This interview features digital artist Eric Vasquez. He is a talented artist who explores different aspects of design including mixed media arts. He also uses different styles in executing his design, resulting in a work rich in color, texture and light. Let's take a behind-the-scenes peek into his inspirations, work process and future projects.

Can you tell us more about yourself? What influenced you to become an artist?

Well, I am a 26 year old artist living in Brooklyn, New York, which has always been a dream of mine just to be in one of the greatest cities in the world doing what I love most. It started for me when I was about four or five, scribbling on the walls of our one bedroom apartment with crayons. I was fortunate enough to have a family that always supported and encouraged these artistic inclinations, even if it meant having to paint over my beautiful masterpieces before we moved out. It wasn't very long before I discovered the joy of comic books. After that I really got into drawing and illustrating, and as I got older I just practiced more and more. It wasn't until highschool when I really had my first experience with Graphic Design. This was in the form of a screen printing class where we got to design and make our own t-shirts which was really quite fun. I think that was around the time that I realized that I could turn my passion into a career, and from there it was off to college where I continued to study and hone my skills at The New England Institute of Art in Boston where I received my degree.

What were your most memorable experience as a designer/digital artist?

I have had quite a few memorable experiences as a designer in my career thus far, but some of the ones that stand out to me are a lot of firsts. For example, the very first time I was published in a magazine (Advanced Photoshop) or the first time that I got to exhibit my work to the public (Artists In The Station) were both very memorable moments for me.

Which of your projects reflect you best as an artist?

This is a tough question because like most designers out there, you really put a lot of yourself into each of your projects. I am not sure if there is one particular piece that reflects all of the sides and nuances of who I am as an artist, but I can tell you that a piece called "Fire" was the first design that made me fall in love with Photoshop. It was something that I created not really knowing a whole lot about the program at the time, so it was a lot of figuring things out on the fly and working until I got the result I was trying to achieve.