- Will you consider this?

Yet another relocated artist perfects his craft in the Peoria area, stay tuned.

(upbeat music) He's worked for Disney, Mattel, The Cartoon Network, now Microsoft, maybe some other things in between, I'm not sure, but we'll find out.

And to relax, he paints some intriguing subjects with huge pleading eyes.

Some a bit macabre but still lovable, meet Rick Dienzo Blanco.

How are you?

- I'm great, thank you, thank you for having me.

- Okay, so you've been in Peoria almost two years now.

- Almost, yes.

- And, what brought you here?

- Well- - From California.

- From California, Los Angeles specifically.

I had a bit of a life change.

I got divorced and decided it was time for a new chapter in my life, and I felt the need that perhaps California wasn't gonna do it anymore.

And I've always had this romantic notion of finding this Victorian home, something a little bit spooky.

And so I'd looked at a number of different options.

And I in fact, made friends with a gentleman who I believe has been on your show, Bob Doucette.

- Correct, Bob Doucette.

- And we were in a show together, and he was telling me about Peoria, and I had no idea where that was and he invited me to come out for a visit, and I did.

And I tell you, I fell in love.

It's just a beautiful town and I was able to find an amazing historic home, and it's been awesome ever since.

- That is just incredible, just incredible.

So, before we get into your painting and that artwork, just as a little boy, you just liked to sketch and color and do every thing, that was your main interest?

- As soon as I get hold of pencil I was doodling something, and drawing and coloring those were always my hobbies, and I did that basically in all my free time, but I never realized it was potentially a career.

It was always a hobby for me, but I went to a sort of conventional College Prep High School and it was basically doctor, lawyer, businessman, those were the options.

And I also came from a very scientific family.

My grandfather was a veterinarian in Cuba, and my father owned a clinical laboratory.

So I thought, "Okay, maybe I'll be a doctor, I'll be a plastic surgeon."

- It's on the genes, right?

- Yeah, so I thought, let me combine art and science, plastic surgery, right?

And maybe it makes a lot of money.

(Christine laughing) - I don't know there's some people they don't turn out very, but go ahead.

- Yeah, so I started that my first year and realized that calculus and chemistry were not in my plan.

- Okay.

- And I was just kind of miserable, and my father was actually very intuitive and insightful and saw that I wasn't doing well and asked, "What is it do you wanna do?"

And I said, "I think I wanna be an artist."

And he's like, "Well, what kind of art?"

And I said, "Well, I really wanna paint.

I thought that'd be really cool."

- Had you painted up until that point?

- No, I had actually had no formal training.

It was always just kind of figuring it out.

And this is pre-YouTube, mind you.

- Okay sure, alright.

- So it was books looking at how to kinda thing.

And he said, "Well, son, the only advice I give you is consider commercial art and something like graphic design."

'Cause he said that way you'll always find work and you can paint and do whatever you want."

But he was extremely supportive and it was on honestly, one of the best decisions I ever made because I've been fortunate enough to have kind of dual careers in commercial art, specifically like entertainment licensing, and my painting.

So it's the best of both worlds.

- Good.

Okay, so let's go back.

So what did you do when you were with Mattel?

- So Mattel, I oversaw the development.

I worked on Barbie.

Which was an interesting story because I had gone through like four or five interviews and the whole time I'm thinking I was gonna work on Hot Wheels, 'cause as a kid I loved Hot Wheels.

And several interviews in they're like, "Well, this is a position for Barbie," and I thought, "Okay, I don't have any sisters."

It was my brother and we rarely played with Barbie, but I took it on as a design challenge and it was great.

Mattel is one of the largest toy companies in the world.

And Barbie is such an iconic brand.

So I was overseeing the development of hard goods.

So that in licensing anything that's based off of the intellectual property they make license goods.

So there's soft lines which is like apparel and bedding and those types of things, and hard goods are like toys and electronics.

So I was overseeing anything that was branded Barbie and had that look to it.

- Okay, so the car and the dream home.

(indistinct) - No that was all part of the toy.

- Oh, okay.

- So we worked on anything that wasn't a toy.

- Oh, I got it, I was misunderstanding.

Okay, but are you a fan of Barbie now or?

- Barbie provided very well for me, so yes.

That's a high respect for him.

(both laughing) - And then you also worked for the Cartoon Network.

So what did you do there?

You got to use some of your graphic artist skills.

- Yes, so at Cartoon Network I was there almost 11 years and kind of worked my way up and I ended up becoming essentially the vice president of creative and I oversaw all of our product development.

So in that instance every category that was based off of the cartoons, so toys, apparel, publishing, location based entertainment, those types of things, anything that was branded with our shows and became a product.

I oversaw the team that worked on developing that.

