We had the good fortune of connecting with Antonio Pelayo and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Antonio, what do you attribute your success to?
I would say my “passion” for the arts

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
Me specialty is pencil portraits, and my latest series The American Dream is a combination of Pencil & Hand Inked & Painted animation cels. I might be the only one doing this type of work…. I am proud of the Mi Familia series i’ve created, but i’m most excited about the new series The American Dream because i’m merging what I specialize in which is Pencil and what i’ve been doing at Disneys Ink & Paint department for the last 26 years. I met Retna back in 2004 and he had me in one of the shows that he was curating, from there my Art Career took off. It was not easy. It was hard work and lots of networking. I think when you have a passion for a thing, the challenges seem easier to go through. Lessons i’ve learned….don’t take things personally, keep your eye on the prize. I am a hard working Artist thats striving to get better everyday and hope that my work moves you in some type of way.

Any great local spots you’d like to shoutout?
The Huntington Library, the Getty Center, LACMA, if theres a concert going on that week…The Hollywood Bowl. Hollywood Forever cemetery, a hike to Angeles National Forest, a Laker game, Universal Studios, eat at the Grand Central Market, some local Taco spots like Tacos Way, and we would go drinking at 4100 bar on Sunset.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I would say the book Think & Grow Rich and my son Isaac Pelayo, his self growth and passion for Drawing and Painting is inspiring and moving

Website: www.antoniopelayo.com
Instagram: @antoniopelayo
Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/antonio-pelayo
Twitter: @antonio_pelayo
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/antoniopelayoart
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/antoniopelayo