I’m very excited to finally announce and introduce the new zero2illo guest writer - please give a warm welcome to Ciaee.
I’ve been a big fan of Ciaee’s beautiful work ever since we connected through this blog and Twitter. So, when I heard that she was about to go back to art school for the second time, I asked her if she would be open to writing a series of blog posts on zero2illo to share what art school is really like these days, what is being taught (from both the artistic and business side of illustration) and how useful it is to have formal training over being self taught.
Luckily, she agreed and so without further delay - let’s meet Ciaee…
Tell us about yourself…where did you grow up, when did you first discover your talent for art? Does it run in the family?
I grew up in Subang Jaya and it’s pretty nice; a normal residential town in Selangor, Malaysia. When did I first discover my talent for art? Honestly, I do not think I have a talent for art. I started drawing in elementary school when Sailormoon became really popular. Never having seen anything like it before, and I was completely blown away by these magical anime girls, and the art style. I mean, big eyes, colorful flowing hair, pretty costumes and sparkles - to me back then, that was like, wow. My sister and I would draw (copy) Sailormoon art all the time. I recently found a stash of some of them and they were actually quite horrifying. And we thought we were so talented too! I guess some blind faith in yourself helps at times.
Other than my sister, I don’t know of any other artists in my family. My parents were quite apprehensive about our choice of field because artists in my country are generally thought of as people who are less intelligent or as people who couldn’t/didn’t do well in school. My parents are probably still concerned about our future as artists, but they’re being really great about it anyway. They’re incredibly supportive of what we do and we’re very grateful for that.
Where did you first study art?
I first studied art at The One Academy, an art and design school in my country. After graduating from high school, I sold popcorn at the cinemas and was completely at a loss of what to do next. I thought of taking a hotel management course, although I did not know what it was about and I wasn’t even really interested in it.
I finally enrolled in art school because I didn’t like the idea of having to study (text) and taking exam papers. And I did enjoy drawing, so it made some sense to go to art school. Let’s just say I went to art school without knowing what I was getting myself into, but I realized later that this is really what I want to do forever.
You mostly work digitally, has this always been the case or do you also like to work using traditional media too? Which do you prefer?
At art school, we were taught to use pencils, watercolor, acrylic paint, gouache and markers. I was aware of digital art but I did not know anything about the digital painting process. Back then I was a little scared of the whole idea of painting digitally because I did not know where to begin. But after being introduced to Painter and Photoshop (I work mostly in Photoshop these days) and getting used to painting with them, I’m actually feeling a little scared now to go back to traditional.
There’s so much more room for experimentation digitally and there’s no need to worry about messing up a piece because it’s so easy to undo something, to delete layers or to make adjustments. It’s also really cost effective too.
Right now, I’m definitely more comfortable working digitally but I hate the idea of being limited to any tool or medium, so I’m hoping that I’ll be able to get some traditional painting and drawing done when I get back to art school. I’m really nervous about going back to real paint, but I’ll pull through somehow!
What are you hoping to learn in art school that will help you fulfill your artistic ambitions? What made you want to go back to study art/illustration again and why the US?
I discovered many things about myself after working professionally for a while. I did some drawings and paintings for role-playing game books, and I realized two things. One was that I wasn’t good enough. I was really struggling with some of these jobs and I felt that I did not get as much as I could have out of my time at The One Academy.
The One Academy probably wasn’t the best of art schools, but I really wasn’t a very hardworking student at all. I wasted a lot of time just idling about and I rarely ever took my assignments seriously. I’ve actually had a few instructors sit me down and talk to me about my ‘potential’ and ‘lack of effort’. I failed some classes and I took 4 years to complete a 3-year course. I only felt really bad about wasting my parents’ money on graduation day. I think that was the day that I decided to take art more seriously. When I went up the stage to get my certificate, the paper didn’t weigh anything and when my parents told me that they were proud of me, I just wanted to cry. I’ve never felt so ashamed.
The second thing I realized through my work experience was that I don’t enjoy painting something that was almost entirely visualized by another person. I really need to be expressing my own emotions and thoughts to be happy about my work.
I want to go back to art school and take my classes and assignments really seriously this time. The Academy of Art University accepted me into their MFA program and waived me out of 5 required classes, and that’s great because I’ll have more freedom to take classes that I’m interested in! Also, San Francisco is an awesome place. I really like that the people here seem to come from all over the world.
What are you hoping to learn in art school that will help you fulfill your artistic ambitions?
I am very attracted to the idea of telling stories through text and still images, because there is room left for the reader’s own imagination and interpretation. It is important to me that each experience is personal. For the past year, I’ve been working on paintings that are more personal to me than before. However, I find that I still lack the knowledge and tools to tell a story effectively through sequential images. Since my selected area of emphasis is ‘Graphic Novel’, my classes should help me out with my storytelling abilities. I hope to take some Children’s Book Illustration classes too.
Look out for the first post of this new series in March.
Ciaee’s website
Ciaee’s Blog
Ciaee’s Store
Ciaee on Twitter
Ciaee on LinkedIn
Ciaee on Deviant Art
Ciaee on CGHUB
