A THING OR TWO WE CAN ALL LEARN FROM ARTISTS
“Everything you can imagine is real”- Pablo Picasso
Creativity as a concept is as old as the existence of humanity, it has thrived through several civilisations, Plato in his great work, ‘The Republic’ stated, ‘will we say, of a painter, that he makes something?’ then he answers, ‘certainly not, he merely imitates.’ Art is a product of the artist’s observation of his environment, it takes skill, an eye for detail, imagination and many more qualities to make art.
Through a bit of research, interaction with some artists and hands on experience, I have been able to identify some qualities of good fine artists which is what this article is about.
PATIENCE
Stavros Damos is a professional digital artist. He lives in Thessaloniki, north Greece. I came across his works on twitter, I was wowed. Then I went further to stalk this artist on Instagram, I followed him, then Behance too, I followed him there also(Behance is a social media platform owned by Adobe where creatives showcase their works). One thing that I admire about Stavros’ work is his use of linear marks or something I can call striation. The first time I learnt about striation was when I was taught about the ‘Ife Bronze Head’ in High school. History says it was created circa 1300 C.E. How it was sculpted is a marvel. You should google it after reading this article.
When asked what kind of worker he is, Stavros answers, ‘thorough’. To do the type of art he does, you have to be thorough. Stavros is a busy artist as he often has briefing conversations with clients on skype. I got to chat up with him on Behance, I was happy to tell him i’m a fan of his works. The first question I put through to him was whether his work inspires a sense of adventure for him, he says, ‘I see… well I wish, but unfortunately no.’ Then I thought of another quality of an artist to ask him, ‘what about this, has doing art taught you patience in any way?’ he answers, ‘absolutely, through painting and music, actually all kind of art is the best way to find the inside balance and of course patience, as a human.’
To create art you have to be patient. I remember not long ago I saw a sketch on Instagram, I wanted to recreate it. I went on my sketchpad and sketched away but the result was awful. I still posted it, I still got positive reviews. They didn’t want to hurt my feelings I assumed. later I examined the drawing, what I observed was that I rushed through the work, I wanted to finish it in one sitting.
We should be patient, I can’t overemphasise this. One should be thorough, that’s what Stavros says.
AN EYE FOR DETAIL
Simi has had an interest in fine art right from a very young age, being his brother I can attest to that. I recollect that before we were teenagers our dad enrolled us (my elder brother inclusive) with an artist who lived not far from the house. Simi has ever since nurtured his talent for drawing. As I write this piece, Simi is working on another portrait, I ask him, ‘why are you not using charcoal pencil for this work’ he replies, ‘the skin’. The reference portrait is light, he continues, ‘If you use a charcoal pencil, you would spoil it’. Simi goes around his drawings meticulously. From the process of selecting the pencils, to sharpening them. He sharpens them in a way that the led is two centimetres long. who sharpens pencils that way?
I ask him if he sees himself drawing hyperrealist art, ‘it depends, I could, I don’t see myself as someone that will be stuck doing one kind of art’. One thing that is striking about Simi’s drawing is his attention to details, so I ask him if drawing taught him about the importance of tiny details. He says, ‘I guess, in the sense that when you pay attention to details, it is more like tiny, tiny fragments or bits of a large picture. When you are now done with the larger work, you would now see the effect of all the tiny bits’.
It’s just like what the Jethro character in the animation ‘Prince of Egypt’ said in a song, ‘A single thread in a tapestry, though its colour brightly shine, can never see its purpose in the pattern of the grand design’. The essence of tiny bits is crucial to the grand plan.
PASSION
I’ve known Dipo Jegede for over a decade, we attended the same high school. I was in the arts class while he was in the sciences. I never knew Dipo had a flair for arts. Not until I saw some of his artworks on Instagram, they were pretty decent drawings. when this article was still all thoughts, I placed a call to Dipo and we had a conversation about the article. He said it would make sense.
I asked Dipo when did he first notice he could draw, he says, ‘I used to doodle and sketch in my notebooks as far back as I can remember myself growing up…’ The conversation about whether artists are born or made is for another day. one thing I find common with artists i’ve known is that they always had interest in art from an early age. Dipo continues, ‘at some point, I copied drawings from supa strikas and other fascinating comics… I wasn’t good though, I just loved the process and outcome’.
I asked Dipo what is his most preferred medium to create art, ‘I love Graphite and Charcoal… they’ve always been my favourite… and they work together’ This was surprising to me because my favourite work of his is this water-colour painting of Denola Grey. Dipo is a multi-faceted artist.
