When you head down to Fremont Street for a bacon-wrapped Dirt Dog this weekend, take a second to look up. Just above their menu is a mural of a seaside and a portrait of the late rapper Nipsey Hussle, done in vibrant oranges and blues.
Twenty-two-year-old Juan Ochoa is the visionary behind that image and some 20 other murals around Las Vegas, including one memorializing drunk-driving victim Tina Tintor and her dog Max. From tattoo shops to gyms, neighborhoods to public schools, this young artist has taken to beautifying Las Vegas.
Ochoa migrated to Las Vegas from Mexico with his family at a young age and has worked toward becoming a professional artist since graduating high school. “After high school, money became a part of the equation: ‘How do I still do what I love but make an income?’” he says. “So, I started knocking on doors, and asking businesses, ‘Can I draw something for you? Can I paint something for you?’ It was a lot of rejection. It was hard.”
Now, however, Ochoa is well on his way to making art his full-time gig. Aside from his commissioned pieces, he works at Legendarys Art Supply, which offers a platform for other aspiring artists. Every week, Ochoa logs onto the store’s Instagram (@legendarys702) to host lessons on his technique.
The artist sat down with the Weekly to discuss his work and love of art.
When did you discover you had a talent for art? I come from a family that has artists, and they’re really good, especially my mom. But I wasn’t born with a gift; I was really bad at it. I knew it, but I was OK with it. It wasn’t until I came to the U.S. and kids made fun of me in another language that I really got offended. I wanted to draw just to prove them wrong. … I had to try extra hard at it, and it wasn’t until I fully committed to it that I became good at it. I guess it wasn’t that I was a natural; it’s just that I became comfortable being uncomfortable and constantly trying. I wanted to get better.
Did you study art in school, or are you wholly self-taught? I was always into drawing with pencil, so a lot of it was just contrast black and white. And I was against education, so I didn’t want to be like, ‘I have to learn the traditional way.’ I was more like, ‘If you love it, you do it.’ So, I kind of ignored [art education]. But when it came to spray painting, I had to learn color theory.
An artist that I looked up to … started pointing it out. He said, “You have to read these books.” So, I kind of dove into it and started realizing that color theory is more like understanding that colors as a whole are a language, and the way that you mix the saturations makes hues.
What was the first mural you completed? When I was a teenager, for the Boys and Girls Club. It was an elephant. … I don’t know who brought it up, but I was asked to paint a room. The paints weren’t the best, so I stayed there for days and days trying to fill in the piece.
Which of your murals has been your favorite so far? The one that I posted of [boxer] Tyson Fury [inside a private gym]. That one really took so much time and energy. I didn’t think it was going to be possible.
Does your work have themes or ideas that you’re trying to convey to viewers? I do want to add more meaning to my work, but I guess that’s something that I’m still finding and trying to get better at.
What do you still hope to achieve? I want to be able to share what I know—probably build a platform where I can help people get to where I am without having to struggle so hard. [And] I don’t ever see myself giving this up, so I hope to make an impact in the art scene.
Do you have any advice for other young artists? Love every piece you do. … Just have fun, because when you have fun that’s when you learn.
Where to find some of Juan Ochoa’s murals
Nipsey Hussle Dirt Dog, 450 E. Fremont St.
MF Doom Legendarys Art Supplies, 1000 S. 3rd St. #D
Mac Miller & Kurt Cobain Union House, 917 S. 1st St.
Hunter S. Thompson Crestline Drive & Elton Avenue
Tina Tintor & Max Rainbow Boulevard & Spring Valley Parkway
Aztec Warrior Chino’s Mexican Kitchen, 4886 W. Lone Mountain Road
On Instagram @latin.artist
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