Gabriel Picolo NYCC 2022 interview by Anthony Andujar Jr 10/6/2022
Q1. You’ve been working through Instagram illustrating fan arts of Teen Titans way back when around 2015 or so. Looking back on your career thus far, what is it that surprised you as an illustrator that keeps you going as an artist?
GP: One thing that surprised me was how important it is to draw what you like. Because when you draw what you love, it shows in the quality of your artwork. I think that’s basically what brought me to my job at DC right now. I was always posting fan art and I was always doing passionate work, stuff that I really wanted to see as a fan. At some point, DC came up to me and said, “Hey this is nice, can you do that for us?” And that got me a job at DC.
Q2. What is it that keeps you nimble and humble in this craft? When a lot of people ask about what you do as a regiment to hone your skills every time, what is something that you always remind yourself of as an illustrator in practice?
GP: I always had a very big social presence, especially because I’m from Brazil and we don’t have an established Industry there. It’s very, very different. It’s nowhere near what you have in the US. That’s why I kept my online presence very strong. And I think part of my work on the right eyes of editors or people who wanted to hire me was the people that liked my work. They always supported, liked, and commented, and I think that’s what made my social media account and my work as big and popular as it is today. So when I go to conventions and I get to meet the people who like my work online, it’s out of this world, it feels surreal. Because when you’re doing stuff online and you see a lot of numbers, and a lot of comments, it’s not the same thing as doing a convention and seeing people praising your work. When you see that interaction in real life, it makes it different.
Thank you for your time, Picolo.
Brian Isaacs - Executive Editor / Publisher