5 Tips on how to start your own.
Starting your journey as an artist can be challenging at the beginning. When I first started in 2018, I was living in Hong Kong and it was around December when I started created the first few pieces of art and realised I could be an artist. I started creating a few drawings as christmas gifts and then my family encouraged me to put up my work on social media, this led to a gallery in hong kong reaching out to me and inviting to me to create a solo exhibition in their space. At the beginning of 2019 I committed to doing my first exhibition, where I had no clue what my style was or what I wanted to create but the pressure of having to create something for the show is what pushed me to create my first collection. Along the way I was posting and landed a few commissions. This slowly started to build my confidence and force me to create alot in a short period of time.
My first collection was predominantly original drawings of animals that are highly detailed and took about 6 - 8 weeks to create. I had more of a passion for painting and created a few pieces for my first collection of abstract artworks.
After my first exhibition I wanted to experiment painting more, which led me to working with more textures. Everytime i stepped foot into the stationary store I would be drawn to a different texture and I would get so excited to try it out. I started experiment and found my combination of textures that I loved working with. From there, I experimented with different colour palettes, compositions and using these textures in different ways. This led me to where I am today and how I found my style through experimentation. Here are some tips if you are an artist just starting off:
- Be open to experimentation. This means that you don’t have to know your style right away but maybe step into an arts store and see what it is you naturally gravitate towards and start there.
- Post yourself experimenting and your progress. Start building your audience by allowing them to see your process and how you experiment and create art.
- SAY YES. In the first year I said yes to every opportunity which opened more doors for me. Even though it is intimidating, i found myself capable to create for clients and commission pieces.
- Don’t overthink it. I remember trying so hard to come up with a concept or inspiration in the beginning which created a block in my creativity. I was really just inspired initially by the new textures and different colours schemes and how it all worked together.
- Start collecting emails. Once you get commissions or meet anyone interested in your work start building your email database which will come in very handy as you build your network of supporters.
**Take good pictures of each art work. It is important for yourself to have photos that you can refer back to of old works that could be used to build your portfolio.