Hi! My name is Francisca Moricete, but most people call me Francis or Franz. I’ve been working under the pseudonym franzmori, a short version of my name mainly because most people get confused on how to pronounce my last name 😅 (in case you’re wondering, it’s not pronounced like Alanis Morissette, it’s more like mori-seh-teh).
This drawing is a copy of a drawing I was handed by the teacher. No real models, no real anatomy insights. I cringe everytime I see the left hand😖.
I’m a 1991 gal, born and raised in a small town of Dominican Republic. The daughter of two, pretty much creatives, M. D. s, I was always keen to art and the human body, and I have been drawing and doodling since the moment I held a pencil.
Besides drawing, my childhood was filled with lots of creative endeavors: I started dancing ballet at 7 years old, I used to write poems and songs at the same age, and I started to design clothes at 11.
For the most part of my life I wanted to be a professional ballet dancer, but I also knew I had to study something.
I entered a Fashion Design program while in the third year of high school. After a year into that program I realized I wasn’t neither good with fabric and patterns, neither passionate enough to improve that craft. I did realize though, that I terribly enjoyed the drawing classes. That was the first time in my life I ever took drawing lessons (looking back they were awful lessons, I was only asked to copy things) and also the first time I learned about modern art history.
At the time I didn’t know what to study, so on my last year of high school I decided I was going to study architecture if I didn’t come up with a better idea. And I never did.
In 2008, I was presented with the oportunity of studying abroad, and after ditching the dream of becoming a professional ballet dancer, I moved to Mexico to study a Bachelor in Architecture. I wasn’t really encouraged to draw for my classes, but I managed to do a thing or two every time I could by on iniciative. I had a “visualization” class were I was taught how to edit photographs in Adobe Photoshop, and I managed to learn how to use it for drawing.
I always felt there wasn’t something quite right with my carreer choice, but after many ups and downs I graduated in late 2013.
A drawing of a “vecindad” I did for a context study. Done with ball pens and markers.
A skate park I designed for a mixed-use project. The drawing was done in photoshop.
I decided to stay in Mexico and look up for a job in my field, but I was un-employed for at least 4 months. During that time I started drawing more and more, mostly digitally using photoshop. I was pretty active on a platform called DeviantArt and I landed my first illustration commissions 😱
Vampirella fan art done in Photoshop for the Trinquette Weekly Challenge during my un-employed time.
I got a job at an architectural firm as a BIM specialist 🤓 in May 2014, and for the next 3 months I didn’t have a life. The workload was heavy (extra work hours were a most) and I was living* far away from the office. I would wake up at 5am and be home at midnight 😫.
*Actually I was homeless lol. I was staying with my In-laws while I could get a permanent job contract that allowed me to rent my own piece.
The next months were barely better, but I could rent a small loft 20 mins from the office. So at least I wasn’t spending too much time commutting and I could get more sleep time.
This is the year I started drawing ballerinas🥰.
By december 2014, I decided I was missing drawing and dancing too much! (I never stopped dancing or exercising up until december 2013, so that was a good whole year not moving my body) .
I came up with a weekly project after the #tututuesday hashtag that was taking off on instagram at the time.
I didn’t have much time to work on digital pieces anymore so this is when I started working traditionally with color pencils, watercolors and ink.
The more I drew, the more I fell in love with illustration and these mediums.
Eventually I got smarter at managing my work time (as much as you can inside the design/construction industry). This allowed me to keep drawing and eventually returning to take ballet classes.
The next years I started exploring the use of black ink, and it caught the interest from friends that wanted me to design tattoos for them 🤯.
Between 2017 and 2018 I was commissioned more work, both in ink and in watercolor. That’s when independent music artists started to get interested in my work. I would like to say that I reached my full pontential, that I had so much illustration work I was ready to make the jump, but the thruth is…
In late 2018, a burn out in my job finally led me to pursue the dream of becoming a full-time illustrator.
It was supposed to be a one year sabbatical, but my wedding and the Coronavirus Pandemic have kept me home for longer. Not going to lie, this have been the best time of my life.
Both my mental and body health were decaying since late 2016. I started seeing a psychologist in early 2017, and that helped for a while, but I also catched all the flus that year. I was over working myself, both on and off the office. Mid 2017 I had an injury (a triple muscle tear) due to fatigue, and after 8 long months of recovery it was clear to me that I needed a change in my life.
I didn’t hate my job, but I didn’t love it either. I knew I was running out of gas and not giving my best anymore. As a perfectionist in recovery, knowing you’re not showing up as your best is hard to swallow. So, I quit. Nothing dramatic, I’m a professional 💅 I took my time to prepare everything for my departure and left graciously.
I decided to distant myself from architecture for at least a year; and to focus my attention on my art and my health.
Ever since I have invested myself in learning as much as I can about illustration’s technical and business skills. I have enrolled in courses by professionals like Jenna Rainey and Julie Turkel; and I have learned new software like Adobe’s Illustrator, InDesign and Lightroom.
This new set of skills have allow me to develop my art even further, and explore graphic design beyond illustration with projects like book cover designs, stationery, and branding.
I have also learned a lot about time management and being your own boss. I discovered The Life Coach School Podcast and my mental health and work ethics have sky rocket (Did I mentioned that, since Sep 2018, I haven’t catch the flu more than ONCE??🤯).
I discovered how much I enjoyed helping others materialize their ideas. I like to think of myself as a vision maker: my clients come to me with a vision and I help them make it a reality. For me, empathy is key to achieve this.
Pretending to paint for the picture.
I don’t discard the idea of going back to architecture, we’re living in hard times after all, but I’d step in as a totally diferent person. As of now, I’m liking the person I’m becoming, and I want to continue on this creative journey and connect with as many people as I can. I have learnt that art is both an act of generosity and vulnerability, and I’m going to keep creating and sharing it as long as possible.
