Humberto Valle, Jr.

HVJR

Born in El Paso, Texas, Phoenix-based artist Humberto Valle, Jr. can hardly remember a time when he wasn't creating art.

"I remember trying to draw characters from my favorite cartoons. I can't remember if this is true, but my mother says I could draw actual replicas of the cartoons before I could even write well.

"I mastered my skills with pencil, then transferred to the brush - something more difficult. I did well enough to earn a scholarship to the Ringling School of Art and Design in Sarasota, Florida, so I attended college before actually graduating high school. I've also studied illustration and body movement under the instruction of artist Shawn D. Barber. My skills are pretty much self taught with some refinement from instruction.

"I think I have sold about 100 pieces since I started selling my work. I remember not wanting to sell it, but my first piece sold was a portrait of a German baby boy during the W.W.II events, with an oversized military jacket and rifle. Although the painting was black and white, if you got close enough you could see that his eyes were blue. I was so proud of it, it actually hurt to let it go. It was in a gallery in a high school, then in the local municipal court, then the Florida Holocaust Museum bought it. I believe it is still there."

When asked which artists inspire him, he says "Inspire is a tricky word. I'd have to say Warhol, Pollock and Dali, and many others still living today who I have had the privilege of working and collaborating with."

Humberto has used a variety of media including charcoal, pencil, ink, watercolors, oil, acrylics, newspaper, glue, wood, canvas, linen,recycled board, metal, aluminum, clay, computer animation, digitizing and digital images and photography but his preference is for acrylics and pencil and ink.

But he tries not to stick to one theme or style in his art. He says some people have criticized him for not fitting in to a particular niche but he doesn't want to be known as an artist that just painted landscapes or abstracts, but as an artist that experiences and communicates all that the world has to offer.

"I just want to be remembered for what I love. I use my brushes and canvases as an escape from daily conflicts with society, from my daily routine.

"I express whatever stage of my life I'm in at that particular time. I like to experiment as well. When I'm bored, I tend to come up with random ideas, images pop in my head and I like to always have my pocket book to sketch in. Art is an experience that I think everybody can benefit from."

Humberto does have advice for other artists. He recommends that you be honest with yourself about your passion to carry through and also be honest with yourself about your abilities and about your work. For him, remaining humble keeps him grounded.

He also suggests that artists make goals, setting some realistic goals but also some harder ones, and review them everyday. And keep in mind those people in your life that positively inspire you - you owe it to them to be successful.

"I think we each expect great things for ourselves. And I do expect great things from myself. I try to set goals both short term and long, and keep a checklist of where I am and what I need to do to get there."

"Art is a way of expressing ourselves but it is also a business. I have had the luck of having an instructor who taught me some of his knowledge of managing art and being profitable from it, although sometimes you do have to work for almost free. In the future, I'd be happy if a lot of people ended up with one or two of my pieces. I try to keep the prices low since I would like people to be able to afford them. Some pieces people like more, and so do I, so those to me are worth more, but my goal in general is being appreciated for my art."

He knows that art is a business and always tries to be professional with his clients. If someone commissions a piece in a certain style, he will thoroughly research it, find out how the old masters approached that style and work to deliver exactly what the client wants while maintaining his own identity.

Initially, Humberto wanted very much to have his work showcased in galleries, with shows being announced in local papers and attended by people interested in seeing his work. But he realized that, ultimately, he did not need to have that validation from other people and that the only critic whose opinion mattered was his own.

He has since stopped showing in galleries and relies mostly on word of mouth promotion with very good results.

Although he puts aside money from sales for advertising, he says "I don't advertise as much anymore. I used to have my artwork in stores with my contact info, cards, websites, galleries. Now I don't do any of that. I use word of mouth. It has worked perfectly. I have collectors as far as Thailand now, which is awesome!"

Humberto discovered Fine Art Registry® when he came across an online ad for an artist's marketing seminar held at Fine Art Registry in December 2007. He was intrigued and attended the seminar, which was a turning point. He met FAR® CEO Theresa Franks and other members of the staff, as well as successful FAR artists Lorna Wallace, Michael Trant and Edward Gilmore, who shared and discussed the importance of correctly pricing one's work with the new artists in attendance. This seminar was videoed and is available as a DVD in the Fine Art Registry store.

Humberto has over 50 pieces tagged and registered, and registers new ones as they are finished.

He finds that one of the many advantages to being a member of FAR, and of tagging and registering his paintings, is having a permanent record and inventory of them in one place, in chronological sequence. He also uses the Fine Art Registry site to locate other artists that share his passion.

And having his work on Fine Art Registry helps give him a higher profile. "Like I said I don't advertise much, but when people ask me if I have my art online, since my art is in a lot of places, I usually just tell them to Google my name. The first listing that pops up when they do that is my Fine Art Registry portfolio."

The Future

Humberto has many plans and plenty of work ahead to look forward to. "I have to say I stand here humble. It has taken me about nine years to get to where I am now, from just doing this as a hobby, to marketing my work, and being published. But don't think I'm all there or even close. I still have long way to go. I want to publish a book. My wife and I are expecting a boy, hopefully a little artist like dad, so I would like to do some kid related work soon, like a book of short stories and illustrations. It would be cool to read him my own stories. I'm working on posters right now, doing an album cover for a start up band - I'm hustling my work. I still have a lot of work ahead of me. I love it!"

See Humberto's FAR gallery here, and his new website here HumbertoValleArt.com.

Artist's FAR Registered Pieces | Entire FAR Portfolio › | Sales Gallery › | Biography ›

— by Georgianna Lane  |  March 1, 2009  |  Print Version - PDF

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