In Recognition of Exemplary Membership and an Outstanding Spirit of helpfulness and mentoring within the DeviantArt community.
My name is Jeffrey Cruz and I'm a Melbourne-based Comic book Artist that goes under the pen-name of 'Chamba'. I've been drawing for as long as I can remember, back when I would copy images of Transformers from the back of the toy packaging. That year, my Love for creating art was born.
During my first year of University back in 2003, I was introduced to DeviantArt as part of class task to join an 'online community', something that was very foreign to me. Being part of DeviantArt had allowed me to open up my eyes to the variety of styles that existed beyond my own backyard and of the people who created such works. Throughout the years I've not only made life-long friendships with folks both local and overseas, but it's also pushed me to expand what inspires me and what I wanted out my own art.
Through DeviantArt and it's community, I've been able to start and participate in small scale group projects such as regular ‘Jams’ hosted on 'Skratchjams' and even a character creation for the second volume of my graphic novel ‘RandomVeus.’ Several things that I could not have taken part of if not for DeviantART.
With that, I am truly thankful for all the comments, critiques and general support that I've received throughout the years and I look forward to where DeviantArt will continue to go.
May 2015
Deviousness Award Winner
Jeffrey Cruz, known to many as theCHAMBA (or simply Chamba), is one of DeviantArt's most loved and most recognized artists. Over the years, Jeffrey's art has garnered worldwide attention and drawn the eye of major companies, including Marvel, Disney, DC, and Capcom, and his positive, welcoming personality has created a legion of fans around the globe. With his constant involvement in the DeviantArt community and his continuous striving to create great and interesting art, we're proud to name theCHAMBA the Deviousness Award recipient of May 2015.
Showing Some Love
Community Quotes
Chamba, or Jeff as i know him has been a friend of mine for as long as i have been on DA, his constant growth and overall evolution as an artist is such a small part of what makes him amazing. His relentless ability to connect with people, his smooth style and his charm as a human being stand out in my mind. There are very few that deserve more credit than they get when they get as much as Chamba does, but i do believe that his name should be occupying more minds than it already does.
theCHAMBA's artwork has always been inspiring to me. Its fresh and exciting! His tutorials are most helpful and he's extremely engaged with the community!
I first discovered Jeff's art work when I joined DeviantArt in 2006. Right away his art inspired me to pick up a pencil and draw. His style was so refined and crisp, while the sheer movement in each piece made it feel as if the characters were caught mid-motion. But it didn't stop there, his use of perspective, especially with characters, is second to none. I still scratch my head when I see his art now, and wonder how he does it. The answer is that he's passionate about what he does, and it shows in every piece. I'm honored know Jeff, and to have this opportunity to share what I feel makes him amazing artist. I'd like to take a moment to thank him for sharing his amazing skill with us all. I know it's not only made an impact on my art, but so many others who enjoy his work on a daily basis.
It's safe to say that theCHAMBA and his work is far removed from the realms of awesome - instead placing more suitably in those of the mega awesome. His super-charged color palettes and dynamic compositions reflect the stamina of Jeff's relentless dedication to his fans, while engaging the community and capturing devious hearts site wide. As a fellow captive of his marvel and allure, it's a privilege for me to tell you how bad ass he is.
There is something outstanding about Jeffrey´s vision of art: everything seems to be in motion, alive, ready to jump from drawing to life. Jeff is an inspiration, not only as an artist and how he shares is knowledge with the community, but also as a fellow artist at UdonCrew:. An awesome and prolific gallery is the signature of his great work over many years. In Spanish, chamba is a word for "work", so I will say "Buena chamba, Chamba
Jeffrey "CHAMBA" Cruz's artwork brings joy to many and it has attracted audiences well beyond the borders of the artist's native Australia. He is widely recognised for his unique art style, imaginative characters and homage/fan-arts that take us back to our childhood. Not only is Chamba a talented artist, he is also a humble one, who takes the time to read and respond to all of his fans comments. Chamba isn't just a great artist, he is a great role model for aspiring artists everywhere.
First off, I feel honored to write a little snippet about Jeffrey's work! I have followed his work on deviantART since I created my account which was nine years ago! Occasionally, I'd make a comment about his epic moustache and he would still find the time to respond and make me chuckle. He has such a wonderful gift (I'm especially fond of his chibis and coloring style) and I am more than happy to support him as an artist.
Jeffrey is one of the most impressive illustrators I've seen, his control in anatomy and his knowledge of color and light is fantastic. I met him several years ago here on DeviantArt, thanks to his humble comments of support to my work, and he still does it. When he sees aspiring artists in the community, he does not hesitate to motivate them with honest comments. He has a wealth of creativity, his work overflows with quality. I'm sure that anyone who goes to his gallery is tempted to comment on his great work, due to his versatile style which anyone can appreciate. This is a well deserved award! I'm sure that a big part of the DeviantArt community considers him one of the greats of this web because of his humility, constancy and great talent. My best wishes Art Buddy, keep making wonders!
