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Ironically given his penchant for charcoal, Christian Mendoza has a bright future ahead.
As previously reported, the Pukekohe-based painter won Franklin Innovation’s Shark Tank for his website Artwork City. However, he also works full-time as a professional artist.
Originally from the Philippines, Mendoza moved to New Zealand in 2012, selling insurance for a time before taking on the Art Lover’s Gallery at Sylvia Park Market in 2016 while he continued to hone his skills.
“I started my own artworks using charcoal and oil paints. When I work with charcoal, I go by Forest X,” he says. “Charcoal is very dramatic and it easily adds contrast to artworks.”
However, he is also working in oil as the medium tends to be more marketable.
“There’s a lot of people buying classical oil paintings, which always seem to fetch higher prices. Making a living as an artist can be tough, so you need to think about what buyers want as well as making the art you want to make.”
Thankfully, Artwork City is expected to help Mendoza and his fellow creatives to sell a wider range of work by helping them connect with a larger number of buyers.
Artwork City originated when Mendoza and some friends saw a gap in the art market for an online space.
“I wanted to create my own website. I asked my friends if they knew of any New Zealand websites where I could upload my art, but I was told there weren’t any except for the Bluethumb website in Australia,” he explains.
“One of my friends said he knew a few artists who wanted to use it [Artwork City] and suddenly five artists became 20, then 20 became 30 and now we have more than 100 using the platform.”
For now, Mendoza is focused on his art while also growing Artwork City.
“We don’t have the means to open it up to everyone yet, but if we can get the budget for it, we could include 1000 artists in future.”
For more information or to register for Artwork City, visit www.artworkcity.com.
