Meet Cody Tarantino | Intuitive Surrealist Artist

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

Hi Cody, where are your from? We’d love to hear about how your background has played a role in who you are today?
I was born and raised in Kalamazoo, Michigan. Growing up, I had the opposite of helicopter parents with nearly too much freedom to explore whatever my heart desired. I have a naturally creative and abstract mind and with the freedom I was given, it allowed for me to spend ample time developing my interests and hobbies beyond what kids my age were doing. I never liked seeking out the help of others, so my development as an artist was formed out trial and error, experimentation and critical thinking rather than being told how things are supposed to be done. This has helped me learn and understand how to use the limitless expanse of the mind to create art to the best of my ability.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
My art is known as intuitive surrealism. One thing I focus on with my work is to illustrate a visual concept with deep meaning, that people from different walks of life can understand on different levels. However as much thought and meaning I carefully intertwine in these pieces, I let it flow naturally out of my head and onto the paper or canvas with little to no preparation before hand. This artistic process is something I have been honing and refining for over a decade, because to me, nothing is better than the process of making a work of art. Not the start, not the end, but the middle of it when I feel completely immersed in the world of my creation.

I’ve drawn everyday for 13 years since I was eight years old. Back when the pandemic first started I was close to finishing my last year of high school. With lockdowns keeping everyone within the confines of their house, the school had no answer for seniors only a month or two from graduating. With all this time on my hands, I started making tiktok videos everyday of whatever art piece I was working on. I noticed that no artist on Tiktok at the time was doing timelapse drawings with voiceovers, which is what I loved to watch on Youtube. Within a few weeks, my style of art and unique videos started to take off and now my art has reached over a billion views across all platforms and is displayed in the houses and businesses of thousands around the globe.

It wasn’t easy to build and expand my artistic abilities to where they are today. It has been a rocky road of more failures than successes to get to this point. In terms of where I am professionally, just like my art, I think I still have lots of room to grow. There is always duality within the actions one takes, and to sum it up as easy or hard feels too broad for me to be comfortable with my answer. Once things are said and done, it feels easy if I was to do it again, but the future of a foggy path of uncertainty and excitement wrapped in one.

If there is anything to take away from my story and where I am today, its that hard work beats talent every time if talent doesn’t work hard enough. I believe I was born with natural artistic abilities, but without the support and hard times I made the choice to endure, I wouldn’t even be 10% of who I am today. If one has the potential to be one of the greats, I think instead of relaxing with that knowledge, one should work their ass off to reach their full potential with hunger and drive in their eyes. I have and plan on putting my all into my craft until I no longer can’t. The artists before me have inspired this burning desire to make something greater than myself while I’m on this earth and I hope my work is enough to pass the torch to those after my time.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I grew up in a place that has bleak winters, the void of color with darkness taking over the majority of the days I already spent inside to be away from the cold. Through this, I learned to creatively make the most out of mundane things, and I think that carries into the way I go about enjoying myself. It’s not necessarily about the particular restaurants or places I would take them to, its about the moments share. I would definitely take them out to watch a movie, go to a good restaurant or book store but for me I love showing people the hidden nature spots that no one knows about. It’s those places I have the fondest memories with the people close to my heart and the places they always ask me to take them back to when I see them again.

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?
My shoutout will have to go to my long time friend Ryan Meininger, @ryanperdurabo on Instagram, as without him I wouldn’t have the art style or drive that I do today. He is the reason I started drawing everyday 13 years ago when I met him in 3rd grade, and has been my biggest supporter up to now.

Website: https://www.sinthetic.shop/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/codytarantino/

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCoGMoeY1xXHoGyLO-NxlWmQ

Image Credits
Ryan Meininger, Kai Dresden