1. Who are you and where are you from?
Hey Guys! My name is Tony Ross, also known as Guerillustrator on social media, and I hail from Ventura County, California.
2. When did you start creating your art?
I have been creating art as long as I can remember, but I started taking it seriously around the ninth grade. High school was when I realized that the art field was the direction I wanted to take my life, as a result I went to Academy of Art in San Francisco for animation. After college, I pursued more Illustration and Graphic Design jobs rather than animation. I discovered I was getting more offers as a designer, so that's where I gravitated.
3. What is your favorite item to customize?
Baseball caps will always be my first love and focus, but I also love to customize shoes. Vans, Nike, Jordan, I've customized quite a bit of shoes over the past couple of years.
4. What got you into designing hats?
Back when I was four years old, my Dad and his friend coached a baseball team and nominated young me for the role of "bat boy." That's not only when my lifelong infatuation for baseball began, it was also my official introduction to hats. Over time, I began designing uniforms for local softball teams and had a couple hats embroidered and it all spiraled from there. After that, combining two of my favorite things was a no-brainer.
5. How are you associated with The Clinkroom?
The Clink Room and I just started working together. I have a been a fan of their Clink hats for years and I love the work they have done for the Minor League teams as Brandiose, so when the opportunity to make some hats with them arose, I didn't hesitate to get some designs over to them.
6. What advice would you give young artists looking to start their careers?
It may sound cliche, but practice, practice, practice and never give up. There are reasons that piece of advice is so commonly given, because it works! Another little tidbit of advice, and I use this one often, there's an ass for every seat, you just gotta find the right one. I know artists can become emotional about their art because of the creative process and attachment they develop to their work, but you can't let criticism get you down. Art is an individual expression, not everyone is going to like what you create and you can't let that discourage you. The audience for your work is out there, it just may take longer than you want to find your niche.
7. Who are some of your bigger inspirations?
I'm inspired by anyone who takes initiative and doesn't sit back and wait for things to come to them. Since we are talking art, cartoons and comic books have always been an integral part of my life when I was younger. I am a huge fan of Jack Kirby. Honestly, I find inspiration all over the place, horror movies, graffiti, toys, legendary artists like Dali, Michelangelo, da Vinci, Caravaggio, Hieronymus Bosch, Lichtenstein. There are so many great artists today, it's hard to narrow down, but Beastwreck, Alex Pardee, Dave Correia, Wayshak, Sweyda, Hydro74 are artists I check out regularly. As far as hat designers are concerned, I'm inspired by each and every artist, it's not as easy as everyone thinks.
8. Do you have any upcoming projects you want to plug or anyone you want to give a shoutout to?
At the beginning of the year, I co-founded The Capologists with my friend, Leon Chen. We make custom hats and pins, as well as special edition apparel every now and again. There are so many hats and pins currently in our pipeline, I'd recommend staying tuned!
Shout out and thank you to everyone who follows and supports me and my work, I can't express my gratitude enough. I'd also like to shout out all of you out here doing your own thing and creating something for yourselves!
Follow Tony on IG @guerillustrator and catch some of his hat designs on IG @thecapologists & @theclinkroom
Follow us on IG @Derp_taggz for updates on our blog and lots of Graffiti photos
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