So that was, it was great because what I love about licensing is one day you're working on some toys and the next day you're doing t-shirts and there's always something different going on.

- Which is nice you know?

Especially if you're kind of a right person, which you obviously are, because that calculus and didn't work for you, that's left brain, isn't it?

- Yeah, yeah.

- Logical.

- I have some of that too though.

- Okay, well you have to 'cause you're a businessman now.

Well, so let's talk about before we get to the actual painting and what you're doing.

So you're doing all of that right now kind of for Microsoft and Xbox.

- Yes, yes, so I oversee the development of product for Xbox and Halo, the video game.

I have nothing to do with the game, it's always the first question.

- You don't play it.

- I play it.

Definitely, but there's a whole other set of talented folks that work on game development.

I do similarly to what I've done in the past, I oversee the development of products with branding of Halo or Xbox in them, so primarily apparel, but one of the key portions of my job is to develop style guides.

These are sort of the toolkits that we use that have all of our assets.

We do a lot of trending and creative things get put into that.

And then those are shared with our licensees, the partners say like, the t-shirt makers.

And so they'll come up with designs and my team and I oversee that and say, "Yeah, this is good, or "We wanna tweak that."

And then they develop and sell the product and we get a royalty.

- Well, that's pretty good yeah, helps you pay the bills.

- Exactly.

- So, they're fixing my mic.

What did I do?

- Sometimes when you lean forward it just kind of hits your loose box and muffles a little bit.

- Super loud and muffled, that's what my ears are doing to me right now okay.

Alright, so we're back to my question.

Just tell me when.

- Alright, so with the pandemic work from home, works perfectly for you because you can be here and have your team in LA.

- Exactly, so what's interesting is I actually worked remotely before the pandemic.

Microsoft is based in Seattle area and I was still in Los Angeles and I was kind of the outlier, I was the only one that was really working remote.

There was some challenges to that, but once the pandemic hit and everybody started working from home, it just became a lot easier.

And I gotta tell you Microsoft is very diligent about looking at the corporation and making sure employees are working well.

They've been great and very supportive.

And our team in particular has become actually more productive being able to work from home.

There's a lot of flexibility in the hours.

The sort of ability to jump in and out of calls, even given our different time zones has really helped.

And since the pandemic we've actually taken on an several more employees who are in different states.

So I think the paradigm of work in the creative, especially entertainment industry has changed considerably, and I love it, I think it's great.

There's some benefit to the pandemic.

(Christine laughing) - Well, that's good.

(crosstalk) Always that bit of silver lining.

Okay, so then we'll get to you or artwork.

You like to paint.

- I do.

- But some of the stuff you paint is kind of like on the, it's kind of like Edward Scissorhands.

I think I read something about that, yeah, or "The Nightmare Before Christmas."

- Right.

- How did that happen?

A nice guy, Cuban ancestry, from California to get into that kind of just a little bit creepy stuff.

- Well, I'll tell you.

Since I was old enough to trick or treat, I loved Halloween.

Halloween was such a great expression of like magic.

You get to put on a costume, don a different personality, and people gave you candy for it.

(both laughing) It was awesome.

And on top of that, I loved the sort of fantasy of horror movies.

I was always a fan of horror movies moreso the kind classic say universal monsters, things that are a little bit dark and sinister, not necessarily, slasher, gore type of stuff.

And it always spoke to me.

And also living in California, we had a lot of proximity to Disneyland, and one of the things that really kind of impacted me tremendously was the Haunted Mansion at Disneyland.

And I just became so in intrigued by all of it and I would want to, I would make creations and- - Figure out how those ghosts got in the basket with the bucket with here, right?

- Exactly, so that sort of darkness was just something a subject matter that I liked.

And so when I started painting stuff, I also wanted to make sure it was accessible, 'cause I don't know too many folks that want really gory graphic things to hang the wall.

- Yeah.

- And so I really focused on capturing the accessible part of it, the sort of creepy cute, is a term that gets used for some of my art.

And really when you paint when you love, it just becomes more authentic.

And so I do a lot of pop culture things, basically, any show that I like or any characters that I like, I try to paint that.

- They show up in your artwork.

- Exactly.

- So, but you also do some not so dark stuff with the big eyes too.

- Yeah, yeah.

- What led you to the focus of the eyes?

Or is that some kind of a psychological thing or?

- Well, I don't know if we have that kind of time for analysis, there's a movement called the Pop Surrealism.

And when I started painting, I was doing kind of out of college, I was doing a lot of things connected to my Cuban culture.

So I was doing kind of new expressionism and bold colors of cigars and dancing women and I painted that under my name, Rick Blanco.

