Carlos Reyes Design & Illustration

I'm a Graphic Designer and Fine Artist. For a s long as I can remember I've had a love for art. In all its forms. I've had the privilege to learn many styles of art. From traditional to digital. Most of my early years where self taught. From airbrushing to oil painting. In High School I was guided into a better path by a wonderful Teacher, Mr. Robert Whitney. Thanks to him I learned to focus my passion into what I loved. I Studied at Cerritos Community college, Long Beach City College, Brooks College, The Los Angeles Academy of Art and Art Center College of Design. I've done freelance work for many years, from portraits, murals, landscapes, stationary, Web Design, Corporate Identity. I have Artwork in New York, North Carolina, Miami, Florida, Texas, Colorado, Spain, México, Honduras and Argentina. I now Work as a Graphic Designer in an in-house Advertising Department for ADIR International LLC. The parent company for a Hispanic Market Retailer. I find inspiration in all that I do and experience in life and in my Loved ones, my friends and colleagues. Your Life is but a blank canvas in which you paint your greatest masterpiece.

[carlosreyesart]

at Downey, California https://www.instagram.com/p/CCbYzRRntlK/?igshid=cdno4a96fmf3

[carlosreyesart]

[carlosreyesart]

Moving along this project with @vharo25 from our zoom@classes. He’s doing great and looking forward to watching him evolve with every lesson. (at Downey, California) https://www.instagram.com/p/CCO7JeLH7YF/?igshid=z337lbmp3vvz

[carlosreyesart]

Had a good day working on art. Awesome zoom lesson with little 6 year old artist Valentina. Added some details to Diego. Worked some more on a larger “secret project” Started a new piece. Ending the evening with a glass of Porto. Cheers everyone! Be safe ! (at Downey, California) https://www.instagram.com/p/CAb3r0agyWB/?igshid=1ldqvsjlwswur

[carlosreyesart]

Check out the little artist Velentina’s work from out pastel Zoom session. She’s really special. She’s got a good eye for details. (at Downey, California) https://www.instagram.com/p/CAbiWsDgDz2/?igshid=12q3kj06995ns

[carlosreyesart]

The progress on the lesson with Valentina. Wish I had a screen shot of hers! Zoom won’t let me screen capture from my phone. (at Downey, California) https://www.instagram.com/p/CAbgr7agyqU/?igshid=1tjd8mr1cm8fe

[carlosreyesart]

2nd zoom session with my good friend @vharo25 . We’re working on a Master Study in oil. The original is Santa Cecilia, by Italian Painter Guido Reni (1575 - 1642) #oilpainting #parallelpalette #siennapleinair #socialdistancing #nortonsimonmuseum (at Downey, California) https://www.instagram.com/p/B__bk9_gKBt/?igshid=1h3b839qgerd7

[carlosreyesart]

Working the details on this piece. Oil on ACM Linen Panel. #oilpainting #oilportrait #parallelpalette #siennaeasel #trekellartsupplies #winsorandnewtonoils #chelseacreativestudio (at Downey, California) https://www.instagram.com/p/B_O4XCsgdy8/?igshid=jbkj09j0nd3k

[nicholaskole]

Two Januaries ago I put my Cintiq in storage, purchased an iPad Pro, and never looked back- I’ve worked on it full-time ever since! I’ve been meaning to write an digestible review of my experiences, since I get a lot of questions about my setup. Here’s a swing at that! First off: I bought my iPad Pro after testing it out twice at the Apple store. I definitely recommend that- I only knew I could make it work when I got a feel for it. The responsiveness of the stylus, a basic attempt to understand Procreate, and a little chat with the salespeople at the shop sold me on it. My current set up: I use a 512 gig 12” iPad Pro and Apple Pencil. I love the large screen area (the 10” is totally viable, it’s down to preference in this case). I started with 32gigs, but found cloud storage too clumsy & craved more local space (layered art files are huge). I use the basic Apple brand protective case/cover and I splurged for a MacCase Flight Jacket bag made for the Pro. Here’s why: the first night with an unprotected iPad on my nightstand, I knocked it to the floor & it shattered. Walking in a day after to speak with the same sales reps with the wreckage, was quite the experience. Apple was lovely & they replaced it, but I’ve been paranoid about iPad safety since. I chose the Flight Jacket (padded, a snug fit, with a natty pencil holder) to keep it safe & still stylish. I also use an elastic strap for the case made by GearCase that you can pick up on Amazon and Etsy as an additional way to keep track of my stylus.

