My Artistic Journey

Since this is a design blog, it’s only natural that one of my entries is about my love of art and how I ended up in graphic design. I begin my journey as a child and end with me today: a graphic design student.

When I was about three and a half years old, I came to Canada from El Salvador with my mom so I could meet my father for the first time. My mom had to go to school to acquaint herself with the English language and much to my demise, I had to go to daycare. My screams of anguish for having to be in this horrible place away from my mom were only soothed when I got to paint or create things with my hands. I painted my ‘masterpieces’ and my parents proudly hung them in the basement. I guess to show me their support but not to ruin the décor in the rest of the house. According to them I never painted stick people like most three year olds so they figured I was ‘good’ on some level.

Whether they thought I was good at art or not, they knew I loved it and that’s what mattered to them. I have always questioned them why they didn’t enroll me in art classes- but the only explanation I get now is that they wanted me to take my own course in my interests. And I did.

As I grew I was always fascinated with books because I love to read of course, but also because I knew that someone had taken the time to create that and someone had drawn the images that I spent hours admiring and trying to draw as exact as I could and tried to redraw in my own way. I spent hours watching ‘Art Attack’ (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nDPoAKWVoFk) and “Pappyland’ (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qjr46fxAQXc) because I wanted to do what they did. I wanted to draw. I wanted to create beautiful things out of paper maché and I wanted my parents to please sit still for hours while I tried to draw them. I was intrigued by shapes, and colours and was always very aware of what a difference contrast or just blending one more colour made.

By the time I was in the third grade I had established myself as the school artist. I was picked by teachers to participate in random little competitions and had my art entered in contests and took part in a large mural that was displayed at the Butterfly Conservatory in Niagara Falls. That project killed me inside because I was given an image to draw: howling wolves. I had to paint it as true to the original picture as I could and the original image was so dreary and grey looking with no colour. I suppose that was a lesson to be learned in the difference between a big A artist and a little A artist in that I had to please someone else with my work rather than my own eye.

In highschool when most people are discovering themselves and trying to figure out what their interests are to choose electives, I already knew I wanted art and graphic design classes through my four years in highschool. I loved art class because it was a stress reliever. Just putting on some music while I filled an empty canvas, so to speak, sparked my imagination. 

Graphic design was a little bit different for me because I had always envisioned something in my mind and was able to recreate it on paper. Designing on computers was different because it took more effort to create. I found it enjoyable though because I could play with design and start over immediately if I wanted to. With colour illustration I couldn’t make a mistake even though pencil art was more forgiving. As I painted to please others when I was younger, I was now designing to please my teacher. It was a new concept for me and I enjoyed the challenge. I learned that coming from a fine arts background didn’t have to hinder my design ability. If anything, it helped and gave me a greater satisfaction to be able to merge the two skills in order to design in a unique way. I found satisfaction in my designs and apparently they pleased my teachers too. It wasn’t work (in this case homework) to me because I loved what I did and that’s what mattered to me.

The last year of highschool came and I had to make decisions on where my post secondary education would lead me and what career I wanted to pursue. My dad had a major role in affecting the decision I made. I decided I would become a teacher because I had always had a great respect for teachers. I thought that my dad would approve of this more than a career in the art field. I went to the University of Waterloo and studied for a year but it just wasn’t for me. Just like when I was younger, what really satisfied me were hands on activities and the theoretical learning in university didn’t satisfy me.

I made the hard decision of telling my dad I was going to leave university and surprisingly he gave me his blessing to let me do what I wanted. After all, it’s my career he told me. I applied for the Design and Communications Fundamentals program to get my portfolio together so that I would feel prepared for my graphic design interview. I applied to the Graphic Design program the following year and set my heart on this goal of getting into the program. Hard work on portfolio and my wishing paid off because I was told at my interview that I would definitely be getting a confirmation letter.

I’m looking forward to seeing where this program leads me. I am in second year now and although it gets harder every semester, I wouldn’t have it any other way. I enjoy the challenge and now I am applying design elements to my illustrations. The artist in me is becoming or has become a designer and the designer in me is becoming a better fine artist.