THE DIGITAL JOURNEYS OF AN ARTIST KNOWN AS
The Sketchie Beast
MEET THE ARTIST
STATEMENT
I have been blessed with a life-long commitment to creativity and have indulged it in many forms; as a commercial artist and designer, as a craft maker, as a self-taught tribal belly dancer, and now as a digital fine artist. I've created for fun, for a living, and always for passion.
People often ask what inspires me. It could be almost anything. I have varied and random interests. I don't often represent traditional themes or any one theme. There are no formalities I follow. I have received no formal training, yet there is no stricter vetting process than my own. I believe my art should reflect my basic nature—a bit of wanderlust, a bit rebellious. The one consistency of my artworks is its intentional flaws that best represent life as we know it; the beauty with the ugly, the good with the bad.
I strive to communicate with a visual intensity that provokes, evokes, pokes, rarely whispers, kicks and screams, finds humor, like love, in all the wrong places. That's the beauty of creating fine art compared to my commercial art career...there is no wrong way to communicate, as long as it's done with conviction.
As a final note and sentiment—original art should never be exclusive or require a hefty financial account for the pleasure of owning it. Naturally, most artists wish to be working artists, not just hobbyists, and realize that means assigning a fair, and in some cases, inflated, value to their works. When pondering the value of my works I remember first; it brings glory to God. Secondly, I consider its worth—the joy it might bring a person to hang a piece of original art on their wall, and making it feasible for them to do so.
BIO
Victoria Johnson, using the pseudonym The Sketchie Beast, is a native Southern Californian who is very inspired by the place she calls home. A career designer, commercial illustrator and now fine artist in the digital medium, since entering her first painting in a public competition at seven years old to earning an Associates degree in Commercial Art and Photography, creativity has been her calling. Having always indulged in sketching and painting as a hobby, it was not long after her career as an independent designer blossomed that her brushes and canvases were stowed for design softwares and hard deadlines. It seemed her days of creating art for pleasure were over until a friend gave her a digital pad and pen. The Sketchie Beast was unleashed with a fierce and determined effort to indulge her passion for art and share it with the world. In the four short years of being a digital fine artist, she has participated in local, national and international showcases, both physical and online.
SHOWINGS
SOLO SHOW
The Power of Portraits
La Habra Art Gallery, La Habra CA
September 4 - November 4 2022
JURIED FESTIVALS & COMMUNITY SHOWS
Laguna Art-a-Fair
Laguna Beach CA
June - September 2019
RAW Natural Born Artists Showcase
The Mansion
Costa Mesa CA / January 16 2020
The World in Our Backyard
City of Stanton Community Art Show
May 8 2021
Fall Family Fun Art Festival
Museum of the San Fernando Valley
September 9 2021
Ontario Festival of the Arts
Ontario CA / October 8 2021
28th Annual Studio Arts Festival
Irvine Fine Arts Center, Irvine CA
June 4 2022
GROUP EXHIBITIONS / PHYSICAL
Off the Easel
ASHTON GALLERY
San Diego CA / February 2021
Sway Forth
MOM AND POP ART GALLERY
Richmond CA / May 5, 2021
Art in the Time of Corona
DabArt Los Angeles
September 2021
Portraits, Human and Animal
MVA GALLERY
Bethlehem PA / November 2021
Pop Culture and Trashy
SHOCKBOXX GALLERY
Hermosa Beach CA / November 2021
Third Community Art Show
THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS GALLERY
El Paso TX / November 2021
GROUP EXHIBITIONS / ONLINE
Pets International
Exibizone/Artistonish
February 2021
Artsy Shark Featured Artist / November 2021
Migration
Gallerium / February - March 2022
UPCOMING
Ontario Festival of the Arts
Ontario CA / October 15, 2022
Featured Artist Display
Ontario International Airport
November 2022 - April 2023