And then as I progressed, it was actually during my time at Mattel, part of my job at Barbie was to really focus on doing trending 'cause being at such a fashion brand, we really need to see what what's happening.

And I was trending not just for fashion, but also for toys and other categories.

And I got exposed to like this whole world of like Japanese collector toys and all this new art that was being put out there, and it just spoke to me.

- All came together for you.

- Yeah, and there's an artist that's very famous named Mark Ryden, who really kind of brought back a style of art that was started by Margaret Keane in the 60s, and these were these children with big sad eyes.

And part of that there's many terms that are used, but a lot of the contextual framing of it is kind of lowbrow art because highbrow being things you would see in a museum, Lowbrow is more things that are based off of pop culture.

- That we can identify with.

- Right.

- Right.

- And so I remember I was driving through Pasadena, and Mark Ryden had an exhibition in Pasadena.

- I was gonna say that maybe he's in the car next to you, but go ahead.

- No, but there were these giant banners all along the light post down the street and I almost crashed my car 'cause.

I had never seen anything like that.

And he had these paintings I think of Christina Ricci with these giant eyes and I'm like, 'Wow, what is this?"

So I really kind of started looking into that and exploring painting in that style, and there's several other artists that do that as well.

And that just kind of became my niche.

- Your thing.

- My thing.

And so because I had transitioned from my Cuban theme stuff into this darker thing, I didn't wanna freak out my older Cuban audience.

- So I came up with a pseudonym, which is Dienzo and that is why I sign my pieces Dienzo, and I'm referred to as Rick Dienzo Blanco, but dienzo is a pseudonym of my children's names, Diego and Lorenzo, so it's kind of an homage to them.

- That's awesome.

Okay, so you do some with acrylics, do you prefer acrylics or oils?

- So when I started I was really just doing acrylics and as sort of my work evolved, I started doing much more representational things, more realism.

And I found that oils just facilitated.

- They move better.

- Yeah, it's creamier and so you can get softer blends.

So I primarily work in oil now, but I will often do under paintings in acrylic sold because acrylic is fast.

So I can lay down and block color and acrylic get it pretty tight and then I sweeten it up with oil.

- Then you get the color to pop.

- Yeah.

- With the colors.

- Yeah, there's a French term for that but I forget what it's called.

- I think I skipped that class.

- Yeah.

- I don't remember that.

- I think I was supposed to take that class.

Alright, so who has influenced you the most in your whole entire career with everything that you've done so far?

- I've had so many different mentors and influences.

I think on the professional side, of the commercial side rather, I was blessed to have some great bosses during that time.

These guys were leaders who really kind of showed me the value of people skills and that people are more important than projects especially when you're working in corporate.

So that kind of guided me a lot to make sure that I helped to mentor people that work with me, under me and next to me.

And I often, I'll speak at schools and try to help and mentor.

A lot of my friends have kids and they're like, "Hey, can you talk to 'em, they're interested in this," so that's - - So do you go to their art classes or just in general?

- Just kind of in general.

Sometimes I'll help them with portfolios or kind of help if they're getting into painting, give them some tips and tricks and things.

Others I've actually provided advice and helped them consider careers in graphic design, in commercial art, which again it's a challenge because I think it's people don't often understand there's that unfortunate phrase of the starving artist and I... - There's a reason for that.

- Well, I think a lot of what I often tell students that I work with, is if you can minor or double major in business, it's gonna help you no matter what you pursue.

Because as a creative, as an artist, you need to invoice, you need to do your taxes, you need to market and promote your work.

And these are all fundamental things of running a business.

- So, some people are better suited to that than others, but at least even if you don't do it yourself, you need to be aware that those things are necessary and find the right people to help you in that regard.

So, it's really kind of bridging those things together.

- What's been your biggest challenge so far?

Or the most fun project that you've worked on.

And I know you've had some gallery showing somethings but... - I again, feel so incredibly blessed.

I've worked on so many cool things.

My first job out college, I was working for a licensee of the Star Trek properties.

So these are the guys that did the conventions, the Star Trek conventions that are famous.

And you know, I'm 21 years old and I'm designing merchandise but because we were so close to Paramount Studios, I got to go to the Studios.

- Oh, boy.

- Met all the cast and I sat in the captain's chair, even though I wasn't supposed to.

I mean, this is talk about inspiration.

- Exactly.

- So that- - Were you a trekkie before that?

- I was a trekker.

- Okay.

(both laughing) - There's so much in there that that's cool, but really kind of getting to meet so many talented people especially in the entertainment industry.

I know that Bradley University does a Hollywood program where they send students to Los Angeles to kind of work and partner with some of those studios.

And that's a great opportunity.

And then you take that knowledge and you now with the sort of work from anywhere philosophy, you can come back to Peoria, and be just as successful here as you are anywhere.

