ManicWorld Magazine

Colour, Change, and Rae’s Creative Survival

‘To overcome that self-consciousness is to evolve into a more self-assured artist and therefore a more relaxed human being.‘

– Where do you think you would be without art?

Without art…I would be bored out of my mind. Art is the primary way I express myself, either through witty, edgy bookmarks with a dash of dark humor, or a deep, thoughtful pen and ink illustration. I’ve been drawing from the moment I could hold a marker, and all I can remember is when I was in afterschool programs, I would hog the paper and markers, literally taking a whole stack of blank paper with the intent to draw on all of them, but never finishing by the end of the day. If you took those markers and paper away from 6-year-old me, she would be lost for a few minutes. She would not know where to turn. She may try to turn to books, but books are also art––written art––and I absolutely love writing too.

Art is everywhere, in more forms than some of us would like to admit, given that a career in art is still sometimes scoffed at in some cultures and backgrounds. I think that even without a typical pen and paper in front of me, I would still find ways to make art, be it a finger in the dirt or dancing to my favourite music. Obviously I have other interests other than just art, but without art, I would not be who I am today. But being the active person I am, I would probably channel that energy into something physical like working out or something sporty. I am a diehard introvert though, so art is the most comfortable and favoured way I can say something that may be hard to put in words. I probably would be more stressed without art, and if other people had art and I didn’t, that may put me over the edge. Perhaps that’s selfish of me, but it’s the truth. Of course, if someone wanted to draw and didn’t have the materials, I would gladly give them a page and utensil. I love to see other styles and draw with friends. But if someone sentenced me to live without making art while watching everyone else do the very thing I was forbidden to do, it would be torturous!

– What do you consider your most solid art style? since you can create art from almost anything?

Ooh, my most solid art style…if you mean persistent, as in the art style I tend to gravitate to the most it would be writing, easily. But in terms of my most successful art, it’s a tie between my pen and ink and my digital. My pen and ink art is very calm and neutral, 2 dimensional and often omnidirectional, which is what makes my art unique I think—the fact that you can hang it in any direction. Of course not all of my pen and ink are that way, but a good deal of them are. Honestly though I don’t love my pen and inks as much as I do my digital. I love colour, absolutely love it. I love wearing colourful clothing, dyeing my hair streaks of bright red, and I have more colourful pens than I know what to do with. (Typically, I use the coloured pens for bookmarks.) My pen and inks, they’re calm on the eyes, but nearly 9/10 of them I wouldn’t hang on my own wall because they don’t have much colour, and I want my walls to have colour. My digital art is full of vibrant hues and scenery that I just can’t get the way I want with a physical utensil. I don’t even use a stylist when I’m making digital art—everything is by hand, fingertip, however you want to call it. I get equal inquires about both my traditional and digital pieces for different reasons. Some people really like the simple black and white look which can go with nearly anything. Others prefer the more playful, lively digital pieces that can tell a more complex story.

I’m definitely a broad brush when it comes to art mediums. I’ve done a lot—illustration with lots of different styles, writing, filmmaking, screenwriting, photography, bookmark making, the occasional painting, and I recently received a resin starter kit. I think some people may be confused why I don’t stick to one or two mediums, and I know that can turn off some folks, but how can I know what I like if I don’t try everything? Why can’t I do more than one thing? I think it’s muzzling to want to restrict artists to just one style. I know that some artists only do one medium and are really good at it, and that’s great—don’t hold back! But I think it’s a mistake to want all artists to follow the same path of predictability. I don’t want to hide my art journey either. Watching styles evolve is particularly fascinating.

– What is your view on change and evolution as a creative?

