A little background story: the second half of last month, my best friend Gina went to Australia and she told me that she toured the local cemetery and found it quite beautiful. Then I thought back to all those times I've taken outfit pictures in cemeteries - like here and here - and how I've never taken a picture in the cemetery in Jakarta. The irony is, I actually have the right to be in a cemetery here, not like in Germany where I knew nobody who was buried where I took my pictures. I guess nobody uses the cemetery in Indonesia as backdrop ever! Maybe most of us feel like it would be disrespectful to the buried corpses plus our cemeteries are strictly graveyards with no mausoleums or fancy gates or any such things. We're running out of places to bury people in already, let alone to build majestic fortresses or edifices in graveyards. By the way, this is what muslim graveyards look like in my country. Pretty simple, right? In Saudi Arabia, they don't even write the names in the tomb stones and flatten the ground so you won't know which way the head is - unless you're muslim then you'd know where it would be facing. But, that whole thing being said, I did take pictures in this cemetery after all. I feel like it's less disrespectful when that's not your main goal and you don't take pictures among the graves.
Old muslim shirt (as we call it out here) + pashmina // Batik Keris wrap skirt // thrifted sandals // photos by Akita
On this seemingly foggy morning, our family went to visit our mother at the cemetery. Hi, Mom! This was the Sunday after the 8th anniversary of her death. When I woke up that morning, the sun shone very intensely but the sky changed so rapidly and before long it was raining hard. Then it stopped for a bit and started again shortly after. That went on and on for hours until we managed to steal a few minutes to visit her grave. Funnily enough, it didn't rain a single drop all the while we sat down and said our prayers for her, took these pictures and drove round and round until we got to our lunch destination. Ah, God likes to mess with us sometimes. There are two things I'd like to note on this outfit: one, this isn't the correct way to wear a hijab, it's just a quick throw of shawls or pashmina to mildly cover the head; and two, this isn't what I normally wear to visit Mom's grave. I usually just wear a casual getup. But this is what I wore for the prayer circle event the previous night and thought I'd show you guys. Also, this is a preview of how I will dress after I get married - in case you don't know what I'm talking about, read this post.
Howdie, art fans! Are you ready for this month's Illustrators Arise? Well, let's get started! In commemoration of eco-month, I thought I'd invite the most eco-friendly artist I've stumbled upon, Teagan White. To be honest, I don't know how I found her works since I've followed her for several years now, probably through deviantART as is with most illustrators with me. But I know what got me interested at first was her children's illustration - you know how I am with children's illustration - but it's her style from the other end of the spectrum that really grips me. Originally from Chicago, now Teagan lives in Minnesota where she spends her free time roaming around the nature and embracing its beauty every chance she got. Please welcome Teagan White!
Hi, Teagan! Let’s start with what inspired you to become an illustrator? Has it always been what you’ve wanted to do?
I didn’t always want to be an illustrator specifically, but I wanted to be an artist or some type of creative as far back as I can remember! I just never thought of it as a realistic career path until I learned about graphic design in high school, and then I set my sights on becoming a designer. It wasn’t until my first year at MCAD that I realized that graphic design wasn’t drawing-focused enough for me, and that I actually enjoyed fine art classes the most, so at first I sort of settled on illustration as a middle ground between graphic design and fine art before actually finding my own style and voice as specifically an illustrator.
I see you went to Minneapolis College of Art & Design. What are the pros and cons of going to an art school according to you? Would you recommend people going to one?
Not all art schools are created equal, and I definitely recommend going to one with top credentials if you’re going to take the art school path — look to the types of schools that illustrators you look up to attended as a guide. That said, I don’t necessarily recommend going to art school at all. I loved my time at MCAD and it taught me a wide range of skills that I might not have learned on my own (for example, I may never have developed a children’s illustration style if I didn’t take a class specialized in that), and gave me some insight into the career options available to me. However, art school never taught me things like how to draw, or how to be creative and driven or the details of life as a freelance artist; these are things that it’s sort of up to you to teach yourself if you have the passion to do it, and you can find all the resources you need to do so outside the context of an art school.
