18 August 22 - 28, 2024 dallasobserver.com DALLAS OBSERVER Classified | MusiC | dish | Culture | unfair Park | Contents Ink Master Jaquelyn Rodriguez is the ballpoint art queen of Dallas. BY VANESSA QUILANTAN I n the world of art, materials and techniques have expanded rapidly — from 3D printing to 3D acrylic paints, to digitally rendered colors that expand on the limitations of traditional pigments. And more artists are taking stylus-to-iPad over the analog standard of brush to canvas. For artists in the 21st century, there’s no ceiling of innovation for medium and form. Which almost makes it all the more impressive and refreshing to see a creative thrive with the most basic traditional tools. Jaquelyn Rodriguez’s minimalist approach speaks perfectly to the moniker she works under, Clean As Paper. From striking realism to traditional Chicano imagery, all she needs to bring her vision to life is a ballpoint pen and a sheet of plain unlined paper. “I have been using [ballpoint pen] for a really long time and I’ve always kind of liked the way it looked, even in high school,” she says. “I like just how dark it goes. You can go really, really dark with it and it doesn’t smudge, so it’s different from pencil. Pencil may be an easier tool to work with, she says, “But it’s just the texture and the variety of shades [from pens] that I like. Just the way it handles, I don’t know, like it was love at first sight, what can I say?” Her work is striking in all its minimalist glory with the ultra precision of razor-thin flowing lines and meticulously detailed pointillism, creating a singular take on a tra- ditional technique that evokes a strong sense of purity. It is elegantly composed yet unpretentious in its presentation, at times both lush and stark. Rodriguez’s triple expertise in realism, lettering and Chicano tattoo styles combine seamlessly to create a world of luxurious fantasy from a working-class lens. It’s a sig- nature that she’s refined with more than 20 years of training. It all started with a middle-school infatu- ation with cartoons. “I was obsessed,” Rodriguez says. “I’m a ‘90s baby, so I would watch a lot of Sailor Moon, Dragon Ball Z, Pokemon, Tom and Jerry cartoons. I would copy those and it was nothing serious but my parents were like, ‘Maybe you should pursue this.’” The encouragement from her family led Rodriguez to the application process for Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts (which boasts ac- claimed alumni artists Christian Schumann, Chris Arnold and Arlo Eisenberg), a highly in- timidating childhood entry point to years of high-level fine art education. “You have to prepare a portfolio and then you have to sit down with a teacher and talk about it,” Rodriguez says of her admissions interview. “So I was like 13, 14 and I had my cartoon doodles, just trying to explain, ‘Oh, yeah, I love art.’ …Then I would look at the person next to me and they have like, landscapes and portraits and it just looked so much more developed and sophisticated. And here I [was] with my little scratchy doodles. I’ve never felt more unprepared and more on the spot in my life to have to make deep conversation about cartoons. “I didn’t know what I was doing or talking about. But the passion and love was there.” But the highly coveted school saw enough potential in young Jaquelyn to grant her a spot on the admissions waitlist. Two weeks after starting off her freshman year at The School for the Talented and Gifted at the Yvonne A. Ewell Townview Magnet Center (another exemplary rated liberal arts high school) in her native Dallas neighborhood of Oak Cliff, her parents got the call that a spot had opened up for her at Booker T. Washington, and they immediately transferred her for enrollment. “We [learned] painting and drawing. And they taught us how to sculpt and do printmaking, photography, all that stuff. It was like art boot camp, pretty much,” Rodri- guez says. “They would help us make port- folios and we would compete in art competitions in Houston and other district competitions. The teachers there were great, the programs were great, and they re- ally primed us for art college.” In her senior year, Rodriguez was accepted at one of the finest art schools in the U.S., The School of the Art Institute of Chicago. “I was, like, blown away,” she says. “They didn’t care about technique. They didn’t care that you can paint, [they said] anyone can learn how to paint. They were more like, ‘We’re go- ing to teach you how to develop your ideas. We’re going to teach you how to think. We’re going to teach you how to be creative.’ So we could be more innovative in our concepts. In Chicago, Rodriguez honed and re- fined her artistic vision. But after a year at the school, she returned home to Texas due to the financial burden of high tuition costs. She didn’t want to put any additional obliga- tion on her parents to keep taking out loans. And after years of rigorous study, she found herself experiencing a spell of burnout. She picked up a day job and continued her edu- cation with a couple of fashion classes in the Dallas community college system at El Cen- tro campus. Before long, her driven dedica- tion to visual arts recovered in full force. She began to incorporate her classically- trained realism with Chicano tattoo style and elements of surrealism. She started to post the work on Instagram under the alias Clean As Paper in 2016, where she built a cult following with drawings of Dobermans, femme-centered portraits and classic cars. In addition to urban tattoo culture, Rodri- guez draws strong inspiration from Mexi- can-American paños, the tradition of ballpoint pen drawings on cloth handker- chiefs originated by prison inmates in the U.S. Southwest. It’s an affinity deeply in- stilled in her family history. “My family, my uncles, they did paños when they were in jail and in prison. It’s kind of an intimidating style and obviously very, like, male-dominated,” Rodriguez says. “I’ve never been to prison. I’ve never done time. So I was like, ‘Would I be a poser if I did that?’ And I was surprised how many Chicano artists just kind of really embraced me into their community. They were like, ‘Oh yeah, your stuff is sick, keep doing it.’ So maybe I don’t have to be in prison to do that kind of art, as long as I’m just putting my own spin on it and doing it justice. “I do come from a family that has its roots in it. My grandma has like 15 or 20 paños hanging up in one of the bedrooms. It’s like a little museum.” In recent years, the work of Jaquelyn Ro- driguez has drawn interest beyond the niche community of Chicano art. Along with cul- tural staples such as streetwear brand Ghetto Dreams and content hub Foos Gone Wild, she’s been tapped for designs by Drake’s Nike subsidiary sportswear brand NOCTA. Rodriguez is currently working on collaborations under active non-disclosure agreements with legacy apparel brands that she never imagined having the opportunity to work with. Her success as an artist is still emerging, a slow climb that she credits to dedication and the power of internet platforms, which she advises aspiring artists to utilize relentlessly. “Be consistent, don’t give up… put your work out there,” she says. “Because if it’s good and you’re consistent, someone will see it eventually. Maybe not now, maybe not a year from now, maybe like five years from now they’ll see it. But if you’re good and you’re consistent and the talent is there, the vision is there, someone will see it. Someone will notice it.” ▼ Culture Jaquelyn Rodriguez In the male-dominated culture of Chicano art, Jaquelyn Rodriguez has received encouragement from her peers. Jaquelyn Rodriguez Rodriguez’s work combines elements of surrealist fantasy with realism in Chicano tattoo style. Tony Krash Jaquelyn Rodriguez embraces an air of mystery in her workspace.