Today we’d like to introduce you to Sara Tanguay.
Hi Sara, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
In 1995, when I was about 13, I watched the movie Toy Story. During the scene where Woody figures out he can use the reflection of the sun in Buzz’s helmet to light the rocket on his back, I knew I wanted absolutely nothing more than to be an artist and work for Disney. In 2009, I wrapped up my graphic design/web design degree from Austin Peay State University and floundered career wise for some time. In 2017 a friend who owns a special FX company in LA convinced me to quit my full-time government job (after it sucked the life out of me for almost 4 years) to work for him doing freelance work. Next thing I knew, I was walking down Main Street USA in Disneyland looking at my very work in the windows. There were lots of tears, pain, trials, and frustrations along the way, but I have never ever looked back.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
I remember the day I wanted to start taking my illustration/artwork more seriously and turn it into something more. I asked a friend “what should I be making?”, their simple reply shaped everything for me… “Make what you love, and your audience will find you.” I had previously struggled to make art for “the masses” and what I THOUGHT people would enjoy, it felt more like tedium and wasn’t worth it to me. I have had many sleepless nights worrying about taxes, bills, laws, rules, fines, deadlines, and all the stuff they never teach you in school or anywhere for that matter. Heck, I have gone through several accountants who had no clue how to navigate my business structure and the first time I did my taxes I paid over $3,000 because I didn’t know better. Owning your own business, especially as a creative person, is a constant uphill battle that you will always feel a failure at if you judge yourself on others carefully curated achievements.
Smooth is relative to the potholes you have to crawl out of at times. When I started my business, I curated it very carefully and organically to me and my style. I use humor in my art and sometimes when you are depressed/sad/tired it’s hard to be funny or even create. Throughout my life I always felt I had to be someone else at my jobs, someone I wasn’t. As my friend I mentioned above said – the audience found me. I have a smaller following but it’s INTENSE and I have grown my business by word of mouth only which keeps the chaos to a minimum and the clients are premium.
Be a good person. Do good work. Even if your work is mediocre, but you are a good person people will continue to recommend and hire you, which means money in your pocket and the ability to keep going.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
This is always weird when I say out loud, but my art is about potatoes. Specifically, potatoes in whitey tighty underwear. Yes, like baked potatoes, tubers, spuds, etc. Anatomy was never my strongest skill in art school and I never practiced it enough, so drawing people as potatoes was much easier and 10 years later I am still doing it. Mixed in along the way I started illustrating Pricks aka Prickles which are cactus that absolutely in no way what-so-ever look like a penis. Nope. Not at all. It’s fun to make things that people can display almost anywhere that has a touch of potty humor but not be a straight-up vulgar piece. I also communicate a lot about my own personal struggles with mental health and use that to make comics/artwork. It’s important to share our lived experiences to better help others understand what they might be struggling with as well.
Here’s where it gets more interesting – what got me into the “in crowd” and ultimately my job after I quit working for the city was cosplay. I did a few that were so spot on, even the voice actor of the show invited me to some special events. It made waves, and I am grateful for it to this day.
Outside that, I am a formally trained graphic/web designer. Those jobs are more technical and pay the bills, but are just as important to me. I cater specifically to neurodivergent clients who might struggle to get their visions out or need clarification on how best to communicate. It’s also fun to make graphic design for people who aren’t your typical client. I am known for hiding Easter eggs in well known projects – some to this day haven’t been discovered. I have worked for giant global corporations, military organizations, nonprofits, medical equipment companies, and just about everything in between.
Lastly, I am also known for diversity in my art. Last year I picked up blacksmithing, this year I am working on silver smithing (poorly, but the only wasted paint is paint left in the tube). I have painted shoes, carved wooden spoons, made fabric out of plastic, made my own paper to print on, and even dabbled in smelting metal to cast my own pieces, I am a firm believer that all these talents go hand in hand with each other and the skills you learn from one help form a more solid base for others.
Generative Ai isn’t leaving (it’s also created on the backs of artists without compensation or consent, but that’s another hill), and without any guardrails it’s going to steam roll over many artists. I guess my curse is turning out to be a blessing in disguise, being able to transition to other mediums that aren’t digital art.
How do you think about happiness?
Being an artist. It’s the greatest thing I have ever worked for in my life. My art is silly and fun and brings joy to people. I am not a mechanical engineer, doctor, teacher, hospice worker, or mechanic, but my life as an artist is so important in other ways. All those people need a laugh. They need a break and a moment to just forget the garbage that surrounds them in their day-to-day life. Even for a SPLIT second as they let a little puff of air out of their nose and keep scrolling, I have done my job and that makes me happy.
My life hasn’t been easy, poverty, abusive family, religious cult upbringing, you name it, or it’s been on Jerry Springer and that’s my life. I used to make art as my own escape now I use it to help others.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.wartoothdesigns.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wartoothdesigns/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WartoothDesignsToo
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/WartoothDesigns
- Other: https://www.threads.com/@wartoothdesigns
