05: Mexican & Irish-American Illustrator and Author, Molly Mendoza

Draws in Spanish | Conversations with Latinx Visual Artists and Designers

If you’ve ever felt shy speaking Spanish, you’ll feel right at home with this episode. This week, I chat with Portland-based illustrator and author Molly Mendoza about how their Mexican/Irish-American culture influence their colorful and dynamic work.

Molly was raised in the Chicago suburbs before moving to Arizona in middle school, and eventually landed in Portland, OR for college. Since their college days, Molly’s illustrated picture books, written graphic novels, and painted murals all while continuously elevating their work.

Despite working with notable clients like Adobe and The New York Times, Molly’s not above making fan art! They explain that they view fan art as a fun outlet and a break from commercial work that allows them to connect to some of their favorite anime series like JoJo Bizarre Adventure. Molly even admits that their JBA fan art subtlety influenced their recent work for “Reflejoz en La Luz,” their recent duo show at Upper Playground Gallery in Portland.

These days, Molly’s focused on illustrating a new picture book, Jovita Wore Pants, and explains how they’ve built trust with Art Directors in order to approach every illustrated book differently. Listen to this episode to learn more about Molly’s Latinx influences, intuitive approach to illustration, and thriving career in publishing.

Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, Stitcher, iHeartRadio, or on your favorite podcast platform.

Topics Covered:

1. What it was like growing up in an Irish-American & Mexican household
2. Feeling self-conscious speaking Spanish
3. How Latinx heritage influences artwork in very personal ways
4. The struggles and realities of moving to a new middle school
5. How light and color heavily influence their work
6. Fan art as a legitimate art form
7. Working on their new picture book Jovita Wore Pants.
8. Practical advice for artists wanting to work in comics and graphic novels

Guest Info

Check out Molly’s latest work on Instagram, and their latest comic The Drake’s Sword for Shortbox Comics Fair.

Bonus Links:

• Shade of Fear: Horror Anthology Kickstarter
• SKIP - Molly’s Graphic Novel
• Molly’s insanely awesome portfolio

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