Simply stated, Now On View celebrates and showcases the artists of Society6 and their work. Get to know them—and then get lost in their gallery.
As a way of introducing yourself, who are you and what do you do?
My name is Anthony Hurd. I’m an artist and, I guess, sort of an illustrator.
Current city: Albuquerque
How did you make these?
The recent works I’ve been posting here are all digital creations I’ve made in Procreate using an iPad Pro and Apple Pencil. The creative process is a little different each time, as I’m always experimenting, but ultimately, I try and find some order in the chaos. I like to lay down colors and shapes and build on them until the figure emerges and reveals itself.
Where do you draw your inspiration from, and how has being a part of the LGBTQIA+ community helped your creativity?
I don’t really know exactly how being a part of the LGBTQIA+ community has helped me; it seems like it wasn’t until very recently that people were mostly OK with it. It’s funny because for many years every time I’d even mention being gay on social media, in regards to my art, I’d lose a large handful of followers immediately. Something about the amount of visible queer communities really made it easier for me to embrace it online, though. I mean, I came out at the age of 19 (a LONG time ago), but it was just a few years back when I fully embraced that queerness label in regards to how I present myself artistically.
As for inspiration? It comes from all over, really. It can be an emotion, a thought, an external event, the shape of the current political climate, the day of the week. It’s just part of living as an artist, I suppose. We’re constantly influenced by the changing winds, and every time I think I can claim something as a starting point it shifts for me. So I’ve stopped trying to pinpoint a solid course for where my inspiration is derived.
What is the best advice you’ve gotten as an artist or the most important thing you’ve learned?
My best advice: don’t listen to me. It doesn’t really matter how many times someone tells you what to do to make it easier on yourself. You can read a million books on all the how-tos of being a successful artist, or person for that matter, but experiences will always tell you differently. We are all on our own path and have to learn our own way. One day, it’ll click and make sense to you. Later, most likely something else will click, and you’ll forget everything you know. Shit happens. Life happens—ups and downs, clarity and fog, and you cannot just hold onto a moment and expect it not to change. So be honest with yourself, work hard, understand you don’t know everything or hardly anything, really, and just roll with it.
Social: @anthonyhurd
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