IPad Cons: there are a few features I still miss from Photoshop (Liquify, Typesetting). The feel of the Pencil on glass can take some getting used to (a few friends use screen protectors that change the texture, I myself keep it clear since I’ve gotten used to the feel). Cloud storage is quite clunky, transferring large files over wifi is not a great experience yet. 

Ipad Pros: gesture controls are a breeze, and @procreate has a lovely, minimal UI to accommodate them. Procreate’s in-app recording is great & let’s me share my process with you all! The devs & community are lovely- Tara https://gumroad.com/dizzytara Max https://gumroad.com/maxulichney and Georg https://gumroad.com/georgvw have made some brushes that push the experience up a notch. And of course: I’m no longer confined to where my computer sits. I can…just leave! In 2 years my iPad & I have been all over the states, Hawaii, Poland, Japan & Vancouver. I’m always drawing wherever I am, working meaningfully on planes & trains between bases. I even met a beautiful woman on Instagram, who lives on the other side of the continent…we’re engaged now! The best!  If you draw for a living, have the itch to travel, and are teetering on a tablet decision, I recommend trying out the iPad Pro for yourself. You can give it a spin in any Apple Store. Try out Procreate (and make sure to read their free ebook manual, since a lot of features are tucked away from immediate view), and see what you make of it! It won’t be for everyone, but it’s a tool that has opened a lot of doors for me- and two years on, I’m still thrilled with it. I hope this has been helpful- Cheers folks! -n

[exploringmontrealcafes-blog]

Cafe Perko

Location: 753 Rue Villeray, Montréal

Metro Station: Jean Talon

Hello lovely people!!! I have finished finals and am currently in my summer semester (already, I know). I’ve been in the process of also applying to almost a 100 internship positions for Fall 2017 as a “software engineer intern”. It’s been hard. It’s been tiring. Exciting, but energy sucking. What could possibly help me in these stressful times? What could possibly fuel me up to be motivated and alert in my job application process? 

You guessed it. Coffee.

I came here last weekend and it was a true refresher. My cousin drove us in this lovely spot in Villeray since she wanted to work on her writing (she’s amazing by the way, you should check out her poetry on her account @doekent ). 

In contrast to other coffee shops in Montreal, I hadn’t heard of Perko too much. I had stumbled upon it on a few posts on Instagram but hadn’t noticed any hype. So why did we go? By the time she picked me up it was around 5 and almost all coffee shops close early - except Perko, which closed at 9. So we went for it. And I’m VERY glad we did. 

This is how you discover hidden gems. And it is the best feeling. Stepping inside this relatively big coffee shop, I immediately noticed the one table that was open. The place was packed. We bolted for the one table. The picture I took and posted above is from right before their closing time and does not represent the amount of people that fills the cafe on their regular times.

The space was gorgeously decorated and felt almost home-like. There were cute signs and sayings all over the place. The baristas were very nice too. 

I ordered a latte (obviously) and my cousin ordered a chai latte. Both were very delicious and my latte definitely fuelled me up and motivated me to continue writing my cover letters. 

One thing I noticed was that there were a lot of kids and babies around. Some really loud… I wondered why there were so many babies in this one coffee shop. I got my answer when I saw that Perko had a little section for kids where they put many baby toys and couches for parents to relax on. I found it very cute and inviting for families. There were also changing tables in the bathrooms. 

