Becoming an Artist in Today's Generation
There is no right definition for Art. But one thing is for sure, art is everywhere. It has been here even before history was written. Art is composed of many human activities such as drawing, film, literature, music, painting, sculpture, and more.
The arts made before were based on culture, religion and it even involves political aspects. It can be stiff, straight to the point, and represents life. But today, art is freer from the traditions made. Its importance had doubled through the years. It has been more relevant and essential, because it gives a certain hope and future for individuals, especially for artists.
Artists are freer to create, imagine, and make their dreams into works of art. They are freer to express and let people know.
“Just create! No matter where you are because as you go along, you will improve.”
“Just create…" says Irah Acerdano, a 22-year-old, Agricultural Technology student at the University of the Philippines. She is a business owner (“Art.By.Ru”), a freelance graphic designer, video editor, and part-time manga workshop tutor.
IG Art Account: @Art.By.Ru
Change is certainly happening. The use of technology has influenced arts. It leads artists to innovations and inventions. In line with that, opportunities are more available but at the same time, it doesn’t easily come.
For Irah, she seeks out opportunities by letting her friends know what she does, “Since they know that I do this when there is a need that arises, they come to me and ask”. Posting her works and progress on social media helps make people know. “I also do collaborations”, she added. This is needed to improve and let your network grow.
The Artworld is big, there are a lot of ideas from different people, and from the internet. It may be hard for people to truly find out what works for them. For Irah, she navigates the art world by, "First I have to know who I am. I have to know what I want and what I don’t want, what works for me and what doesn’t work for me, and then that's how I filter. As I scroll or see other artists, I reflect what works for me”.
To be inspired, she gets ideas from her favorite creatives. In art, she follows Abbey Sy, a lettering enthusiast on Instagram. In photography and filmmaking, she follows Mango Street on YouTube. But besides well-known names, in her personal life, she has her mentors, leaders, and friends, who guide her in work and leads her in making decisions.
“It's good to have a community of friends with the same works like graphic designers, or videographers, it enables us to share what we do, we get to ask questions, what do you think will work, and since we are friends, we even help each other in life”, she said.
As an artist working with multiple mediums or styles, Irah sees herself creating art through handwriting or calligraphy. She mentioned that it is something that she really enjoys since she was a kid, especially during her elementary or high school years. Growing up, she inadvertently finds herself taking notes and writing them diligently. According to her, if we were to take a look at her notes, it would be something “immaculate.”
Following the current art world trends means understanding the market and this is a part that artists should always consider in their work. They need to be updated about the current art trends and apply such movements to their work as a response to those trends. For Irah, regardless of any medium, she always goes for the minimalist style and design which is appropriate in our generation since most millennials prefer less nowadays.
As we all know, it’s hard to choose one thing to pursue in life especially when you are torn between passion vs practicality. In Irah’s case, despite being an Agricultural Technology student and a business owner, it did not become a hindrance for her to create more. She still managed to pursue arts on the side because for her, she relishes creating arts and she unwinds through making arts. Her perspective from creating art shows that she is really passionate about what she is doing.
“Creating art is how I express myself, how I process things, and it’s just natural for me to do it. In that case, I was able to enjoy making art as well as come up with ideas to express what I want to say to the world.”
She also shared her thoughts about people who want to choose a track related to art but are also concerned about practicality.
“I don’t think you’re an artist because you went to school and studied art, but you’re an artist because you are creating art. Just like me, even though I have a different program and being questioned by people about it. I realized that it’s not really about being in this school, in this program, being this or that, but it is really because you’re an artist and you’re creating art.”
Irah’s perspective from art before is just something that she enjoys doing, but now it became her peace and rest from other things. She also explained how it helped her understand that art is not just beautiful but the whole process of it including the brainstorming and drafting stage, it’s different and it’s really the effort of creating. That there’s a lot of stages in creating art and she finds the process more beautiful than the art itself.
The definition of success is different for each and every one of us. Well, success is contentment and enjoying the improvement in her case. As she said,
“Not from me yet I agree that success is a state of the heart, it’s not really getting those followers, those compliments or being priced at this, I don’t think that’s success because you can be all of that, you can even already be excellent in your craft but then you realize that your heart is not yet contented. Therefore, I really think that success is when you find yourself at peace with where you are and at the same time content with what you have, but also you still enjoy improving yourself, I think that’s success.”
Becoming an artist in today’s generation requires a better understanding of ourselves and our purpose. May it be to spread your message to the world, to test people’s imagination, or just simply to express yourself in your work. No matter what your goal is as an aspiring artist, know that we are artists not only of our works but also of our life. Keep on creating!
Irah Acerdano's works:
