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Hydro74 Bear

About the artist

Hydro74

• View artist’s website

jimiyo

Can you tell us about yourself?

Well. A little known secret about me is that I came from a highly dysfunctional family. I came from a poor, abusive family and ended up spending a majority of my youth in various foster homes. I had to make a choice in high school to either live with my mom or to stay with a friend and stay in school due to circumstances which I won’t go into, thus I stayed in school. During High School and College, I had no parents I could rely on for support so I just found people to stay with and hustled during holidays to stay with friends. In college I was going for Teaching, but by a stroke of luck, or even karma, design found me. After a few people paying me for a few badly drawn illustrations, I got consumed by it and just started to learning. I ended up dropping out of college and working full time at odd jobs, but in my free time I spent countless hours just learning. So in essence, I started with nothing and now have a successful career.

Any advice for aspiring designers?

My best advice I can offer a designer who is new or is struggling to find a voice for himself or herself is to define your goals. Meaning, start asking yourself where is it that you want to be or where you want to land that job. Design in general is so subjective, and a million paths to different spots in the career as a designer, illustrator, or even fine artist.. There isn’t any one path that really takes you to the right job. However much like an Atlas, if you define where you want to go, you can start mapping out what you need to learn and what you need to be influenced by. Also, avoid the ‘want it now’ attitude. Patience is extremely important. Lastly, do not hate anyone or anyone’s design. Those who spread hate rather than giving proper insight on a critque should be ignored. Realize that if you spend a day mad at something then that is precious time that you lost. Find comfort in your friends and loved ones. Lastly, have a vice. May it be a hot cup of tea, coffee, or just collecting something. That vice will help you step away in moments when things are not clicking correctly and allow you a few moments to relax and rethink your approach.

What are your longterm goals/dreams?

I want to just enjoy life and continue doing what I’m doing. There are some major plans underway to define better where I want to end up, but I can’t really go into details as of yet. At the end of the day, my goal is to maintain relevance in the market, gain respect among those I respect and work for, and not to live in vein.


Hydro 74 and Pale Horse Design will be presenting an unique art show November 22nd in St. Petersburg, Florida. The Back in Black T-Shirt Exhibit, showcasing limited-edition, one-color t-shirt designs, will be highlighting the artwork of the designers whose art you’ve probably been collecting in your closet for years, as well as to establish the t-shirt as a new medium for fine art.

If you are unable to attend the show, preorders are still available online at http://backinblack.bigcartel.com/category/tees