Meet Stephanie Mercado | Story Artist / Illustrator / Fabricator

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

Hi Stephanie, how has your work-life balance changed over time?
When I first started working, I threw myself into my work. The quote that says “If you love what you do you’ll never work a day in your life” was echoing in my head. I’m one of the few people who get to make a living as an artist. Work life balance was not apart of my vocabulary. I also felt like I had to prove myself to both the people who told me to give up and to myself.

But that’s just not realistic or sustainable. I started working while in grad school. My schedule was juggling being a full time student, being a teachers assistant, a nearly full time workload, and a tiny hope that I won’t be too tired to do laundry. I felt so guilty for putting my family on the backburner. My family is very close (in both distance and in general) so I would get scolded for disappering but when I would visit I was so exhausted I’d just fall asleep. I’d try to live in the moment but I would feel guilty anytime I wasn’t working or doing something related to better myself as an artist.

I had a teacher mention off handedly that when picking work she wanted something she could leave at the office once the work day was done. That’s what I wanted. A guilt-free break from work to do whatever I wanted. “Never work a day in your life” wasn’t whatever I was doing. Creating art was work and I was straining my mind and body because I didn’t have a work life balance. I started to picked up hobbies unrelated to art like roller skating and meditation. I’m an anxious person so still, from time to time I think to myself “I should have brought my drawing pad or something” but I let myself enjoy existing outside of my work.

You shouldn’t feel guilty for enjoying your life. There’s no universal answer for the ideal work life balance but important that you find what works for you. I cannot emphasis the importance of that balance enough. The burn out is real. It took me getting burnt out twice to figure that out.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
For work, I’m a puppet fabricator/ wrangler and outside of my 9-5, I’m a story artist/ illustrator. I currently have a webcomic that follows a mermaid and an astronaut. I’m so excited to finally tell their story. I’ll occasionally do some abstract paintings but a lot of my digital art is inspired by my love of film, animation, and video games. I have a hard time dealing with my feelings and expressing myself. So I use my art to process things that are going on, like during my time at grad school I made a stop motion film called “Petals” to process and greave my aunt getting cancer. My art has been the most important and cathartic part of my life.

I decided around 16 to seriously pursue animation and art. I luckily had the support of my sister and mother but we still had our struggles. My mother was a real estate agent during the recession so we were living on $20 every 2 weeks. No matter how bad things got my mom saw all the potential I had. So for my senior year of high school, we moved to LA so I could get in-state tuition and be where the industry was. After lots of ups and downs, I ended up at UCLA. Midway through getting my master’s, I started working on a Netflix film called “Alien X-mas”.

The path I took wasn’t easy but it’s shaped me into who I am. Some of the lessons I’ve learned is of the importance of taking care of your mental health, how much anger and resentment can hold you back in life, and living for yourself. When I felt like this dream was impossible I would do things to remind myself of how close I was to where I wanted to be. So I’d go and sit in front of the Disney studios thinking of what is waiting for me in the future or watch some of my favorite movies reminding myself that that’ll be me soon enough. It also helped having a mom so driven and as understanding as she could be backing me every step of the way.

The best way to summarize my brand is that I’m a first-gen Latina creator with a passion for artistic storytelling and a whole lot of dry humor.

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?
First up, Little Tokyo! I LOVE it there. Cute shops (‘the Hob Nob Shop’, ‘Kools’), great food and pastries (Yamazaki Bakery is the BEST), and my favorite bar around the corner, EightyTwo! Downtown is next door and is covered in movie filming spots like Angels Flight Railway. If you want the most LA Instagram pictures you visit The Broad and go to ‘The Infinity Room’ or LACMA’s ‘Urban Lights’. When visiting SoCal, you gotta go to the beach. Malibu is the best and has great seafood options. Echo Park and Silverlake are my favorite areas in town. So much beautiful street art, a ton of cool/random shops like ‘House of Intuition’ and ‘The time Travel Mart’. There’s also great food and cafes like ‘Silverlake Ramen’ and ‘Dayglow’. You can even rent the swan boats on the lake. My last recommendation is The Huntington Library. It’s an art museum and botanical garden. This is perfect for an artsy date spot.

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?
Becky Van Cleve! She was my first boss in the animation industry. I’ve learned so much from her and I couldn’t have asked for a better first (or second and third) boss. I was so nervous walking into the studio with no experience outside of school. But Becky’s guidance and her general vibe was exactly what I needed. She’s patient and has never made me feel bad for asking questions. Even on stressful days, she would have our department cracking up. And I knew that if I ever needed her, I’d be safe under her wing. To top it off, she’s such a talented writer, puppet fabricator, and costume designer. I wish everyone could have a Becky, both as a boss and a friend.

Website: https://www.maviecommestephanie.com/

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

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/maviecommestephanie/

Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@quitefawndofyou lsmercado.artworks@yahoo.com