Meet Monique Dominguez | Designer, Painter and Illustrator

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

Hi Monique, what led you to pursuing a creative path professionally?
In fourth grade, I was asked what I wanted to be when I grew up by a C.H.A.M.P. (College Headed and Mighty Proud) mentor from Azusa Pacific University. I declared that I wanted to be an artist and she looked at me like I was crazy. I changed my mind a few times before I chose to major in Illustration in college. I decided to pursue what fourth grade, Harry-Potter-obsessed me set out to do.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
My pursuit of a creative and artistic career has been a lot of trial and error. I taught art to children, assisted a full-time illustrator and then a gallery curator. Then I had a stint working as a graphic designer. After hours, I took classes to enhance my skills so that I could pursue a career in something I’ve always wanted to do – entertainment design. I got my break into the animation industry last year thanks to my friend Caroline who put in a good word for me. I now work as an artist in animation.

This might sound silly but the most valuable lessons I learned are from playing sports growing up. I learned things like when you mess up, you get back up and keep going and you’re not going to perform well without putting in tons of practice. Those lessons translated into art-making and kept me going when I hit walls and obstacles.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Long Beach is a huge city but a hidden gem. Out-of-towners always say they’re amazed by the variety, diversity and beauty of this city.

We would start our day off with a stroll along the beach to head to Claire’s for brunch. After we finish our meal, we would walk over to Retro Row to buy phenomenal bread at Gusto. If my friend is a coffee lover, I would take them to Rose Park which is just down the street. With baguettes and loaves of deliciousness in hand, we would head down Retro Row and pop into all the unique shops. I would then take them to Colorado Lagoon for another scenic walk before hitting up Ubuntu Cafe for their happy hour menu. We would then cheers with cherry garcia margaritas in hand to end the day.

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 have so many people to give to shoutout to. I wouldn’t be where I am without supportive family and friends. They didn’t know where an artistic career would take me but they trusted that I would figure it out.

I’ve had the good fortune to have a number of amazing mentors and teachers. There’s so many to name but I’m grateful for Rise Up Animation pairing me with Monica Lago-Kaytis, Women In Animation with Kat Good, and Warrior Painters with Angela Sung. They believed in me when I didn’t believe in myself. They were incredibly real and honest with me about how far I needed to go. I can’t thank them enough!

I would even thank the people that didn’t believe in me. In the words of renowned chef Niki Nakayama, “In Japanese, there’s this word called Kuyashii, which is when somebody puts you down or says you can’t do something and you have this burning desire to prove them wrong.” I didn’t know it then, but people who doubted and rejected me were meant to be a part of my journey. They drove me to keep pushing myself and for that I am grateful.

Website: https://www.moniquedominguez.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/moni.domii/

Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/monique-dominguez

Twitter: https://twitter.com/moni_domii

Image Credits
James Okubo