Category Archives: art

What if you had the very same tools as the artists you admire?

I might be exaggerating a little, but for a lot of people that works digitally, that’s exactly what happened when Kyle Webster’s brushes were made available for free for Adobe Creative Cloud users (the membership itself isn’t free though!) His brushes are loved the world over by artists and illustrators around the world like Christoph Niemann, Sophie Diao, Mark Conlan and Samantha Kallis.

What if the tools that these artists use were now in your hands? What would you do with them? What would you hope you could create with it?

Would you try your hardest to emulate the artists who’ve chosen certain brushes as their favourite? Or would you think of using their works as inspiration for your own practice, studying their strokes to see if you could recreate them? Or would you set out to just have fun with them to see where it takes you?

It’s all good, really.

While having special brushes in Photoshop does a lot to help elevate one’s digital work (or at least make things easier), I realised that traditionally, we’ve been using the tools that have been in existence for a long time as well. Tools that were used by Picasso, Monet, Mondrian: the humble pencil or charcoal. A paintbrush, and a variety of mediums that are in existence until today – oil paints, gouache, watercolour, pastel. Artists who play with sculptures, collages and paper, among the many, many different ways of expression, whether it’s in 2D or 3D.

It might be helpful to remember that the tool(s) that you have in your hand, whether it’s traditional, or digital; is merely an extension yourself. A complex culmination of things that no one else has: your history, personality, hopes, fears, ideas and concepts; along with your emotions, thoughts and passions.

And while we may be wielding the same tool, we’re all very different, and that is what makes art-making so beautiful.

Image: Menina IV: Paintbrush Portraits by Rebecca Szeto – based on Velázquez’s Las Meninas (1656) (source)

Drawing as a state of flow

Caris Reid - Lunar Water Watcher

Caris Reid - Lunar Water Watcher

I didn’t know how to swim until I was a teenager.

The only place I ever hung out in was the shallow end of pools. The area that when you stood up, the water would only reach your waist. The sissy end – my friends would call it. At first I didn’t want to join them at the deep end, but it got lonely (as it often does, on the shallow end). I asked myself – what was the worst thing that could happen? That I’d drown? There’s a lifeguard. Stick with your friends, hang on to the side of the pool and you’ll be fine. What if your leg cramps up and you can’t move them? Stick with your friends, hang on to the side of the pool and you’ll be fine.

Fine.

So I made my way over to the deep end.

I didn’t drown. I stuck to my friends and inched out further away the sides of the pool gleefully with each subsequent visit.

Slowly over the next few weeks, I found that I could float quite well. I drifted away from the edges, letting go of the reassuring feel of the mosaic under my fingers and the sound of the lapping water against the hidden water overflow outlets. Swimming wasn’t hard at all, I thought. I could even tread water in a way that didn’t tire me out, with just my legs, kicking at a lazy pace that kept me afloat. I found that I could even do the same with just my arms.

Bobbing against the water and I found myself relaxing – I was using my body to stay afloat, but it was rhythmic and automatic, and not struggling spasms, like before. Being in the water felt good. I felt great.

And I moved further away from the edge. I did underwater somersaults. Backward flips, front-freewheeling balls. I was weightless, and I’ve never felt freer in my life.

Drawing reminds me of being in the water.

Not only was my mind free to wander and to do backflips when I’m drawing, but my hand were free as well. I draw from my shoulder, and not just my wrist – so that my movements across the paper was large and unrestrained. My entire arm and shoulder moves as I draw, just like they would if I were to float in a pool. It feels like I’m in a constant state of flow.

When I learned how to swim, I’ve found that it’s easier to stay afloat if I relaxed myself and let go. I don’t fight the water, I embrace it. I could feel myself melt into the invisible pores of the water, as if we are one.

Drawing, to me, feels very much the same.

Just like swimming, it took some time for me to embrace my strengths, instead of fighting against it. I’ve accepted that I draw the way I do, instead of trying so hard to be a second rate version of someone else. With each stroke, it gets easier; until you feel a part of you flowing onto the paper itself.

When that happens, it feels like I’m back in the water again.

And once again, I feel free.

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(This article ran previously, but I edited and rewrote it again. I’m going to take older articles and re-run them again in the next coming weeks to get a jump start on things. P.s. It’s good to see you again, too!)

