Article By: Amanda Dobek
Photographs By: Janae Jacobs

The first time I met “Lefty” Joe Torres was actually at Timmery’s Queen of Heart’s Gala. He was drawing caricatures for the event and I was lucky enough to snag one from him! It was an amazing and flattering rendition that left us at Yoo-N-LA intrigued and curious. And now, ladies and gents, I give you Lefty Joe Torres.

Lefty is one of Los Angeles’ own, more precisely from the San Gabriel Valley. When questioned if he liked the area of Los Angeles, he happily nodded and replied; “[There’s just a] cool creative vibe everywhere. There’s an energy to do stuff. You know… just to make ends meet or get exposure.” Lefty has dabbled in the education word, taking a few classes regarding art and attending the Animation Academy in Burbank – where he got to learn from the pros. During his education years he met and networked with numerous animators – some obscure and some with known reputations from companies like DreamWorks and Disney, artists, and others in the art realm. While expanding his educational horizons, he also began work as a caricature artist and held a job as an illustrator – in doing so Lefty not only learned the theoretical aspect of the art realm, but also the technical real world aspect of art by working as an illustrator. “[I got to] learn stuff from the job and then learn stuff from the pros.”

His work with caricatures began shortly after he started college to help pay for schooling and in the past, has served as an easy side job to help pay bills. Lefty did a bit of caricature work in high school but didn’t start taking it seriously until later in college when he discovered it could be a means to help him through his education; he has been doing caricature work for over ten years now. He has done numerous types of gigs including birthdays and company parties, proms, and even does sketches at the LA zoo.  When asked how caricature sketching works, Lefty responded that it was similar to putting together a puzzle and just pasting different elements, like a specific nose or set of eyes or jaw line together to create the person being sketched. Kind of sounds repetitive doesn’t it? Caricature work may seem a bit on the repetitive side but not all of it is droll:  Lefty has sketched numerous celebrities and politicians in his time.

In the beginning, Lefty was very interested and very into character design and the process of creating a character based on the psychology of the character’s personality traits. He was absolutely in love with the invention of style, feel, and design behind these characters. His interest in character design eventually landed him a job at a web-based company as a character designer. His work would begin when he was given a bio for a character and then would proceed for the next few weeks researching and sketching multiple forms and shapes for just one character – which he absolutely loved citing it as “the best job ever.” Four years down the line he parted ways with the company and began exploring other areas of the art world.

During his bout with character design, he began to receive invitations from fellow coworkers about art shows and gradually became acquainted with the Los Angeles underground art scene.  During this time, he slowly stopped enjoying his job as much and decided to try something new.  Lefty discovered painting and found that he really loved the process. Aside from work as a caricature artist and work as an illustrator, Lefty has also worked on book illustrations and various other miscellaneous projects. He also has a clothing line with a few other people that he considers a hobby.

As far as future plans go, Lefty seems pretty content with his lot – caricature artist by day, and painter by night – or whenever he has time. He doesn’t seem to be too interested in getting back into an animation studio. He’s keen to staying within the underground art scene and continuing to work on his paintings and caricature work, because it makes him happy. – Lucky Lefty. We wish him continued success and prosperity in all his future endeavors!

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Spec Sheet:

Name/Nickname: Joe David Torres (Leftyjoe)

Birthplace: Mexico City Federal District

Height: 5′7″

Random/quirky facts: “I lost my left testicle to cancer in 2001. That’s why my friends call me Lefty.”

Favorite things to do: “I love to Karaoke!!! I love dancing to Rock en Espanol!!! (80’s music too).

Most embarrassing life moment: “I’m really awkward when meeting famous artists. I once told Bobby Chui that he was my “art-Jesus.”

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Connect with Lefty Joe Torres:

Website

Facebook

MySpace