Art & Life with Ivan Flores

Today we’d like to introduce you to Ivan Flores.

Ivan, please kick things off for us by telling us about yourself and your journey so far.
I’ve been drawing for as long as I can remember. I still vividly remember visiting the elementary school library as a child and discovering the wonders of Ed Emberley drawing books. Any chance I could get, I would draw spaceships, tractors, semi-trucks, cats, farms, and all sorts of random, mostly farm-related things on the back of my school homework.

Growing up in the small farming community of Dimmitt, TX, I never expected to go into an art-related field as a career, so after graduating high school, I enrolled in the Chemical Engineering program at Texas A&M University. About a year later, I randomly came across a student in the computer lab using Adobe Photoshop and a graphics tablet. Nowadays, drawing on a smartphone or an iPad comes second nature to practically everyone, but back in the early 2000s, for a clueless farm kid who’s only real computer experience included school assignments and an occasional computer game at a friend’s house, finding out that you can actually draw on a computer with a digital pen was mind-blowing.

After that, I spent a lot of time teaching myself how to use Photoshop. Back then, YouTube tutorials didn’t exist, so I had to learn from web articles, books, and trial and error. Being a visual learner, it was a slow and challenging process to learn a visual program from a book. Despite the high learning curve, I still found tinkering with Photoshop significantly more interesting and enjoyable than solving thermodynamics problems, so I decided to switch majors to A&M’s visualization design degree program.

I graduated with a degree in visualization design from A&M and did freelance graphic design, web design, and digital painting for a couple years, during which I attended several comic, sci-fi, fantasy, and anime conventions as a convention artist, where I met many great artists, photographers, and cosplayers who influenced my development as an artist.

After a few years of freelancing, I was hired as a full-time graphic designer for a business supply company based in Lewisville, TX. Initially, photography wasn’t a part of my job description, but eventually there was a need for product photos, so I got an entry-level DSLR camera and managed to produce some quite terrible images. I eventually became fairly competent at shooting products, so I was then tasked with photographing employee headshots.

I always strove to make our products look good, but it’s a little hard to get passionate about a box of toner. When I started photographing people, that’s what really drove me to push myself. In my spare time, I would look up YouTube videos on photography basics, lighting, composition, and posing among other things.

The basic principles of photography were easy enough to understand, but it’s a lot harder to put them into practice, so to gain more real-world experience, I joined some photography Facebook groups where I began collaborating with local models, photographers, makeup artists, and hair stylists. At first, I focused on building my technical ability with the camera by shooting simple portraits, but once I had a solid foundation, I began striving for more narrative-driven imagery–images that go beyond just a pretty person on a blurry background. I wanted to at least tell a little bit of a story with my images.

And that’s where I currently am today. I’m still a full-time graphic designer, but I’m also a photographer still learning and working on improving my creative story-telling abilities through photographs in my spare time. I have a long way to go, but I’m excited to see what the future holds.

Can you give our readers some background on your art?
I’m a graphic designer and a photographer. For many years I created digital paintings and graphics with Photoshop and although recently my media passion has shifted towards photography, the goal I’m working toward is still the same: to create beautiful imagery that has both high technical proficiency as well as a visually interesting and creative narrative behind the image.

When it comes to photography, I like to plan my concepts well ahead of time, do research, gather/create props and outfits, and scout for ideal locations in person. I love nature, so any chance I get, I will shoot outdoors and almost always bring portable lighting equipment to help me get a dramatic, cinematic look. I love bold colors and high contrast in my images, so my work tends to have a dark yet colorful look to it.

Do you think conditions are generally improving for artists? What more can cities and communities do to improve conditions for artists?
The notion of the “starving artist” has been around for as long as people have been trying to make a living from art, but I think it’s easier for someone to be a successful artist in today’s world thanks to the Internet, YouTube, and social media. If you want to be a successful photographer, all you need is a strong vision and a smartphone. If you want to grow beyond cellphone photos, you can find affordable used gear on eBay or Craigslist and teach yourself everything you need to know for free on YouTube.

Your level of success depends on how much effort you put into honing your skill, networking with the right people, and promoting yourself.

I honestly don’t know the best way our city can help support its creatives, but my guess would be to support or sponsor art festivals and conventions regularly, sponsor art contests or competitions, and I’d also like to see more old neighborhoods converted into new art districts or see current ones expanded further. Deep Ellum’s mural project is a genius concept that I’d also like to see grow beyond Deep Ellum.

What’s the best way for someone to check out your work and provide support?
The easiest way to keep up with my photography is to follow me on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/iflophoto/

I also post on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/iFloPhoto/

And my website: https://www.iflophoto.com/

If you like my work, you can support me by following me on Instagram and/or Facebook.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.iflophoto.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/iflophoto/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/iFloPhoto/

Image Credit:
Alexandra Stiles, Aliya Boisselle, Marina Garcia, Dani Devora, Ava Wayland

Getting in touch: VoyageDallas is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.