- So how often do you go back to California?

Do you still have some shows there or mostly?

- Well, my family is still there.

So I try to go every couple months and catch up with, see my mom and my cousins and other family.

- Eats some good food.

- Yeah exactly, and I don't miss the traffic, That's for darn sure.

- I bet.

- But I've got a lot of friends there and it's just, it's reconnecting and doing things.

The show is that I do are in different locations so sometimes I'll actually attend in person if it makes sense with travel and with the pandemic and everything else.

But a lot of shows now are just online only, and- - Then you have a website.

- I do have a website.

- Couple of websites.

- Yep, yep.

- And those are just real quick make sure we get 'em in.

- Dienzoart.com is my primary website and then I also have some additional prints and things available which is dienzostore.bigcartel.com, it's a little longer.

- Alright.

And you're checking those all the time again, this is your businessman part that's coming out.

Alright, so what's on your bucket list, what haven't you?

Oh, first before bucket list.

- Yeah.

- When you moved here, you did a special project specifically for the Land of Lincoln.

- Yes, actually- - Okay, and that was?

- I participated in the Peoria Heights Art Fair, and they're a great organization.

And one of the things that I wanted to do, they had a silent auction and part of their effort is not only to host this opportunity this fair to have artists sell and to have people come and see it, but they worked towards raising money for scholarships for young people to be artists and things.

So they asked me if I would contribute something for that and because my new home is Illinois, I decided to do a portrait of Abraham Lincoln but in my style.

So I call him little Lincoln.

- And- - And he has fairly big eyes.

- He has big eyes, slightly distorted head yes, but I think you could still make out that is Lincoln.

- You can tell that it's him.

Okay, and do you know who got it?

- I do actually and it's a friend of mine, a neighbor purchased that, and so I get an opportunity to visit him from time to time.

- You say "Hey Abe, how's it going?"

- Exactly.

- Alright, so bucket list.

What would you still like to do that you haven't done because you really, I mean, you're not that old and you've done a lot?

- I think I love continuing to work with Microsoft.

Honestly, I never thought I would work for Microsoft but it's turned out to be fantastic.

I'm with such a talented group of people and there's really a great culture.

So I'll continue there doing what I can do, and as long as I still add value.

But one of the things I really want to focus on is putting more time and attention now with my fine art.

So when I first moved here, a lot of effort went into like what- - Just settling in.

- Settling in, working on the house, getting things sorted.

So I feel like the major push on that has been accomplished.

- That's behind it, right?

- And so with my free time now, I wanna do more solo work series.

I tended because I had the two jobs, I participated a lot in group shows, in which you only have to do one or two pieces.

So I think I really wanna focus on a new series and I've been experimenting with some new techniques and hopefully I'll be able unveil some of that later this year.

- Alright, well, so your spare time is that usually evenings is that when you're working on your stuff or when you don't have a Microsoft meeting or whatever you're doing, you go and- - I have a very flexible schedule which is great.

So I work when the muse calls me.

So that could be 10 o'clock at night, that could be two in the morning, that could be 9:00 AM.

- It's whatever the inspiration.

- Exactly, so I think something I often encourage artists is to try to remove obstacles to your ability to create because inspiration is such an important component to that.

If your studio's messy or you don't have supplies, it's kind of like your postpone it, and then the music can leave you.

So I try to sure that I've got my workspace ready, I've got enough paints or things so that when I do wanna work I can go and tackle it.

That's been a definite help in the process.

- Well, that's pretty amazing.

- Thank you.

- Yeah, but you're still having fun doing it.

- I'm having a blast.

- Good, good.

And then, so like you said, you only maybe did one or two a year, so now if you can do a series, do you have like a number in a series or it's just whatever the mood, whatever you're feeling?

- Yeah, and it all kind of evolves.

I think at least 10 to 20 pieces and a consistent tone and style helps to kind of work through whatever it is you're trying to communicate in the art.

And sometimes, I mean, I've got probably two or three or four going right now and already I can see how it's forking in different directions but you just kinda keep at it and things sort of emerge from the ether and then you're like, that's- - That's it.

- That's interesting, - Let's go in that direction.

- That where I'm going, - But it takes to work.

It's like working out, right?

You can't let your muscles atrophy and you have to- - Takes a day or two, well yeah, for atrophy.

Thanks so much for being here and sharing your story.

- My pressure.

- Fascinating.

- Thank you.

- Good luck to you and you have to look for his artwork.

Those big sad eyes and then some of the kind of creepy cute stuff too.

- Yep.

- Thanks Rick, thanks so much.

And thank you for joining us, hope you enjoyed it.

Have a safe and healthy evening.

(upbeat music)