Meet Alex Cisneros | Portrait Artist

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

Hi Alex, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
Making pet portraits wasn’t t something that I was pursuing or trying to get into, it just happened. One of my friends asked me to do a portrait of somebody’s pet and of course I said yes and from there commissions started to trickle in, some of pets and a couple regular portraits and it has definitely kept me busy. I want to keep this momentum going and hopefully gain a few more commissions but more importantly elevate my artistic skills, creatively and skill-wise. I also want to learn more about the business side of creating and selling art, which definitely has many aspects and requires a lot of work. I want to broaden my talents and be able to create more than just custom portraits.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
My art leans more towards the realism side of art. I try to capture the personality that a pet or a person conveys in a photograph, but as much as I want the drawing to look like my reference I also like it to look like a drawing, I like to leave some lines, swirls, and crosshatching in my work that is usually only noticeable if you’re really looking at the art from close-up. I have always been drawn towards portraiture ever since i started drawing at 12/13 years old and I had awesome art teachers and professors throughout school and college that really saw potential in me and really helped me a lot.

I’m proud of the fact that I have never stopped practicing art even though life had other plans.. I’m excited for what’s next and I’m excited to meet new people that work in art and I’m more excited to keep drawing cool portraits for people! I also look forward to developing my art style and creating more than just portraits.

I’m not exactly where I want to be professionally when it comes to art just yet and there is always room for growth and I’m definitely looking forward to all the challenges ahead.

A lesson that I’ve learned along the way is too never sell yourself short, the amount of time and effort put into a craft is a lot and sometimes people do not see the value in that, but there are always people out there that can appreciate the hard work you put in. Drawing is very much like any other challenge that you might face. Sometimes something looks to daunting to complete but if you put in that work and effort you can create something amazing.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
There are definitely many places to visit in the area. As far as restaurants there are a few great places near our home in downtown Plano like Lockhart Smokehouse, Urban Rio Cantina and some nice little coffee shops for the coffee lovers. If it’s a friend that’s into nature we can go to the Dallas Arboretum and enjoy some beautiful scenery, its definitely a favorite spot for my wife and I. If we wanted to have some fun later on at night, one of my favorite things to do was hit up a show at the Bomb Factory or Tress in Deep Ellum. Besides those there are many other venues, depending on your specific music taste but to me live music of any kind is always great. Or we can also go to the Truck Yard in The Colony, its a great place to hang out with friend and have some drinks and it’s also dog friendly so you can take your furry friends too. One of my favorite places to hang out during the day if I have free time is downtown Dallas in the arts district and visit the museums. If we want to get a good workout in, we can go for a run/hike in of my favorite trails, Cedar Ridge Preserve, its beautiful and you can spend hours there so you’ll definitely need some energy. The amount of places you can visit doesn’t end in a place as huge as the Dallas area but you can definitely find something fun to do. farmers market, tuck yard, oak cliff, Andretti,

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
There are a few people that definitely deserve some credit, first of all my wife for always supporting me and encouraging me and for saying my drawings look good regardless of how I feel about them. I’m also thankful for the fact that she is such a hard working woman and seeing her push her own business motivates me to do the same. My mom as well, for always supporting me and my brother for always providing a creative atmosphere that helped motivate me artistically. And a big shoutout to all the people that follow me on social media and share my work, if it wasn’t for that I wouldn’t have any commissions. And a huge shoutout to everybody who has ordered a commission piece, thanks for appreciating my art. I truly put my best work into each drawing and spend hours trying to make it as perfect as I can.

Instagram: Alex_Cisneros_Art

Youtube: AyyCeeArt

Other: Alexcisnerosarts@gmail.com For any commission inquiries.