Rey Ortega: Interview with the artist

I hunted down and gathered up some information on emerging artist, Rey Ortega. I saw his work on the Juxtapoz website and had the desire to find out more about his work. So here is a little interview with Rey, so we can call have the pleasure of getting to know him a bit better.

1. Where do you live and work?
I both live and work in Toronto, Canada. It's nice.

2. What mediums do you use?
I like to experiment with different tools, although at the heart of it, you will always find pencil. Even though I might use ink, water colours, acrylics,tea, computer,or gouache, I still think of the work as a drawing.

3. When is your most productive hour to work?
Early in the morning, scribbling away as the sun comes up, and later in the evening, after having a coffee or tea.

(image to the right:last boss 10.5"x23")
4. What sizes do you normally work with? You like to paint small or big?
I'm most comfortable working at approximately 11"x17". Recently I made pieces that were either much larger or much smaller than I'm used to. I think it helped me to understand my process better. Right now I'm preparing to work on a 30"x18" surface, I've always wanted to do a long horizontal piece.

5. How did you get started on this path?
Like most people, it started with my first box of crayons. I liked cartoons and comics, and I started to draw my own stories. I didn't really have a plan or a plot, I would just draw and make stuff up as I went along. In a way, I'm still doing the same thing!

I feel like I'm still exploring the different paths ahead of me, things like gallery art, editorial illustration and comic books all have their unique charms.

6. In the work that I have seen, you use a lot of earth tones, and natural shapes,any reason or inspiration behind that?
I think it comes from my exploration into 'simplicity'. Everything from the media, to the composition, forms and ideas stems from that. Nature as a subject evolved from that, and now I'm looking at things like decay and ruins.


7. Favorite food? ;)
That is a tough question! I like lots of food! Pho (Vietnamese noodles) will always have a special place in my heart, slow cooked ox-tail stew (Filipino), and Grilled Cheese Sandwiches. But I could probably eat just noodles and fried rice all day.

If folks want to get in contact with me for illustration or gallery work, or just to say hey, reyo@rey-o.com. You can of course, find me at my website www.rey-o.com, and blog www.reyortega.wordpress.com.

(image to the left:drifter 6"x9")
Alright make sure to view more of Rey's work and give him a shout out.
Thanks a lot Rey for the interview and photos~!!