Nicholas “Nico” Martinez is a local freelance artist and animator. His portfolio showcases his depth and diversity as an artist. Nico also has autism. In the interview he talks about his self-advocacy, how autism has and continues to affect his life, challenges he has faced and goals for the future. Here is his website.

Q: When did you first become aware of your autism?

A: I was first diagnosed in 1991, and had since then worked with an in-class aid throughout grade school. It was something I just took for granted, and I wasn’t even aware of a disability. At age 12 when I was enrolled into the special ed program in Junior High, I immediately took note of my other classmates’ similar-to-more severe disabilities. The treatment and atmosphere was very different from the few mainstream classes I took, especially our designated line before classes started. I didn’t make many friends, and was often picked on by the upperclassmen; it started when they teased me about a box of donuts I had brought to school on the first week. It was kind of a rude awakening that I definitely had some form of autism.

Q: What were your biggest challenges growing up?

A: I had quite a ways to go in order to mature and function properly. I often had trouble socializing if it didn't involve cartoons, The Simpsons or Pokemon, which I was obsessed with at the time. Very few people shared those same interests, and I probably bugged the others when only talking about them. I further distanced myself with this petty aversion to swear words since I was such a rule-follower. It was even harder throughout high school to maintain outside contact with friends since my only friends were in the same special ed class. The only people that really I spent time with were my parents, my babysitters, and only one classmate who lived the closest to me. It was a half-hour drive to my high school, and I would take the school bus. Other times, I would have to ask my parents for other rides. Sticking to goals was a challenge too since I would lose interest very quickly, get distracted with the computer or have these OCD ticks which took away time from simple tasks.

Q: What helped you overcome those challenges?

A: Over the years, I was very fortunate to have many supportive workers and speech therapists working with me one-on-one. A woman named Pat McCraven was my earliest speech pathologist, and had helped me at age 3 to develop various social skills through playing board games, and then took me out around the community in my teen years. She is now an elementary school principal. Throughout college, two women name Stephanie Beaulieu and Lindsay Michalewicz helped me to make and connect with new friends as well as control my temper on my own time. A therapist named Chris Thurstone helped me to control my OCD should the urge arise, and all without any medication.

Q: What are your strengths?

A: I always had artistic talent since a young age. As a child, my favorite things to do was drawing or building Legos, which I would do so for long periods of time. I also have a good memory and tend to remember even little things throughout the day. I remember even better through visuals such as landmarks or making my own notes and schedules to view later. At my part-time job at Scafuri Bakery, I am very thorough with the daily tasks, and see to them getting done before the day ends. I'm also very conscientious and quick to respond with customers' needs. Math was also one of my stronger subjects throughout grade school and high school. Calculating numbers has served me well when I tally up my expenses or prepare my own budgets.

Q: Tell us about your journey to become an artist.

A: Since drawing from a young age, I also began my lifelong love for animation. I would get lost in the worlds created in many animated cartoons particularly from Disney & Warner Bros. The emotion and character interaction in them helped me understand the same things in real life. My art training was mainly self-taught by way of various internet blogs and workshops in the city. I would even take classes outside of those my school offered. From there, I enrolled in the American Academy of Art for a BFA in Illustration as well as at Columbia College Chicago for a Bachelor’s in Animation. My advisor from Columbia, Jim Rohn was extremely supportive, and always found time to critique my work as well as strategize my classes for the semester.

Learning to get over my fears in art wasn’t easy. There were times when I was hesitant to create a certain piece, because of my perfectionism or from my fear of not making it to the level I wanted. I had to push myself because I knew it had to get done. The things that kept me going were looking up to my favorite artists & cartoons to remind myself why they are successful to me such as Warner Bros.’ Bob Clampett and Chuck Jones, as well as comic artists like Harvey Kurtzman, Walt Kelly, and Carl Barks. From there, I knew that I could be successful too. After deciding to do freelance work three years ago, I eventually landed a huge job animating for Calabash Animation. I helped with the creation of a series of short videos for the U.S. Women’s Soccer Team. Getting the job done and maintaining great contact with the studio has really made this journey worth it. I can only imagine where it will go. I also had the pleasure of being a mentee for storyboarding at Animated Storyboards, Ltd. As of now, my freelance work includes animated videos for LEEP Forward, Clique Creative, as well as caricature work for Urban Autism Solutions. I exercise my skills and learn new ones through ongoing workshops, books, and online courses.

Q: How does autism affect your life currently?

A: I am a lot more outgoing and considerate of others than I was ten years ago, and I continue to improve myself. It can still be very stressful for me to make important decisions, as well as maintaining good time management skills. As I build my client base, I often have others proofread many letters or to set up phone calls with potential clients. I am very comfortable with the kind of people and artists that I like, and I strive to hang around with them with confidence. Whenever things get too stressful, I would see a therapist on a monthly basis to talk those problems through and find more solutions.

Q: What do you hope to accomplish in the next 10 years?

A: My career as a freelance animator is really starting to gain momentum and exposure. Within the next ten years, I hope to build a large-enough client base to fully sustain myself, as well as create my own stories, cartoons, and at least one animated short film. Down the road, I hope to move to California and be closer to the main animation industry. My goal is also to prove that anyone with autism can be capable of great things through hard work, support, and persistence. All you have to do is aim high.

Here are a few more places you can find Nico’s work and please follow him on social media.

Website: www.nicomartinezart.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/88_nmartinez/

Facebook: facebook.com/NicoMartinezArt

Twitter: https://twitter.com/88_nmartinez

Blog: http://88nmartinez.tumblr.com/