Artistic Statement:
My work is a compilation of my desire to inspire others through art, by demonstrating that one can make a difference, impact lives, and even shape the world by applying knowledge, imagination, and creativity. Inside all of us, there is a child that longs to be a superhero soaring through the clouds. As for me, I’ll keep on flying.About the artist:
My name is Joshua T. Rodriguez, better known as JRod. I am an artist, illustrator, writer, photographer, videographer, video editor, animator, art instructor and more. Crafting most of my artwork takes many hours of hard work and dedication; some of these artworks took over fifty hours or more to complete. These artworks are a reflection of my own creativity and passion to inspire.Born in Tampa Bay, Florida; I grew up reading, watching and pretending to be a superhero, a source that has blessed me with endless entertainment, inspiration, passion, and more. My father introduced me to my lifelong obsession before I could walk. As my love for comics grew, so did my love for science fiction, fantasy, horror, and noir detective stories giving me even more inspiration for art and storytelling.The joy I get from traveling, exploration, and seeing new sights came from my family constantly moving around, landing me in new exciting places with even more experience that shaped me as I grew up.I started my artist career in 2014, at the age of 18, where I began my studies of graphic design and illustration before switching my area of study over to animation and comic art. I graduated Cum Laude in 2022 from Regent University with a Bachelor’s in Animation, where I had the pleasure of learning under many amazing and knowledgeable teachers. In my studies, there were two educators that stood out and encouraged me in my journey through art, those being Joe Digangi and Nathan Tillett. While I met them at different universities, the friendship that I shared with these professors was one of the greatest blessings I could have had in college and even in my professional career.As you can imagine, my earliest influence in my artistic career came from comics, and I can even list several names of my favorite artists and how they have inspired me, such as: Jim Lee’s astonishing rendering detail and use of hatching and crosshatching, Steve Ditko mastery of drawing hands and using them in storytelling, Frank Cho’s ability to draw amazing dinosaurs and beautiful women, Dan Mora’s detailed but clean approach to anatomy, Neal Adam’s injection of realism into the medium, Alex Ross’s mastery overillustration and the medium of gouache, George Perez’s skill in illustrating large cast and diverse body types, all the way to Bryan Hitch’s ground-breaking approach to custom design. The one that stands out the most to me is the King of Comics himself, Jack Kirby. I grew up reading Kirby’s work and, to me, this is what comic books are! His work influenced my style of rendering, layouts, compositions, design, and storytelling. To list all the ways Jack Kirby has impacted my life would be a book of its own. So, to my favorite artist of all time, all I can say is: Hail to the King!Starting out, like many others, I used graphite to make my art, but as my understanding of art grew, so did my range of tools. As of now, my preferred medium for art is ink, a beautifully versatile medium that is not easy to master but can create some of the most breath-taking illustrations. My other two mediums of choice are gouache and alcohol markers, two very different mediums that when used with ink, together or by themselves, can craft amazing artwork. Some other mediums that I use to make artwork are colored ink, watercolor, acrylic paint, color pencils, and spray paint.While my website features a small look into my artwork, I always have more to show and share with those that share my same passion for creatively!