Image: Caris Reid – Lunar Water Watcher limited edition print (source)

Working in 6 cities in less than a year: an interview with Sara Gelfgren

Berlin Co-working

Today’s interview is with Sara Gelfgren, a London-based illustrator who has lived and worked in 6 different cities – all within the span of less than a year – and has illustrated the experience on her blog Illustratour. I’m currently away in Japan for 2 weeks and so I’m really intrigued with how she has managed to pull off such a feat – it’s always been a dream of mine to work in different cities, and she’s proof that it can be done! I get the dish on how Sara has pulled it off right here in the interview below. Enjoy!

Tell us a little bit about yourself!

I’m a Swedish illustrator normally based in London. I moved to London almost a decade ago to do my Art & Design Foundation at Central Saint Martins. I went on to completing a BA in Fashion Management. After graduation I realised that working in fashion wasn’t for me so I ended up working at a business/lifestyle magazine instead. That didn’t feel like my calling in life either so eventually I decided to do what I wanted to do all along: illustration. Rather that going back to studying I jumped in at the deep and tried learning on the job. It took me a over a year to start making any money to speak off, but for the past 2 years I’ve been able to support myself working exclusively as an illustrator.

6 cities in 6 months – that’s quite a feat! What was the inspiration behind this project, and why did it come about?

I went to a talk in late 2014 were ‘Nomadlist’, a website that lists the bests places to live and work remotely in the world, was mentioned. That website made me realised that there’s a large group of people around the world living nomadically as their jobs are location independent and as a result they can work from anywhere. The term ‘digital nomad’ is usually used to describe them. I then had the ‘aha’ moment were I realised that my job as an illustrator doesn’t actually require me to be in London. Most communication required to do my job is carried out via email and I can easily do meetings over Skype. I decided that I wanted to give living nomadically a shot over a fixed period of time and try out living in as many cities as possible, whilst still staying long enough to be able to set up a routine. Hence 6 cities in 6 months felt right.

 

Beach Taghazout

How did you determine which country you would venture to? Was there a list?

I thought that finding a good co-working space was essential to not get isolated and have a functional work routine. So that was one of the most important criteria for choosing the cities. I was on a budget, so the cost to rent a room through Airbnb in the city was important and the lifestyle I would be able to afford. Climate was also a deciding factor and how expensive it was to fly there!

Which country has been your favourite so far?

That’s a hard question to answer, because I had really different experiences in each place. I’ve had a really good time everywhere!

Lisbon things

 

Cycling Barcelona

 

How did you sustain yourself on the project? I know a lot of artists and illustrators who would love to do what you’re doing, but money is a big concern. How did you address that on your travel?

Throughout these months I’ve been working full time and I haven’t actually seen any decline in clients, quite the contrary. So I’ve been earning the same amount as I did in London, but many of the cities have been cheaper to live in. So I’ve actually had more spending power than in my normal life. The main problem was that I’m a bit of a compulsive planner and wanted to have all my flights and accommodation sorted before I left London. I booked most of my accommodation through Airbnb which requires you to pay in advance. I had some savings that I could use for this advance payment. But I’m able to pay off that dept to myself now. So I’m returning to London having not seen any decline in earrings and without having had to dip into my savings, so that feels good!

Hong Kong

 

Food - Hong Kong

What was the biggest takeaway or life lesson that you’ve gained from this project?

I’ve gotten insight into so many different ways of living over the last few months. For me the difference between being on holiday somewhere as opposed to living and working there is immense. Because I’ve been living in Airbnbs with locals and working in co-working spaces I’ve got a much better idea of what a normal life looks like in these places. I feel like this information makes me much better equipped to make decisions about where and how I want to live going forwards.

Another life lesson (which may sound like a no-brainer!) is that I’ve really understood the importance of relationships. I’ve met a lot of incredible people during these months, many of which I was sad to move on from when I went to the next city. And that for me is the biggest problem with living nomadically. I want to maintain longterm friendships and also be able to create new ones by having a stable base in one place.

What’s next for you?

I do feel that I want London to remain as my base going forwards and I’ll be coming back to live there permanently on the 1st of January. My friends have started up a new co-working space so I’ll be working from there.

Although if the opportunity to work somewhere else temporarily presents itself I’ll definitely be open to it!

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Thanks Sara!

She’s now in Indonesia, and you can catch up with her on her blog!

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