So, Mike Jaramillo, right? I went through a phase with his stuff, lemme tell ya. You see his work, and it looks so clean, so effortless. You think, “Yeah, I can get that vibe.” Famous last words, my friend.
I remember trying to pick apart his style. It wasn’t just about the finished piece; I wanted to get the thinking, the process. I figured if I could just understand how he approached things, maybe some of that magic would rub off. Big mistake, trying to just copy-paste a style like that.
My Little Adventure Trying to Crack It
I was working on this personal project, something I was really passionate about. And I thought, “This needs that Jaramillo touch – that slick, modern feel.” So, I started. I watched videos, I looked at his art ’til my eyes crossed. I even tried to mimic his specific techniques, the way he laid down lines or structured his compositions. Sounds straightforward, doesn’t it?
Well, it was anything but. My attempts? They looked… forced. Stiff. Like a bad imitation, honestly. It was missing that spark, that natural flow his work has. The more I tried to be like Jaramillo, the less my own stuff felt like, well, me. It was incredibly frustrating. I’d spend hours, and then look at what I made and just feel deflated. It’s like trying to sing a song in someone else’s voice – just doesn’t quite work, you know?
I remember one evening, just staring at my screen, surrounded by crumpled sketches. My dog came over and nudged my hand, like, “Hey, you still alive over there?” It kinda snapped me out of it a bit. I realized I was so caught up in chasing this specific aesthetic that I’d lost the joy in what I was doing. I wasn’t experimenting; I was just trying to replicate.
So, I took a break from all the “Jaramillo studies.” I just started drawing whatever came to mind, no pressure, no specific style I was aiming for. And slowly, some of my own natural tendencies started to come back. It wasn’t as polished, maybe not as “cool” in that particular way, but it felt more genuine. It felt like my hands were finally speaking my language again, not trying to translate someone else’s.
Eventually, I went back to that personal project. And you know what? It didn’t end up looking much like Mike Jaramillo’s work at all. But I finished it. And I was actually happy with it. It was mine. I learned that it’s great to admire other artists, to learn from their techniques, sure. But trying to be them? That’s a dead end. You gotta take what you learn and then filter it through your own experience, your own hand.
So yeah, that was my whole Mike Jaramillo journey. Learned a ton, mostly about what not to do, and a little bit more about finding my own groove. It’s a process, always is.