FAQ (English)

About Me

Where do you live?
Cleveland, OH

Where are you from?
I'm from Cali, Colombia

How tall are you?
1.58 cm or 5.2 Ft (I'm a bit short😊)

ABOUT WHAT I DO

What do you do for a living?
I'm mainly a freelance illustrator, I'm also a Comic Artist that enjoys participating in Comic Conventions, and when I get some free time I expend it by doing Youtube videos (in Spanish) about Living in America and Learning about the American Culture.

What and where did you studied for your career?
I studied Fine Arts at the Universidad de Los Andes in Colombia. Later, I went to the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) and did a graduate program in Sequential Art.

When did you start illustrating? 
I guess, like...Everybody? When I was very young. I was not a Da Vinci! But during fourth grade I found that drawing was a nice way to express myself and tell stories. By this time, I was very inspired by anime TV shows like: Candy Candy, Saint Seiya, Dragon Ball, and the best of all animes: SAILOR MOON! However, it was during College that I realized that there is a whole world besides anime and manga and I decided that I wanted to develop my own  drawing style. So yep, you can see that even though my art work is not precisely manga, there still some influence in my art. I think that, as an artist, your work will be changing and adapting as you grow.

What Software do you use?
I use Photoshop & Illustrator

Do you use any tablets?
I had use the Wacom Bamboo for like 8 years (I still have it) and I haven't had any problem with it at all. It's really good to be honest. Right now, I'm using Wacom Intous4  which is even bigger but is basically the same concept. Pretty good, pretty good.

What art supplies do you use? 
For Freelance projects, I work with photoshop or Illustrator. It's going to depend on the client. Bur for my personal projects I enjoy inks and markers.

Where can I check out your art work?
You can find my work, either personal or freelance, in my website: www.saramielalvarez.com

ABOUT YOUTUBE & LEARNING AMERICA

What kind of camera do you use for your videos?
I use the Canon EOS I3

What software do you use for editing your videos?
Adobe Premiere.

Where did the idea to create the Learning America Channel came from?
My first years in the US where very tough. The culture and the language were more difficult than what I expected. So I decided to look for Youtube vlogs about the experiences of living in another country that I could relate to. However, what I found was mostly Latin people living in Asia or Europe, sharing their cultural shock, the differences, the pains of adaptation, and the loneliness. I couldn't find any Latin youtuber learning to adapt to America, so I decided to create my own channel sharing my experiences and learning process. 

Are you going to share your art process in your channel?
I think part of my process to adapt to America, has to do with my career, so I think I will start sharing some of my art process very soon 😊

If you have any more questions or are interested in any particular theme, I am glad to answer. You can contact me on this blog or at any other of my social media websites.