When Joe Castillon decided to create an animation to celebrate LGBTQIA+ heroes, he looked to the history books for inspiration. He drew a cartoon version of Harvey Milk, the first openly gay man to be elected to public office in California; activist Barbara Gittings; and Leonard Matlovich, the first gay service member to out himself to the military to fight their ban on gays. “I wanted to help spread awareness of LGBTQIA+ individuals who paved the way for our rights,” he says. “Many people, including myself, were not made aware of their stories when we studied history in school.”
A higher calling
As a child, Castillon preferred art lessons to history. He was raised in Chicago by his mother and grandmother. “My mom sacrificed a lot for me,” he says. “She even switched jobs so I could go to a private school where the area was safe and offered better education opportunities.” She encouraged him to follow his dreams as an artist, even though the industry was both difficult and challenging to break into. “I learned to draw fast by doing caricatures,” he says. But after graduating in 2007 he found himself working in fast food restaurants and other customer service jobs while struggling to break into the creative industry. “You say you’re an artist in Chicago and people say, ‘Oh, you do logos?’” he recalls. “I knew that there was something bigger out there that I needed to pursue for myself.”
In November 2014 he moved to California and never looked back. “When you come to LA, you’re working on music, videos, films, commercials — you know, the big stuff.” Today, he’s an in-demand storyboard artist with clients that include Universal Studios Japan, McDonald’s, and Fujifilm. His animations are also used in advertising campaigns — he’s the proud creator of a dancing string cheese, among other characters. He also stays busy working as a live sketch artist for public and private events.
Learning to sell yourself
“Technology has been a huge influence in how I work as an artist, but also how I market myself,” Castillon explains. “It’s a dog-eat-dog industry, so you have to be your own cheerleader.” He uses Adobe Premiere Pro to present his storyboards side-by-side with the finished product, like a recent music video for Marshmello, the DJ. “Then I export it as an animated GIF that I can embed in emails, Facebook, LinkedIn, or wherever.” He might compete with dozens of artists for the same animation jobs. While his rivals often have websites or Vimeo, Castillon prefers to drop his GIFs right there in the chat. In the fast-paced entertainment industry, he’s often hired instantly.
Adobe also reduces friction when it comes to contracts and onboarding. “I used to have to wait for documents to sign and mail back. I wasted so much time, money, and effort. Now I simply open Adobe Acrobat, and I can digitally sign the document and get started on the work.” Sending work to clients is easy, too, he says. “It’s allowed me to be more eco-friendly — no more paper, yay! And it’s allowed me to send images to clients in a much cleaner and faster format than having to scan an image and email it to them. My motto is less work, more money.”
Taking pride in your work
It’s not all rise and grind. Castillon likes to relax at life drawing classes in West Hollywood. “I like to focus on different parts of the body, because sometimes in a storyboard, you’re not showing the full frame, you’re drawing maybe a hand at an odd angle, or maybe a foot.” He proudly shares his life drawing work on his Instagram. “To me, that’s being brave, to post that one drawing of a naked body, without fearing that a possible employer may not like it, because they don’t deem it up to their standards. I’m gay 24/7, and no job will ever make me hide who I am. I’m aware that I have followers with different beliefs, but I showcase the work that I love to do and I encourage other artists to do the same.”
The art of mistakes
Play is a big part of Castillon’s process. “The best art is sometimes created by accident,” he says. “You can have an idea you want to execute, and then you start experimenting with different tools and trying something new. Sometimes it doesn’t work, but most of the time it does. That’s why being an artist isn’t about perfecting art, but perfecting the way you work.” He says that in this creative market, only the versatile will thrive. “Don’t limit yourself to one or two programs. Familiarize yourself with the Adobe Creative Cloud and everything it offers. Not only does it look good on a resume, but you can make more income because your skills stand out from the crowd.”
Castillon says another key to success is looking beyond digital, and promoting your work in the real world, too. “Get your content printed in some form so others can share it. I did sticker art for actor Daniel Franzese from ‘Mean Girls.’ He’s a gay icon and it was such an honor to create art for him, and also to see younger fans come in to buy a sticker to slap on their phones or bags.” Seeing his art in the wild remains the ultimate thrill: “There’s something about seeing the work I do come to life. I love putting smiles on people’s faces and sharing my art to the world. My message to any artist out there is to keep drawing, keep learning, keep posting, and know you have a place in this world, no matter who you love.”