Other pros would be becoming part of a local community of creative people, resources available (especially if you’re interested in printmaking or something equipment-dependent), learning a diverse range of skills that you might not choose to pursue independently, learning to work very hard all the time and never sleep, being immersed in a creatively rich environment, and having opportunities constantly thrown your way. Cons might be the absolutely unforgivably insane cost of tuition, tendency for classes to focus on narrow divisions of the industry (art schools seem stuck in the world of editorial illustration and I dunno why?), lack of coaching in practical business matters, and being disappointed if earning a degree does not necessarily lead to career opportunities or the quality of work required to be successful in the field.
What kind of materials do you usually work with?
My children’s illustration is done in watercolor or sometimes gouache on 300 lb Fabriano hot press paper, with minor edits in Photoshop. My other work varies in medium — gallery work is usually done all in gouache in full-color, but my jobs are usually drawn in black & white in gouache, graphite, or ink, then scanned, and I add color and texture in Photoshop.
You seem to be very environmentally friendly and I know you’re a vegan. When did you start becoming one and why? Was it hard at first?
My road to veganism was long, and started when I was a 14 year old goth kid who wanted to offend extended family at holiday functions by saying I was vegetarian and couldn’t eat anything they were serving. I’ve been meatless since, but my reasons grew gradually less absurd and more ethical as time went on, and I went vegan off and on throughout college, finally going fully vegan maybe a year and a half or so ago, extending veganism to all my other buying choices beyond food. Giving up most animal products wasn’t at all hard for me because for the most part I’ve always found them to be gross, but feta and goat cheese, the last things I ever gave up, were hard to let go since they often took center stage in anything I cooked — getting over them has just been a matter of stepping up my cooking with even better flavors. Everything is easier when you realize that it’s a process; it takes a while for your palette to change so that you no longer crave dairy milk or whatever, and it also takes time to learn about all the substitutes and alternatives that are available to you, but once you have been doing it for a while everything becomes second nature. I don’t feel like I’m missing out on any food anymore, and the hardest part of being vegan nowadays is feeling inconvenient when other people are cooking or making plans to eat out. But for me, it’s well worth the inconvenience, because I know that I could never look a cow in the eyes and believe I am entitled to take her milk or enjoy a beautiful fall day knowing that I’m not doing my part to minimize the deterioration of the earth or cook non-vegan/highly processed food for a loved one knowing the terrifying cancer-causing crap it more than likely contains. Maybe I overthink things, but my general rule is to try to live my life in a way that causes as little harm as possible to other living things, and when you start thinking about it that touches SO many different choices we make every day.
Do you also only accept collaborations with eco-friendly brands or companies? If yes, what was your greatest obstacle in this respect?
If that was a strict rule for me I don’t think I’d have much of a career left, but it’s certainly a plus for me when an overtly eco-friendly company contacts me! I guess I sort of judge ethical things on a case-by-case basis. Would I do work for a restaurant that has meat on the menu? Yeah probably. Would I draw a caricature of a pig, to represent pork, for said restaurant? Hell no that’s fucked up! Would I do work for a car company? NOT ANYMORE but I did an ad job for Honda a couple years back before I really thought about how weird it was that I am completely ethically opposed to driving yet I was drawing things to sell cars to other people, and I really regret doing that now — the feeling it gives me to think about that job is sort of like a compass guiding the choices I make about who to work with in the future. I should also mention that it’s very much a privilege to be able to turn down work based on ethics, and know that I can still get by as a freelance illustrator, so while I hope to be able to have better and better standards as time goes on, I don’t want to get greedy about it. “Least harm” is what I try to keep in mind.
You have two very contradicting styles, I would say. How did they come about and how do you feel about them/how do you see them?