Chamba is definitely one of the rare few that are as skilled as they are accessible. Friendly, down-to-earth with the right amount of goofiness, he's a joy to converse with. Oh and he's an artist, an amazing one at that. His illustration style strikes a careful balance between cartooning and realistic rendering. The result is nothing short of breath-taking. His style breathes new life into popular characters we know and love. It's been great having him in the community, everyone can benefit from his talent, hard work and positive energy.
I don't remember how long it's been since I saw his first artwork, nor do I recall which drawing it was, but I do remember how impressed I was with its composition, colour style and motion sense. Since then I've been so hooked to the work of Jeffrey Cruz, better known as theCHAMBA, that I feel like a stalker. With an easily recognizable style, full of passion, highly dynamic and above all, very personal, all these years that I've been following him, I've seen him growing as an artist, achieving one of his dreams with the release of his comic RandomVeus and becoming little by little one of the most notorious artists in the community. For many more successes Jeff!
I've known Jeffrey for almost a decade and I'm lucky to know him in person, I respect him greatly. What I love about his work is that he still has a great passion for it, like he did when he was 18. An energetic guy, the fire inside him just gets stronger and he's always aiming for new goals. He is the guy that takes art by the horns and wins - always improving, always caring. Never stop drawing theCHAMBA
To be a great artist, it is not just the work that it is done by the artist himself, but also the character and soul the artist has as a person. Since watching theCHAMBA years ago on DeviantArt, I have not only seen him grow as an artist, but I have seen him continue his desire to be strong in character and demeanor while being on DeviantArt. His interactions with other artists and admirers have been positive, and seeing his works (solo or collaborative) is always a treat. I am very excited and happy to hear of this acknowledgement for theCHAMBA, as it is well deserved. I cannot wait to see what he posts next, and I know it won't be long. Congratulations bro, and continue to inspire others like you always do!
I am incredibly honored to be able to write something about Mr. Jeffrey 'Chamba' Cruz. Chamba was one of the first artists I started following on Deviantart. The levels of details he puts into his work as well as the insane perspective he always adds to his characters makes his work very unique and stands out. He is a great inspiration and has motivated me to draw lots and be as good as him, not to mention he is an awesome guy, very nice and has a great sense of humour. Congratulations on being awarded Deviousness Chamba! And don't ever stop drawing.
theCHAMBA's work is engaging, joyous and expertly crafted. He knows how to create dynamic shapes and helps them work together!
What to say about Mr. Jeffrey "Chamba" Cruz...? I've known him for so long now that it's weird to me to think of a time when I didn't know him. We both joined dA around the same time and without it we may have never met which is really crazy. I talked to him the first time after commenting on some piece of fan art he posted over a decade ago, and now I consider him one of my best and closest friends. Which is funny to me since he is probably the friend that is the farthest away from me physically, being all the way in Australia and me over in Washington state. So who would have guessed we'd have so much in common? It's like we grew up next door to each other when we finally met in person at the San Diego Comic Convention in 2006. We became instant buds after our insane trip to our very first convention at the largest comic convention in the world. Since then we've worked on countless art pieces together, lived together, started a podcast together, cosplayed as Mario and Luigi together (hahaha...)! He even helped me start and run a group on dA to get more artists sharing art with one another and spreading a little fun in the dA community, that of which, we normally would have been doing on our own anyway. His artwork is dynamic! The angles are insane! To the point where we quickly started calling them "Chamba-Angles". His coloring is flawless whether done in cartoony cel-shading, comic book'y cut styles, soft paints, or even traditional marker work. It's truly been a humbling experience to watch him grow over the last 10+ years. Jeffrey is a great guy, in life and to his fans. He's humble, sometimes to a fault. He doesn't even realize how crazy talented he is, which makes him all the more frustrating as an artistic peer. But he has always encouraged me to push myself as an artist. I'm proud to call him my best friend; he's the Ryu to my Ken. I can't think of a dude out there who deserves the recognition more than him. People that know his work, know that his influence is seen in the styles of a lot of different artists in the community today, including my own. He's an Artistic trend setter and as soon as the rest of the world catches on you'll start hearing the same "ticking" that I do, because this dude is about to blow up. DA, Udon, myself.. we're all lucky to have him. Despite the meaning of the nickname, it's no "fluke" that the guy is as talented as he is. I've never met anyone as dedicated to creating art as he is and I doubt I ever will again.
