CCAYCO: Another Perspective of Art

This year, LVL UP EXPO was a hit. There were a lot of good artists and vendors out there, but one that stood out to me was CCAYCO’s artwork. I’ve always seen his artwork, but I was able to meet the artist this time around. I’ve always admired the look of his artwork because it always stood out. It makes sense why I had to interview Chris. Here was how our interview went.

INTERVIEW WITH CCAYCO

Hey Chris. I’ve noticed that you a theme going on with a bunch of your artwork. How would you describe your art style? 

My work is mostly based on slice-of-life. I try to present it in a fun way, with a wide perspective and minimal colors. A lot of artists like to take something fantastic, like anime or comics, and rework them to ground them in reality. I find it’s more fun to go the opposite way, and exaggerate our tangible reality.

I’ve noticed that a bunch of them are given in a wide view/fisheye perspective. Why did you approach your artwork that way? 

The wide perspective is mostly to give a point-of-view feel to my work. I can also sometimes get a pretty cinematic looking shot sometimes. It’s the same reason I like to work in landscape instead of portrait. Also, it’s just visually appealing to look at.

You have awesome collages of artwork, such as the Pokemon one and the Overwatch ones! How long did it take for each of the pieces that you create? 

Overwatch ~160 hours. League of Legends ~230 hours. Pokemon ~520 hours. I’m currently over 100 hours in to a Rick and Morty collage.

If you had to choose 1 tool to create art with the rest of your life, what would you use? 

Brush pens and inks.

What got you into creating artwork? Were you always into that? Did it come naturally for you? 
I used to draw when I was little (I’m talking 5 years old young), and did have a natural aptitude for it. I didn’t pick up drawing again until I was 25. I did it for fun, but was able to get small drawing jobs by accident over the internet. So I just went all in on it and now it’s my full time job. It beats my old nine to five, and I’m my own boss.
Skyline
For all of your original pieces, what inspires you to create them? Is it based off of something? 

Most of my original pieces are pulled from my memories and personal experiences. That makes it easier to execute on getting a specific look or feeling to any individual drawing.

Do you have any artists that you are influenced by? Who are some of your favorite artists? 

My favorite artist currently is Kim Jung Gi. He is the definition of an artist who understands the world around him. My past work has also been heavily influenced specifically by Stanley Lau and Adam Hughes.

I’ve noticed you’ve done some artwork on some anime characters too. What is your favorite anime series and character? 

I’m an old man, so Cowboy Bebop, Yu Yu Hakusho, Guyver, Bubblegum Crisis were the kinds of things that got me into anime when I was younger. These days, I watch more standalone anime movies than serials, as time is more scarce. So for modern anime, anything from Wolf Children to Tekkonkinkreet to anything Ghibli puts out is always on my watch list.

If you were able to live in any anime / geek culture world, where would you live? 

The Pokemon universe, of course, would be my choice haha.

I tend to ask this to all of the artists I interview. Do you have any words of advice you would like to give fellow artists? 
BEST PIECE OF ADVICE – Don’t use other artists’ success, follower count, or skill level to measure yourself and always just create what is best for you (either financially or creatively). I’m fortunate to have started my art career later on in adulthood, and had an entire life without social media art or other artists around me. It makes it easier for me to do my own thing and not really care about the noise surrounding me. I think it’s a tricky world for anyone who started art young and who is currently 18-22 and being bombarded with so much of that noise that they can’t hear the voice inside their own head telling them what kind of art they really want to make.

ARTWORK GALLERY

Here is some of his artwork that he has done throughout the years.

Fun House
Hustle and Bustle
Long Drive
Pho
Rehab
Hiro and Baymax
Every League of Legends
Every Overwatch Hero
Solder 76
Big Daddy
Captain Marvel
Zero

Live Demo Artwork

During conventions, there would be times where he would do live demos of his artwork where he would ink everything then and there. It really shows the artwork and the detail that it takes to create his wonderful artwork.

Live Ink Demo at Anime Los Angeles 2018
Live Ink Demo from Bakersfield Anime 2018

Hope you guys enjoyed this interview and his artwork as much as I did.
Make sure to check out his artwork and all of his social media down below to be up-to-date with his work.

SOCIAL MEDIA

Online Shop: ccayco.storenvy.com
Deviant Art: ccayco.deviantart.com
Instagram: @ccayco
YouTube: youtube.com/user/ccayco

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