Dipo admits that those early drawings weren’t that good but that didn’t stop him pursuing fine arts. Dipo tells me, ‘However, after a life changing event in 2015, I decided to get serious with chasing that part of me and actually learning to draw. So I downloaded tons of books and videos to start with’.
Dipo tells me he is passionate about art, ‘I am absolutely very passionate about art. For me, it’s not just about creating a piece but the process of creating. It’s a form of meditation for me because I get to focus on one thing while shutting every other out’. He says, ‘I’ve had to study art extensively, just because of my love for it. I try to understand the history and mindset of artists from the past, it helps the creative process’. He tells me one final thing, ‘when you dive deep into the core of the creative process of a piece of art, you open up portions of your mind you never knew existed within you’.
IMPROVISATION
Art is a broad field. Even narrowing down to fine art, fine art is broad. I recently learnt about macabre art, it is dark art. There is a market for it. There are people whom gruesome artworks appeal to. don’t ask me why, I just know that. Just like my brother, I have always loved art. one of my earliest memory of art is the less than five year old me drawing hippos in the sand. Those were fun times.
As an artist, experimentation is common, artists like to try new things, push themselves to the limit. They don’t break. That’s how groundbreaking works sometimes are created.
How the work above came about, if I can remember clearly, it was in Babcock University. It was the year 2018, second semester, four hundred level. That year I just had this urge, a rush to create art. I had bought art supplies, I bought a white pencil, but it wasn’t working for the purpose I bought it for. I didn’t know how to use it. I had just watched Kubo and the two strings, an animation. I wanted to create an image that had features of Kubo’s mom and also features of Shen, a character from Mulan, another animation. I got to work, I haven’t done such before, but I began to sketch away, first using charcoal pencils, then the white pencil came in handy as well as my kneaded eraser and voilà this image was created. The whole process was impromptu. Improvisation takes you out of your comfort zone, it makes you do things you never imagined you could do.
A SENSE OF ADVENTURE
‘Ni putas, ni santas. Sólo mujeres’ that’s a spanish phrase which when translated into English means ‘Not sluts, not saints, just women’. During this year’s International Women’s day, a lot of Rume’s pieces resonated with a lot of people that day, they made rounds on Instagram and Twitter. There’s a particular work by her which entails a group of women clustered below, then the phrase ‘Not sluts, Not saints, just women’ is written above. It was all over the place that day.
I had a chat with Rume recently, like most artists, they started art at a young age but Rume says, when I asked her when it first occured to her that she was creative, she says, ‘I think it was when I realized art was no longer a hobby. Every time i’m doing research for a new piece, i’m being deliberate…knowing that everything I do is either me honing my craft, doing a job. I don’t know if that makes sense. But yeah, the fact that everything I do art wise is now deliberate and not just a game. So even if i’m winging it, it’s for a purpose. I think that’s what made me realize.’
I asked Rume if she does art with a message, she says, ‘Yes and no, not every piece I make has a meaning, a lot of peices are actually me just winging it. Some do have a certain driving message I want to pass across, yes’.
Rume mostly draws female figures, at least from the works she posts. They are predominately female figures. She uses colours and lines brilliantly, just look at the ‘no mirrors left piece’. It makes her kind of digital art stand out from the pack.
Does Rume consider her work feminist art, she says, ‘As a black woman, I represent in equal capacity, two of the greatest minorities in the world. And as a feminist in a predominantly patriarchal society, I see representation of women through my art not only an issue of preference, but in fact, an obligation. My art is an ode to women; their sensuality and incredible strength, in every capacity I can present that.’
Finally I ask her if her art inspires a sense of adventure, she says, ‘More than an adventure, it gives me a sense of purpose. I started art at a very dark time in my life and any time someone brings up how much my art helped them in some way, it makes it all worth it. The adventure probably comes in when I’m teetering towards the execution of a concept, not knowing if you’d do good or completely screw it up. It’s pretty fun’. She laughs.
Art is a beautiful thing. It makes you develop qualities without even knowing it. It was fun talking with these artists for this piece. I learnt a thing or two, which is the point of the article. I hope you learnt a thing or two. Thanks for reading this far.
You can get in touch with the artists on Instagram
- STAVROS DAMOS @stavros_damos.
- SIMI ALUKO @simialuko
- DIPO JEGEDE @boffinjegz
- TOBI ALUKO @Oluwatobi.xl
- OHIMOR RUME @yinkore_
