Meet Juan Perednik | Artist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Juan Perednik and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Juan, what is the most important factor behind your success?
Love for what you do is the key. But that is just the first step. That strong bond leads you to wake up early in the morning and work 12 hours a day. Every night I go to sleep thinking of the drawings and paintings I’m doing or I want to do the next day. You have to get obsessed with these. Another key is going forward, trying, making mistakes, thinking how to grow and get better. There are no secrets here, lot of work, try and error and getting to know yourself, what works and what not. I highly recommend spending time trying to understand what you love to do. That is the only way you are going to put everything it takes to succeed.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I have been drawing since I have memory. Since I could hold a pen. Drawing helps me see and understand reality. I express what is happening with me in my art. You can see unfinished pieces, very gestural lines with movement and personality. Life is never easy, even when you think you have everything solved you don’t. Of course this is not the case of any artist. We as artists are people who are looking for change constantly. Our goals are in movement all the time. I have to change styles several times till I felt representated by my work. What I’ve learnt that it does not matter what you do, you don’t have to do it to sell or so that people like it, you have to do it because you love it. When this happens you have a boost of energy to work and spend time and energy till you make it. Talking about making it: “fake it till you make it”, it works. Set up your life and context so that you can do what you want to do and if you do it well clients will start appearing and before you know you are making a living out of it. Eventhough you will see pretty finished drawings what I want people to know is that is all about the process, how you feel while you do it, the experience. While I draw I think, I solve problems, make decisions, fail, ajust and finally I feel done and that’s it. My process takes hours with music, laughs, thoughts, and the final image is just a glipse of what happened there.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I would say go to Wynwood. It has been growing the last years, it’s a neighbourhood full of art, graffitis, galleries and the actual guys that make the art are around. Great experience to go with a girlfriend or boyfriend to have an amazing time enjoying art!

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
My family no doubt! They have seen the whole progression from 0 to 100 and they have been there on each part of the way. They saw me making mistakes, fighting for it and having lots of challanges accomplished. My family have always supported my career telling me to aim higher and to always be better than myself.

Website: www.juanperednik.com
Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/juanperednik
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/juanperednikart
Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/c/juanperednik