ARTIST SPOTLIGHT | An Interview with Issue #9 Cover Artist, Alyssa Alarcón Santo
Alyssa Alarcón Santo is a freelance illustrator based out of Portland, OR, where she lives with her writer husband. Her love of meticulous hand lettering, cynical philosophy, and all things literary are common threads in her artwork. When she's not busy working as Planet Scumm's creative director, she can be found creating commercial illustration work for clients like National Novel Writing Month. She's currently working on a fiction comic inspired by her close knit Mexican-American family. Her work can be found on instagram @alyssasantodesign, on twitter @traitorlegs, or at alyssasantodesign.com.
PLANET SCUMM: What science fiction apocalypse scenario scares you the most?
ALYSSA ALARCÓN SANTO: Before this last year, I probably would have said a 1984 style "believe not what you see" society. Nowadays, I have to say 2020’s every-dystopia-at-once approach is the true waking nightmare I never considered.
PS: How do you know when you’re done with an illustration?
AAS: I don't think you ever truly "finish" a piece of artwork per se. You just do your best to get the concept across and rein yourself in before you overwork it.
PS: What’s the best artist advice you’ve read or received?
AAS: I have repeatedly faced the hard lesson that when you're learning, you're always going to suck for awhile. I always needed immediate mastery and if I ran into the necessity of practice, I would drop the thing. Drawing was something I idly wanted to pursue as a kid—my parents are both artists so it's in the genes—but I always felt I couldn't because I wasn't naturally great at it.
I picked it back up in my early 20s and even though I genuinely sucked, I loved illustration so much that I stubbornly committed to learning for the first time. Turns out, the only secret to mastery is repetition. Repeat the movement until you understand why the thing you're trying to do works. Apply that knowledge and repeat until the movement you sucked at feels easy—then you move onto the next thing.
PS: What scientific advance do you most eagerly await?
AAS: I have a fervent, unrealistic hope that robotic body attachments and/or enhancements happens in my lifetime. I'm disabled and don't walk well so robot legs are the dream.
PS: What helps you get through quarantine?
AAS: Drawing, creative competition reality shows, and being quarantined with a wonderful partner.
PS: What gives you hope?
AAS: Science.
See details from Alyssa’s Issue #9: “A Bloody Pulp” cover illustration below:
