Interview With Artist Ruiz Burgos (Awesome Art)

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].This month we are very pleased to bring you the awesome art of…

Ruiz Burgos

JOBLO:What got you started as an artist?
RUIZ:Oh, I’ve always been an artist. I mean, I never stopped drawing and painting. At home, my father and older brother were pretty good at it, and they were drawing and painting all the time, so, for me, that was as natural as breathing.

But professionally, honestly, I think in time I finally realized that I wasn’t as good at doing anything else, haha. For years, everyone surrounding me told me that I should make a profession out of my hobby. But for me, creating illustrations was something I did for fun and I didn’t want to loose that. I thought that if I started making art for work I wouldn’t be able to enjoy it anymore. So I tried a few different jobs. But I always felt that I was wasting my time doing other things. One day, while I was working as a graphic designer for a company, I was absolutely bored at work and I realized that I was looking forward to getting back home and keep working on an illustration I was painting. And that was it. I quit the job and entered Art School, because I thought I needed to improve my skills, and I needed some guidance in order to start working on this once I was ready. The school wasn’t really helpful, but a school mate was trying to get work in the comic industry and she pushed me to try it too along with her. I wouldn’t have started working without her. Eventually, someone gave me an opportunity in comics, and I spent a few years painting comic book covers for different publishers before I started painting Alternative Movie Posters, that have been the main focus of my career for the last 10 years.

Who were some of your favorite artists growing up?
I grew up in the eighties. My father was a collector of movie posters and I started paying attention to movie poster artists pretty young. Drew Struzan, of course, has always been my favorite and a huge influence in my work. But I loved a lot of other movie poster artists like Richard Amsel, John Alvin, Bob Peak, Steve Chorney, Hugh Fleming, Renato Casaro, Robert McGinnis… Classic painters like Michelangelo, DaVinci, Rembrandt, Velazquez… and XX century illustrators like Norman Rockwell, J. C. Leyendecker, Alfons Mucha… also had a big impact on me growing up.

Who do you really dig these days, follow on Instagram?
Oh, that will be a long list. I try to follow all the artist in the business I can find. You can find awesome things and find inspiration by the work of any of them.

A few years ago I built a small community of poster artists called Spainters Collective along with Aurelio Lorenzo, Juan Saniose, Alexandra España and Alberto Reyes. They are my favorite people in the alternative movie poster world. They are extremely helpful, encouraging and supporting and they usually give me feedback of my works before anyone else. They are my Poster Family.

But I love and follow the work of a lot of fellow artists around the world, of course. And not only poster artists, I love comic book artists, toy designers, painters, concept artists, etc. But I won’t be able to remember all of them and the interview would become something too long if I make a list of artists I love, follow and support. I encourage people to check my follows in social media and the art I share from other people. I love being a part of the community not only as an artist, but as a collector and I usually share works from fellow artists.

And, of course, the most important artist in the world for me it’s my wife, Elysa Castro , who works in animation. She usually work as Art Director, and that’s the work she does with me too. I just can’t consider a piece finished until she approves it. And being able to see her process is always inspiring. I couldn’t admire her more.

What advice would you have for budding artists today?
To keep working. The only way to progress and improve is by working hard and dedicating a lot of time everyday. Try to learn from other artists, but always try to keep your own vision of the piece. And I would have loved to be more in contact with other artists when I was starting. The community can help you a lot, by asking for feedback or just solving doubts about work conditions or about the world you are trying to get into. I’ve been always a bit shy for asking for help, but most of the artists are extremely nice and you can totally talk to them and solve your doubts. And try to enjoy the process always, of course.

What should we be looking out for from you in the future?
I’m currently working on a few new officially licensed prints for the Sideshow Collectibles and Bottleneck Gallery, and more vinyl movie soundtracks from Waxwork Records. Oh and I did a BluRay steel book for Lionsgate that is about to be released too, and a few personal projects. Can’t wait to share all of the new projects I’m working on. I’m working hard on them and I’m really enjoying in process of all these new projects.

Being a fansite, we have to ask you… What are some of your favorite movies/TV shows of all time?
I have a thousand favorite movies/TV shows.

I was 11 when I watched Jurassic Park in the big screen, that caused a huge impact on me and that movie will always have a special place in my heart. When my son was born I suggested the name Ian for the name list because of Jeff Goldblum’s character in the movie, Ian Malcolm, and my wife agreed to that. So, JP is definitely my happy place and something special for my whole family now.

I grew up with Spielberg and Lucas productions. The Indiana Jones trilogy, Star Wars, Jaws, Back to the Future, Gremlins and Who Framed Roger Rabbit would be on that list for sure. But the list would be never-ending. In no particular order: Terminator 2, Robocop, The Lord of the Rings, Batman, Batman Returns, The Iron Giant, The Lion King, Die Hard, The Good the Bad and the Ugly, Little Shop of Horrors, The Thing, Road to Perdition, The Rocketeer, Pulp Fiction, Children of Men, The Dark Knight, The Incredibles, Ghostbusters, Bourne Trilogy, King Kong, The Matrix, Blade Runner, Ghost in the Shell, Princess Mononoke, Logan, The Crow, Alien, The Godfather, Goodfellas, Leon, Universal’s Classic Monsters, Young Frankenstein, Paranorman, Mad Max: Fury Road, Villeneuve’s Dune… and the list goes on.

My favorite TV show ever is Batman: The Animated Series. I love The Simpsons, Futurama, Peaky Blinders, Deadwood, The Wire, Succession, Fargo, Handmaid’s Tale, Black Mirror, The Bear, Love Death + Robots… As a little child I loved Hayao Miyazaki’s Sherlock Hound and I still have a deep love for it. Netflix’s Adolescence it’s my favorite TV Show of year so far, it was truly amazing.

Scroll down to check out some of our favorite art pieces from Ruiz as we continue to follow his journey across his Website and social media hubs: Instagram / Facebook / X / / Bluesky / Artstation / Sideshow Collectibles / Bottleneck Gallery

Batman

Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice

Conan The Barbarian

The Dark Knight

Dredd

Dune: Part Two

Evil Dead II

The Godfather

The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

Hook

John Wick 4

Jurassic Park

Jurassic World: Rebirth

Kill Bill Vol. 1

Kill Bill Vol. 2

Killer Klowns From Outer Space

The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship Of The Ring

The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers

The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King

Mission Impossible

Peaky Blinders

A Quiet Place

Scarface

The Silence of the Lambs

Source:
JoBlo