We were lucky to catch up with Isabella Parra recently and have shared our conversation below.
Isabella, 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.
For the longest time I didn’t feel like I was up to the task of achieving my goals as an artist. I initially graduated with my Associates degree from Suffolk County Community College in Game Development back in 2019, and entered a state of limbo during the pandemic. I felt that anything I produced wasn’t good enough, including work that I created to apply to finish my degree at a four-year institution or to apply for a job related to art. Even now, I feel like everyday is a new battle with my perception of my work and feelings of inadequacy. A large part of what helped me overcome this sense of self doubt was to refocus my mental health and rediscover my passion for art. In the years that followed I developed more confidence in my work. I applied to school again and am currently working on finishing my degree in Illustration at The School of Visual Arts. I’m still working on developing new coping skills to help me with the different hurdles that come with facing imposter syndrome by continuing to expand my art portfolio. Whether that be working on my junior thesis or other personal projects, these keep me from falling back into the negative emotions I had struggled with so much before. Just putting myself out there more has really helped in developing my confidence as an artist and led me to make some life-long connections and friendships that have improved me as both a person and an artist equally.
Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?
I’m a Colombian American Illustrator working on developing my portfolio so I can work on a variety of art jobs, but my main focus is Comics. Storyboards, and Visual Development work. I was born in Miami. Florida and raised primarily by my mother, but my mom helped nourish the worlds I envision in my art today. My main artistic inspirations growing up where Studio Ghibli, Disney, and DreamWorks animated films along with many others. I loved the way the environments looked alongside the stories they told. It’s something that I have been trying capture in my own art since I was very little, and I have worked tirelessly to reach that goal. I’m currently working on my Junior thesis based on ‘One Hundred Years of Solitude’ by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. I wanted to focus my art on the intense storytelling and magical realism his story has dripping from every page. It’s been a really eye opening intense artistic experience so far, and while I’m anxious about the end results, I’m excited to share my art with the world soon. It’s nearly done, and once completed it’ll be a new addition to my portfolio, so I’m pretty excited! As far as my personal projects go, I’m almost done renewing my Etsy shop to start back on selling my artwork along with some newer things such as bandanas and t-shirts that I’ve been experimenting with. Lastly, I’m working on getting a manuscript ready to pitch a comic I’ve been developing called ‘Forget Me Not’ which takes place in a medieval fictional world. It’s a hand-drawn romance comic with a twist!
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
Honestly, the three most important skills on my journey of becoming a better artist were self-motivation, drawing from memory and imagination, and drawing from life. I’m still on my own journey of course, but one bit of advice I can give to anyone earlier along this path is to look inside of yourselves for the motivation to keep pursuing it. This is a difficult road to follow, especially for those of us who don’t come from money. Study everything around you, bring your sketchbook everywhere with you and just draw. Anything you draw is a skill you develop. Think of drawing from life as a training arc, once you’ve gone through it the skill’s will stick with you. Eventually, you’ll have enough knowledge to start placing everything you’ve learned into your drawings from memory, and letting your imagination go wild. At that point the world really does feel like your oyster. The only thing stopping you is you.
Alright so to wrap up, who deserves credit for helping you overcome challenges or build some of the essential skills you’ve needed?
Matt Rota is my professor from Junior year, and he has been Essential in helping me gain useful skills in photoshop, while providing valuable advice on my colors and line quality to help elevate my artwork. He has also pushed me to meet deadlines throughout the year, while being transparent about what I need to do to improve my techniques with a focus on linework. Right now we’re working on how I can improve the color in my pieces to help uplift the storytelling of the illustrations . He’s even talked about what it’s like to be an illustrator in today’s industry. I’ve been consulting with him about ways to define my individual voice in my work, and how to make a statement that can be recognized.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://isabellaparra.myportfolio.com/work
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/whimsisa
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/isabella-parra-75175b21a/
Image Credits
Isabella Parra
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