Another cool aspect about Perko is that it’s a student friendly coffee shop. There are many plugs, AMAZING wifi, a room you can rent (I think for 10$/hour) to study in… and they even have a PRINTER. Isn’t that unusually cool? And very nice of them? You can donate some money if you do print but they’ve made it completely free which is… amazing. And generous. 

In conclusion: I got a lot of work done here. I loved the vibe of the cafe, I loved the coffee, I loved the people, I loved everything about it. I will definitely go back. And you should too!!!

[dappermenblog]

Ready to kill this Monday @the_vasco #DAPPERMEN

[fullcravings]

Classic New York Cheesecake with a Chocolate Cookie Crust and Roasted Cherries

[fullcravings]

Pumpkin Spice Bananas Foster French Toast Bites

[exploringmontrealcafes-blog]

Cafe Perko

Location: 753 Rue Villeray, Montréal

Metro Station: Jean Talon

Hello lovely people!!! I have finished finals and am currently in my summer semester (already, I know). I’ve been in the process of also applying to almost a 100 internship positions for Fall 2017 as a “software engineer intern”. It’s been hard. It’s been tiring. Exciting, but energy sucking. What could possibly help me in these stressful times? What could possibly fuel me up to be motivated and alert in my job application process? 

You guessed it. Coffee.

I came here last weekend and it was a true refresher. My cousin drove us in this lovely spot in Villeray since she wanted to work on her writing (she’s amazing by the way, you should check out her poetry on her account @doekent ). 

In contrast to other coffee shops in Montreal, I hadn’t heard of Perko too much. I had stumbled upon it on a few posts on Instagram but hadn’t noticed any hype. So why did we go? By the time she picked me up it was around 5 and almost all coffee shops close early - except Perko, which closed at 9. So we went for it. And I’m VERY glad we did. 

This is how you discover hidden gems. And it is the best feeling. Stepping inside this relatively big coffee shop, I immediately noticed the one table that was open. The place was packed. We bolted for the one table. The picture I took and posted above is from right before their closing time and does not represent the amount of people that fills the cafe on their regular times.

The space was gorgeously decorated and felt almost home-like. There were cute signs and sayings all over the place. The baristas were very nice too. 

I ordered a latte (obviously) and my cousin ordered a chai latte. Both were very delicious and my latte definitely fuelled me up and motivated me to continue writing my cover letters. 

One thing I noticed was that there were a lot of kids and babies around. Some really loud… I wondered why there were so many babies in this one coffee shop. I got my answer when I saw that Perko had a little section for kids where they put many baby toys and couches for parents to relax on. I found it very cute and inviting for families. There were also changing tables in the bathrooms. 

Another cool aspect about Perko is that it’s a student friendly coffee shop. There are many plugs, AMAZING wifi, a room you can rent (I think for 10$/hour) to study in… and they even have a PRINTER. Isn’t that unusually cool? And very nice of them? You can donate some money if you do print but they’ve made it completely free which is… amazing. And generous. 

In conclusion: I got a lot of work done here. I loved the vibe of the cafe, I loved the coffee, I loved the people, I loved everything about it. I will definitely go back. And you should too!!!

[carlosreyesart]

Late night sketch "Alberto"

[thecremaoflife]

Absolute top notch tshirt for a top notch gal! Enjoying these last couple of days before I get back to the daily grind. #coffee #coffeetime #coffeelover #specialitycoffee #thirdwave #flatwhite #friends #sleep #explore #baristalife #barista (at The Handlebar - formerly Zappi’s)

[thecremaoflife]

Got to love The Handlebar for the coffee they provide me religiously to get me through work every night!

#coffee #coffeetime #coffeenerd #specialitycoffee #thirdwave #flatwhite #latteart #cafeculture #baristalife #love #cupsinframe (at Oxford, United Kingdom)