A Hit of Scream Colour by Illustrator, Humberto Cruz

I've found that passion is very often confused with financial success. In actuality, passion is exemplified through loving an activity enough to do it without any form of reimbursement, wether that compensation come monetarily or in the form of accolades. However, it's our society that tends to highlight the million dollar business man over the starving artist and as a result we also prefer stacks of bills over the blood, sweat and tears they came from. Still, real passion lives in the people who sacrifice their time and sleep for the sole reason that they really enjoy doing whatever their personal affection may be and that's really all they need to keep doing it. Illustrator, Humberto Cruz, is an excellent example of an artist with this type of immense passion.

Every night when Cruz returns from his full-time job in San Diego, California, he goes home to spend evenings with his blending markers and fine tip pens. As a child, Cruz, began teaching himself to draw- sketching his friends and family members along with his own made up characters. After High School, his affinity for creativity lead him to enroll in the graphic design program at the Art Institute of California. However, despite being well educated in computer applications that could enhance and digitalize his work, he still prefers a simple pen to paper. With time he began developing his skills and personal style and chose to progress by illustrating his favorite pop culture and fashion icons. Later he added pieces of his collection of stickers, as well as drawings inspired by them, to amplify and distinguish the backgrounds of his final products. His work is characterized by bright colors, an air of fun, with a strong youthful spirit in it's conception, but it wasn't until recently that his work began to become widely recognized.

Today it's hard to under estimate the power of social media. Many of our nation's favorite contemporary entertainers were derived from popular videos seen on youtube. In Cruz's case, it's  instagram. I first noticed his work on the instagram of a Jeremy Scott creative team member. I absolutely loved it and explored his account for more of his adorable illustrations. After weeks of consistently pressing the ♥ button I knew it was time to email Cruz some appreciative words. Happily, I found that I wasn't the only one. After starting an instagram, tumblr, and twitter, Cruz has been able to gauge the interest of many far and wide. He has recently done collaborations with other talents such as Luca Finotti and Marley Kate, and I am confident there will be many more in his future. I'm so happy to be able to share both his illustrations and his story because I am always inspired by those who never cease to pursue their true passions no matter what limitations they have to face to do so. I'm also lucky I was gifted with an I Scream colour original of myself in a favorite hot pink vintage Balmain look!

For more of Humberto Cruz's amazing illustrations be sure to check out + follow him on Tumblr, Instagram, Twitter, & Facebook!