Y1 E3: Robert Larocco: Maker, Teacher, Coach

 

Astrid
All images are courtesy of the artist.

Robert Larocco 

I am a 2D artist using many mediums, such as painting, digital illustrations, chalk pastels, and colored pencils, and even developing methods to help others create art. I am from the Detroit, MI, area and have lived in many different parts of the US over the last few years. I’m an academic advisor at the Stamps School of Art & Design (University of Michigan).

Rob Larocco

What do you love about making art?

What I love about making art has changed a lot over the years.  When I was in college, I loved what I was learning about various mediums and their associated media and processes.  I'm a curious person, so learning in general has always been a passion of mine, and being able to learn about and through something I love—creating art—was especially fulfilling.  As a high school art teacher, my love of making art shifted to the ways that I could teach others, especially young people, about how to both create and appreciate art for themselves.  Currently, as an adult who has finally returned to art education after several years working outside of that realm, my love for making art has changed once again.  Now, when I have the time, and I'm in the right mindset for creating art, I find that I enjoy the feeling of nostalgia that I get from returning to a practice that was such a huge part of my life for so long but that over the years I drifted away from.

How do you evaluate your work?

Honestly, I'm happy with any piece that I've actually finished!  I tend to get sidetracked and step away from projects for long periods of time.  When life settles down, oftentimes during the winter months, I return to projects that I've started.  So I guess my answer is, I'm happy with a piece or even a project that I've actually finished, regardless (mostly) of the quality. 

Where is your studio, and what is your primary work area?

I've lived in apartments since I was 18, so I've rarely had the square footage or room for an actual studio space.  I've made my kitchen table, a cleared space in a living room, and, on rare occasions, a spare bedroom my "studio."  My studio is really wherever I can find space to create. :).

What clues or questions do you use to select an idea to invest time and resources?

Much of the work that I've done over the past 4-5 years has been at the request of others, or it's been part of a functional DIY upgrade to something in my home/apartment, like repainting old picture frames.  When it comes to my own work, I tend to utilize subjects that our close and important to me, like pictures of my husband or our dog, Astrid.  Ideation has always been hard for me without having sort of a purpose or prompt to guide me.  It's one of the reasons I enjoyed teaching art, which is because although it's difficult for me to develop concepts or themes for my work, I do enjoy helping others find ways of unlocking or accessing their own creativity by exploring topics, themes, or subjects that are important to them or that they are especially curious about exploring through art.

About your work: what do you hope people notice the most?

Honestly, I'm not sure.  When I create something for someone else, such as the album artwork I did for a musician friend, I hope of course hope that they like it and also that they appreciate the time and thought that went into the creation of the piece(s).  I suppose I hope that people can see my own work, whether a specific piece of art or an upgrade to a functional home accessory, like a picture frame, and appreciate the time that went into it and also appreciate that maybe it's something they would like to try themselves.  

"...if someone truly wants to learn to create art, then they can" 

What is your favorite guilty pleasure?

I really have so many! haha. When it comes to art, I think my favorite guilty pleasure is comic books/comic book art, which I don't actually feel guilty about.  From a very young age I've had a fascination and appreciation for comic book artists.  I love the human form as a subject, and I'm especially attracted to the escapism that the stories in comic books and the science fiction and fantasy genre provide.  I used to love drawing superheroes and was inspired by artists like Alex Ross, Salvador Larocca, and Rob Liefeld.  

How do you define success as a creative? How do you hold yourself accountable?

For me, success as a creative is finding ways to express my creativity in as many aspects of my personal and professional life as possible.  It's usually so hard for me to make time to create "art", mainly I think because I let life and my own procrastination get in the way.  Also, I'm pretty happy with my life and my work, and I think a big reason for that is because I've had to find ways to channel my creativity into areas that are not necessarily related to creating art.  When I left teaching, I found creative outlets in my work in higher education through the development of digital newsletters and flyers, which really brought in elements of design that I hadn't really utilized as a teacher because I primarily focused on fine art mediums, such as drawing, painting, ceramics and the like.  Long story short, even though I'm not actively creating artwork on a regular basis, I do still feel that I am a creative person and I've found success.  

What advice do you have about throwing away work? 

Oh boy, well I've kept two big portfolios of my work from college and from teaching, so...  I can be very sentimental when it comes to things that connect me to my past, like pieces of my own that I created in college and even demos from my years teaching.  It's really hard for me to give those things up because it would mean discarding an important part of myself that I just want to hold onto.  I also feel like I have a terrible memory, and forgetting important things from my past is a little scary to me.  For those who live to create though, I can see the value or the cathartic aspect of throwing away work they aren't happy with or that is representative of someone they feel they no longer are. For me, I like to hold on to certain things, but ultimately, I think we all have to do what makes us happy.

How can people follow you and your work?

Honestly, the best way is to ask me about it.  I have social media accounts, but because I'm not a very active creator of art, I don't post often.  I do go through little spurts of artistic creativity, so if one of those comes along and some artwork is born from that, then I'll share it with others.  

What would you like people to know that I haven't asked?

Zentangle

This isn't really about me, directly, but it's more of a philosophy of mine.  I really believe that anyone can create art and create "good" art at that.  I think a lot of people who don't think of themselves as creative or artistic give up on themselves before they even try.  I've had students who thought they couldn't create "good" art because they viewed themselves as very math, science, or engineering-focused, but once I was able to help them to consider the ways that art can and does intersect with other disciplines, and help them to understand that everyone can learn to be more observant, they often find that they can turn their "technical" minds and skills toward art and create some amazing work.  In short, if someone truly wants to learn to create art, then they can. 

Thank you for spending some time with me, Rob. This has been such a pleasure! Please come back whenever you have something to share with the ChC audience.