arthin Anthony L. Millado, more popularly known as Greaseart in the local digital fine art industry, is a true and tried artist in both traditional and digital media. He started drawing and sketching at an early age, honed the craft all throughout grade school, and later produced small-sized watercolor artworks to larger oil pastel abstracts in college. He explored digital art when the medium first appeared as he was completing a bachelor's degree in Computer Science at Ramon Magsaysay Memorial Colleges, immersing particularly in vector graphics software CorelDRAW. To improve his craft, he took dual courses in traditional and digital 3D animation at the Korea-Philippines Information Technology Training Center (KPITTC) in Novaliches, Quezon City, where he got involved in a number of animation projects during his traineeship.
New challenges make a versatile artist out of us, after all.
"My first experience with CorelDRAW was in 1994, and I fell in love with it right away. I've been accepting simple freelance commissions from friends and acquaintances since then," Millado shares. "I joined several major regional animation-related contests in 2004 and won in several catogories. That's how I earned scholarships at KPITTC. My class then got involved in a number of animation projects. Upon my return to General Santos, however, I started having health issues as a result of immersing too much in the animator's lifestyle — long hours, less sleep, work ethic bordering on obsession — which led to a halt in pursuing my career in the field."
"I slowly made my way back to rendering vectors through the years as my secondary work, accepting projects of diverse scopes and levels, until I decided to be a full-time artist when I settled down in 2015," he adds. Finally finding his style, he is now focused on rendering vector portraits, concepts, and illustrations — utilizing digital technology like conventional art-making, literally wielding the electronic stylus just like a regular drawing and painting instrument.
Marthin Anthony Lozano Millado (Photo by ANPJ for Gensan Gazer, 2010)
"As a full-time artist, I never hesitate in accepting projects that are a little out of my comfort zone. New challenges make a versatile artist out of us, after all," Millado confides. He works part-time for Taiwan-based bicycle company Atomlab (formerly known as Atomic Laboratories or Atomic Industries) creating decal designs, and recently moved up to technically designing and modifying bicycle frames.
"I also recycle my old artworks, putting them on tee-shirts and selling them on print-on-demand sites. Vector portraiture is a constant passion for me, of course. I accept 2 to 4 clients a month, depending on the number of heads to draw per frame." Joining digital art contests again after a long respite, Millado has seen his efforts starting to paying off, with his first vector poster art submission to the new Venom film campaign on Talenthouse (an art networking site) being shortlisted in the top roster. His old digital art pieces are getting recognized in the national and international digital art scenes as well, thanks in no small measure to the help of some local exhibits and persistent social media marketing. "I guess the hitting-more-birds-with-one-stone mindset is what sustains me."
