Meet Angel Robles of Glendale

Today we’d like to introduce you to Angel Robles.

Hi Angel, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
My name is Angel Robles and I’m an artist from Glendale, Arizona. Ever since I was a child, creativity has always been the language I understood the best. I was the kid who was constantly drawing in class, at home, just about anywhere I could find a blank surface. I didn’t realize that the thing I did “just for fun” would become the foundation of my passion. As years go by, the spark only grew stronger and art slowly shifted from a pastime to a purpose.

I’ve always created with no expectations. Just pure love for art as a whole. Eventually, consistency opened doors for me—opportunities starting appearing, people began noticing my work, and I found myself stepping into an art journey I never planned but was always meant for. My love for art is something that will never fade, it’s a part of who I am and it continues to shape me everyday.

More than anything, I hope my story encourages others to follow the things that light them up. You never know what passion can become until you give it a chance to grow.


Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
One of the biggest challenges in my art journey was the fact that I never had formal training. I didn’t go to art school or even take an art class, so everything I know started from a place of pure passion, curiosity, and honestly—fear. The fear of not knowing, and never knowing, what I was truly capable of.

That fear pushed me to learn the fundamentals on my own, and that passion kept me practicing until my skills, especially with the airbrush, really began to take shape. Along the way, I was blessed to have mentors who guided me, challenged me, and showed me new ways to grow as an artist.

The path was never easy. Every stage of my journey came with obstacles—technical challenges, self-doubt, and the pressure of learning everything from scratch. Still, not once did I consider giving up. If anything, the difficulties became fuel. Overall, those challenges shaped me.

They forced me to be resilient, resourceful, and deeply intentional with my craft. Without them, I wouldn’t be the artist I am today. They didn’t just sharpen my skillset—they strengthened my purpose.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I grew up surrounded by the visual language of lowrider culture — the murals on the cars were my first introduction to art that lived, moved, and told stories. Those images shaped me early on, and as I got older, my curiosity naturally expanded to graffiti, music, and fashion.

I was mostly drawn to the raw expression of graffiti and the individuality and identity found in fashion — both of which pushed me to experiment and discover my own creative voice. As I matured, my personal experiences — especially the emotional complexity of romantic relationships — became just as influential as the cultures I admired. I realized that my art could be a place where all of these elements met.

Through all these influences around me, and the vulnerability of my personal experiences, over time I learned to merge them into one cohesive artistic style and language.

My work today is a reflection of my life thus far.

We’d love to hear about any fond memories you have from when you were growing up?
I grew up around lowrider culture from the very beginning. My dad was in a car club, and some of my earliest memories are of sitting with him, drawing his car and all the members’ cars, then handing the drawings out to them — they’ve seen me grow up. I used to dig through stacks of lowrider magazines, searching for the exact cars I wanted to draw, and once I finished a piece, I’d give it to my dad. That was the first time I felt proud of creating something, and the first time I saw how art could connect people.

Since I can remember, I was always trying to capture the world around me. I wrote my own cartoons inspired by “Kids Next Door,” and even challenged myself to sketch my shirts upside down in class. Those moments shaped me long before I realized what was happening — they were the roots of where my inner child lives.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thatoneflako?igsh=NXF4OGh5bjEwNHhl&utm_source=qr

Image Credits
Brandon Lopez