006: Seiji Endo

Seiji Endo, also known as Happy Dad Doodles, is a freelance Guamanian artist who takes commissions, though he also designs clothing and works on personal projects.

He formed his art style through “years of practice [geared] towards creating [his] own style inspired by many other styles, such as anime, cartoons, and comics.” When working on a piece, Endo brainstorms, trying to clearly visualize the end product and getting reference photos as needed. He then moves onto a basic sketch which he cleans up, adding bold black lines. He colors the work before going over the piece one last time to fix any mistakes and add little details. His thick outlining and added easter eggs can be considered his signature (Of course aside from his actual signature). He has no problem entering a creative mindset though he does sometimes find commissions restricting in terms of creativity and time constraints. At times when he finds himself stuck, Endo either takes a break or repeats old drawings.

Sadly, when he was entering his art career, his family didn’t really support his decision, believing it a “poor person’s job.” However, his friends from high school and college supported his decision and praised his art. Seiji Endo looks up greatly to the great late Stan Lee, which is easily understandable as he is the reason behind Endo’s passion for art and writing. The comic books from his youth made him desire a career in art, particularly as a comic artist. And while his art “ resonates more with the anime, comic, cartoon-ish look and feel of my style,” anyone can enjoy it, as it should be. He has done “commissions in different styles … [and] wants to make comics, but that’s not all that [he is]. With art, people are able to see the many facets that can come from one person.”

Endo sees art as “an expression of one’s personality, a showcase of emotions, and creating something out of nothing” and believes that artists all share a capacity for creativity. He realizes art was originally used as a method of preserving one’s culture but also that technology has replaced art in that fashion, so art is more used nowadays in advertisements, television, cinema, comic books, and more.

To read the full interview, continue reading below. Check out Seiji’s Instagram as well.

Describe what you do.

I am a freelance artist who does commissions, clothes designs, and personal art projects.

How would you define art?

Art is an expression of one’s personality, a showcase of emotions, and creating something out of nothing.

Why did you choose your art form?

It was actually years of practice with the mindset of creating my own style inspired by many other styles. Such as anime, cartoons, and comics. I didn’t necessarily choose an art style rather tried to make my own.

How has your ethnicity/race affected the type of art you make?

I was affected not so much in my ethnicity being an issue in creating art, rather I didn’t get much support from my family in becoming an artist due to ethnical background belief that art is a poor person’s job.

How did your high school/college years affect the work you make today?

Less about school and more about the friends I made during my years in high school and college. Meeting and showing my friends my art was the support group I didn’t really get from my family’s side.

Who do you idolize?

I will forever idolize the late and great Stan Lee.

Where do you get your inspiration?

As far as getting inspired to create something, for me, it’s relatively easy to get into a creative mindset. I’ve always loved drawing and constantly coming up with new ideas every day. Commission can be a bit restricting since it’s not my vision it’s someone else’s vision that I’m trying to create. Other than that I usually don’t have much problem thinking up what it is I want to make.

What do you do when you're stuck on an artwork or lacking motivation or inspiration?

It depends how long I’m working on a project. Like if I’m working on something all day but I can’t shake the feeling that something is missing, I’ll decide to give it a night’s rest to reset my brain or get inspired from my dreams. If I’m experiencing “writer’s block” where it feels like I can’t create anything new or struggling with that, then I’ll take it back to the basics and instead of stressing over making something new, I decide to draw things I’ve already done to get back into the groove of things.

What do you like incorporating most into your art?

I would have to say thick black lines, I primarily practice line art in my style. So most of my work with have bold black lines outlining the art piece. It’s just something I’ve always done since using pen and paper.

What is something that you add to your art as like your signature?

Again I would have to say bold black lines for outlining, but I also like to put really tiny details that normally would be missed or little “easter eggs” in an art piece that either relate to me or to the person who commissioned me. The most obvious one just being my actual signature that I put with all my art.

Take us through your process for making art.

