John introduces himself as a Christian from the Philippines. The artist believes that it is his primary duty to share the good news with everyone. He is currently studying BS Architecture and he is in his last semester. Good luck to him!
We asked John about how his journey as an artist started. He shared that he started doing traditional drawing (pen and paper) when he was a kid. "I love to watch anime and it inspires me to draw. I usually copy anime from posters and I try to perfect it. Through practice, I memorized all the possible positions of the body of the character I'm drawing. As the years went by, I got amazed by the style of 'Adventure Time' and 'Rick and Morty'. That motivated me to transition to digital drawing. I invested in having a drawing tablet in order for me to digitize my drawings. At the moment, I try to combine the art style of Rick and Morty with Adventure Time and that is my current drawing style."
Architecture is another form of art that John is currently practicing. He told us that he also loves to do origami. Interestingly, the name "Arkitekyuklid" is the combination of his name and his soon-to-be profession. "I changed the spelling to create a 'quirky' name."
The artist revealed that his life is a living testimony of how "real God is". "When I was in high school, I didn't pay attention to my life. I wasted a big part of my life doing foolish things because before I thought my life didn't have any purpose. Then, a schoolmate shared about Jesus and how God can help you change your life. A lot of inspiration/ideas/motivation you see in my social media accounts are coming from my devotion when I read the bible. I'm not a religious person, I just love the one who created the universe."
The most challenging part of the creative process for John is that thing called "procrastination". "I always write my ideas and I have a lot of them. The problem is, I don't draw a lot because of my laziness. I dunno. I think a lot of artists would agree with me that procrastination is the biggest enemy we are facing."
One of the reasons John is creating these illustrations is to encourage a lot of people. "The world right now is full of negativity, especially on social media. By encouraging other people, making them smile with my puns, or lighting up their day, I am giving them a sense of hope that regardless of the negativity, life is still beautiful. I also want to emphasize in my drawings that sometimes, people, including me, experience life's ups and downs and it is wonderful to share that with everyone so that no one will feel alone in this world."
When it comes to his future plans, John's dream is to create an architectural firm. He also wants to pursue his career as an animator and continue doing illustrations to inspire everyone. "In my heart, I know God wants me to be an architect. I'm still going to continue doing illustrations, maybe create comics, do commissions, etc."
