For many artists, the COVID-19 pandemic has redefined or even halted their methods of work. Digital artist William Rivera, however, is not only sustaining his creativity, but is drawing even more attention to his projects online.
Rivera is a sophomore illustration major at Winthrop University. After everything at Winthrop became digital, he decided to use his talents in creating all of the artwork for an online tournament called PRIZM, incorporating well-known characters from video games, books and television with musical mashups.
While Rivera said that this “mashup community” is nothing new, he is the leader of an online server hosting 500 people that were drawn in by his art style. He creates stark representations of these popular characters, using a single accent color with a black and white digital palette.
While Rivera remains humble about his endeavors, he said he has been called somewhat of an “inspiration” by some of his followers for all of his hard work. Rivera said he truly enjoys the ability to stay creative with such support and feedback from this community.
“I like when I get to talk to somebody, when I get to draw and they are interested in what I’m doing…as somebody who has ADHD, it keeps me on task,” he said.
Rivera said that he has been interested in art from a young age and has been drawing digitally since the seventh grade. As he has been working to improve his artistry skills, he said that he is able to see growth in his work year after year, which is encouraging for him.
Luckily, this growth has not been affected by the pandemic this year. In sharing what he called an “unpopular opinion,” Rivera said, “Everybody freaked out when Zoom started…I’m made for this.”
He said he finds comfort in the ability to receive immediate feedback in his art classes online while not having to turn his camera on or physically be in class. As much of the art industry struggles to move online, Rivera said that he and his community “just keep trucking [and], honestly, you get more traction because you are online and you can talk to people whenever.”
Rivera urges those who may be hesitant to become involved in these types of online communities to push themselves and try it out.
“Most of the time you meet a lot of people you probably would not have, people you probably like more because they like more things you do,” he said.
And in this time of physical isolation, this digital connection is more important than ever. Rivera said he has always been involved in this form of “online interaction” and that he has improved greatly because of it.
“As someone with ADHD and mild autism, I meet a lot of people like me in these communities…It’s very comforting,” he said.
While Rivera is unsure exactly what his future may hold, he said that “I would just like to be paid for what I want to do,” which is a statement that many artists can relate to. As for PRIZM, Rivera said, “This is anything but ‘fine art.’ It is really a passion project, but I am happy to keep art alive, in a sense.”
Photo by Marisa Fields-Williams