Well first I brainstorm on what it is I’m going to create, I visualize that image clearly in my head, get reference photos if they are needed, do a basic sketch of what it is I’m trying to make, then if I’m satisfied with how it looks I go back over everything in thick black lines, finally I color, shade, add lighting, and then incorporate little details and fix up any mistakes last.

What do you struggle with the most when making art?

Time is the biggest struggle I deal with for art. I’m a stay at home dad except when my wife comes home and I work part time night shift at my job. So pretty much all day during the weekdays, I’m watching my son with the only time to draw being his nap times, which are only an hour long normally. Other than that my only time to draw is during my night shift when there are no customers in the store. Which actually helps a lot in having time to work on commissions or art projects.

What role do artists have in society?

In the past art was used as a way to preserve culture or create images to remember from the past. Since cameras and technology have advanced past that, art is now mainly used for entertainment purposes within society. Ads, shows, movies, comics, etc.

What characteristics do you think all artists share?

Creativity, is what I think is the core of being an artist. Having the ability to envision a representation of an idea or subject, and then create an image depicting such is what separates artists from other people in my opinion.

What’s your favorite place in Guam?

Jack in the Box? Just kidding, but seriously I can’t pick a place in Guam that’s my favorite. More so I take all of Guam as what it is, just depends on what you’re in the mood for.

How has your artwork evolved over time?

I would say it evolved drastically but for the better. I’ve been doing art for over 15 years but only did it professionally for the past 5. Mostly because I was traditional pen and paper until I got my iPad to create digital artwork. Although still relatively new to it, I would say I’ve improved a lot with more room to grow. Something I didn’t mention was that i’m working on my own comic series, but I have been making them for a long time. At first, all my characters looked the same and the story was very basic. Now over time, I’m able to make the characters distinguishable, filled with other emotions, and have realistic character development and flaws. My skills in world building and creating dialogue that doesn’t feel like exposition have also gotten a lot better from when I first started in middle school.

Why did you choose to become an artist?

- Simply put I have always loved art, always loved drawing, and I always loved making stories. Partly I would say from reading comics from a young age is the spark that made me want to make my own comics. Namely the character Spider-Man. Being able to connect to this made character is the catalyst that made me want to do the same. Since I can remember I’ve wanted to be an artist but namely a comic artist in my own right. I do enjoy commissions and making art pieces, but my real love for art comes from creating characters and stories.

Do you have any tips for aspiring artists?

Don’t give up. Whether it would be your art style, a project you’re struggling with, or running into “writer’s block”, don’t give up on yourself. Sometimes you’re just one day from figuring it out. Don’t be afraid to challenge the norm, to be vulnerable, or to admit you’re having a struggle creating. Don’t be caught up in yourself, allow others to give you inspiration or ideas to help you move forward. Don’t compare yourself to others who have it better or have a bigger audience than your art, there’s an audience for everything and you just need to find where you fit. Lastly, draw what you know. What that means is recognize where your strengths are what you’re good at drawing and continue to do that. In doing so you’ll be able to expand upon the parts you’re struggling to make naturally, instead of stressing over why you can draw hands but not feet for example. Draw your hands extremely well while slowly getting the hang of drawing feet. Now change hand and feet to whichever it is you’re good at drawing and what you need to work on. Art is special and takes time to master, but takes even more time to personalize to yourself, don’t give up.

Is your art geared towards a specific audience?

I would say my art resonates more with the anime, comic, cartoon-ish look and feel of my style, but the reality is that it can be for anyone. That’s the point of art, it’s for everyone. For everyone to see. So even though my style might make people who enjoy that type of art more, it’s not geared toward them it’s geared to everyone who’s willing to give it a look. I’ve done commissions that involve a different style than my own, however, that didn’t stop the people who see my normal style from also looking. I want to make comics, but that’s not all that I am. With art, people are able to see the many facets that can come from one person.

007: SketchyJess

005: Julia Birn