My view on change and evolution is that it’s not only necessary but inevitable. People really don’t like change, but we as artists have to change all the time. We change tactics in advertising when something isn’t working, we change our topics depending on the season and our moods, we change our audiences when we shift to new mediums and when they see our work something changes in them. To be static in one medium and one strategy may work for a few, and to those I say congratulations that you found something that worked for you! But for the vast majority of us, we have to pivot. It can be exhausting especially when you’re trying to make this a full time job, and you still have a day job that pays the bills for now. It certainly doesn’t always help that social media seems to demand that we create ‘content’. For me, true art comes spontaneously and without explanation, and can strike at the most random of times. I cannot easily summon it when it doesn’t want to and I have never been able to satisfactorily replicate an original from scratch.

That’s what makes my art so special.

I think we should celebrate the steps every artist takes on their journey into an art life. Every scribble on printer paper or discarded doodle had to be made to eventually form that masterpiece every artist makes. And yesterday’s favorite piece may be tomorrow’s scrap paper. That’s growth. It can be isolating I think, especially when you compare your journey to other artists’, and I really wish we wouldn’t hide our “awful” sketches from others. Oftentimes the ones we don’t like still garner a lot of love from complete strangers who are unbiased to our imperfections. I think an artist’s biggest metamorphosis comes when they can create art with an audience, as in someone looking over their shoulder and not immediately slap a hand over it. That to me shows self confidence in your ability and you aren’t threatened by potential hostility to your work. The reason we shy away from onlookers is because we fear judgment or theft of a style or character. To overcome that self-consciousness is to evolve into a more self-assured artist and therefore a more relaxed human being. I think a fun icebreaker for artists would be to find art they don’t love and show it off to see what we make in the background before we show our favourites.

– and to round us off, where is it that you hope this will end? When the light turns off, what would you love to leave behind for other artists, for yourself?

I think…if I were to disappear tomorrow, I’d want to leave behind the colour and subtle resilience in my art. That even when no one’s looking or seeking you out, you don’t need an audience to validate your passion. One of my favorite books growing up was Miss. Rumphius by Barbara Cooley, and one of the lines is “you must do something to make the world more beautiful.” I do that with colourful, vibrant art. The world isn’t black and white, and we shouldn’t look at art in such a way. There is no right or wrong way to interpret art.

I started my art journey by going to film school, and it’s true when they say the hardest thing is getting your foot through the door. Two years of being ghosted and rejected later, I decided I wasn’t going to wait around any longer. I wasn’t going to wait for someone to come to me, I was going to be proactive and start experimenting with what I could really make, and I’ve made pieces I’ve fallen in love with that no school could have led me to.

Of course, just because I stopped actively sending film resumes doesn’t mean I’ve stopped creating for the screen. This wasn’t me quitting. This was me pivoting. While I work behind the scenes, I also utilize my pen, paper, and pixels. I draw without an audience, but I’m not afraid to have one. I, of course, would love for my art to go viral, for people to connect with it and share it as much as they do a cute dog or funny meme. I think the greatest insult is an artist dying broke and alone only for people to fall in love with their work and revere it after they’re gone. The artist can’t reap the success they deserve. Artists need support from both friends and strangers, and support can take many forms. But even if an artist has no one cheering them on, that shouldn’t mean they should drop their canvas for scrap. Its default goal should be to fulfil the soul. The moment it becomes a chore, it’s no longer art.

So, I want to leave future artists with hope sprinkled with reality. It’s hard work, and some people have more roadblocks than others. Some may reach multiple milestones simultaneously and that is a breeding ground for the thief of joy: comparison. Local businesses are your ally. They’re more familiar with the struggle of attracting a following and most want to see you succeed. Celebrate every win, no matter how small. There will be lulls where you make no sales and those can go on for months. That’s not the time to throw in the towel. That’s the time to assess what’s working, what should change, and of course, remember to take care of yourself. Artists are the worst judges of their own work. Don’t be so hard on yourself. I know, easier said than done. Choosing to pursue art means choosing to get to know yourself. And I’m so happy I chose to take the colours from my head and introduce them to the world.

Join the Newsletter

Connect with Rae

To follow Rae, you can find social media profiles here:

Website
The Story Scripter

Socials
Instagram

Read other articles in the issue