn using pencil and paper or painted on canvas. I was convinced that I would eventually paint something so beautiful I could not be ignored. But I was also shy about my work and never actually tried to put myself out there. I decided one day that I was not only going to teach myself a new medium I was going to charge full speed ahead with shameless self promotion. So my willingness to try something new has moved me to the spot where I am today. I am nowhere near where I want to be but I closer than I was before I started. In my corporate life I always gave just enough to stay ahead of the curve because I had no passion for the work. I could always work the long hours, push through tough days and show up for work everyday but it was passionless. Now that I am doing something that I love and have a true passion for the ability to work 12-13 hour days is priceless. I can combine my work ethic and my passion to create something I truly believe in for myself. I used to try and focus my work around what was popular and might sell. Now I just create what I love and feels cool to me and let the public decide if they like it. I get people that walk by my stuff without giving it a second glance and then I get people that have to come talk to me and can’t decide which piece they like best. Art is subjective and the moment you realize that the easier it is to just go for it.

Before we go, maybe you can tell us a bit about your parents and what you feel was the most impactful thing they did for you?

The most impactful thing my parents did for me was supporting me my entire life. Praising the little drawings I did as a kid and encouraging me to keep drawing. They were also at every baseball game, football game, school play, awards ceremony and anything else I got myself into. They gave me the space to make mistakes and explore my creativity. I wasn’t pushed to play sports or participate in activities they chose for me. I got to choose what I wanted to do and they would show up to give me support. I feel extremely lucky that I had both parents in my life and they were willing to sacrifice to give me and my siblings opportunities to attend college.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://oddmeanart.myshopify.com
• Instagram: Oddmean_arts
• Facebook: Odd Mean