My children’s illustration style came about much later than my other work, as a result of some class assignments at MCAD. I think these two different styles developed for me because they are expressive of two different aspects of my personality, or two different ways I see the world. When I go out exploring in nature, I am drawn to everything that is intertwined and codependent and growing and dying, lush and stark, tragic and beautiful, and I want to express all of this in a detailed and somewhat realistic way in my drawings. But there is a secondary experience of my surroundings that is more playful — getting yelled at by woodpeckers, collecting little nature artifacts, making bridges from sticks to navigate across swampy areas of ground, every awkward thing you’ve ever watched a deer do. I tend to interpret things like this comically and that didn’t feel at home with my main illustration style, but it still needed an outlet, so I sort of accidentally found it an outlet in my silly awkward critter characters. I like that they are very separate styles, but both born from being delighted by what nature has to offer, and that no aspect of my personality is repressed. It’s a dichotomy that I really enjoy — like there are collections of contradictions all over my apartment, like little porcelain deer figurines sitting on a shelf beside a beaver skull; the cute and the morbid come together unexpectedly, just because I think they are both totally lovely.
I have seen a lot of your works printed into fabrics, which all look very enticing and perfect to be made into clothing in my eyes. Do you ever think about working with a fashion label in the future? If yes, any dream label comes to mind?
I don’t know anything about fashion labels!!! I wear thrift store clothes and band tees, haha. But something like that would be insanely fun to work on.
Aside from natural illustrations, body ink seems to be another passion of yours. Have you ever made a tattoo design for someone else? Or did you ever personally ink someone?
I’m pretty new to tattoos, I got my first one started less than 6 months ago actually! But I’ve designed a handful of tattoos in the past, for friends and for clients. I don’t really have room in my schedule to take those types of jobs anymore, unfortunately.
What does the future look like for Teagan White?
This past year has been completely insane and unpredictable, both life-wise and career-wise, so I feel at a loss to make any assumptions about the future at the moment! Mostly I want to focus on keeping things settled enough to sit down and make lots and lots and lots of art. I have two new children’s books in the works, a couple of shows at Gallery Nucleus that I’m super excited about, and some awesome workshops with my friends at Light Grey Art Lab. My biggest long-term goal right now is to start releasing screen printed editions in the future, and possibly get into the poster art scene, which is slightly motivated by some of the ethical concerns of working in advertising that I expressed earlier, and partly because I think it would free me up to make work for clients that I am more conceptually invested in, which I think is so important for continuing to grow as an artist. But I have no idea yet if or how that direction will work out! Wish me luck!
Do you have any advice for someone who’s just started out in this field? (including me!)
I think my best advice is to think critically about how your work can be useful in the industry, and make sure that you’re demonstrating all of those ways (or the ways that are important to you) in your portfolio. Part of the reason I’ve been able to get by as a freelance illustrator is that I have two totally different styles, so I basically receive the work of two illustrators. That, and my work has useful applications — children’s illustration for books, greeting cards, and so forth, and then my non-children’s work is mainly (often boring) detailed illustrations and a LOT of typography, because there is a demand for both of those things. In my spare time I draw a lot of dead animals and more conceptual pieces, which is great for gallery work and prints, but I don’t expect to get calls from clients asking me to draw that type of thing, because there isn’t really a market for it. Try to think like an art director and imagine your work applied to real world things, and cater to that! If, for example, your work would function best on clothing or textiles, and you are interested in designing that type of thing, then you should know how to make patterns and should demonstrate it in your portfolio. Your passion as an artist can take you a long way, but you need to be practical as a business person to really shape your talents into a potential career.
A little note from me
There are too many things to admire from Teagan, I feel. First, her passionate drive to be more ethical, which is obviously noble, even in this world where ethics aren't of the highest rank in business. Second, her ability to create two immaculate styles from opposite ends of the spectrum with such precision and perfection with the same hand. If you're involved in illustration, you will know that creating one style is quite difficult and takes a long process, let alone two. There are people who think children's illustration is "the easy way out" - a false perception, of course, but nonetheless popular - and I'm happy to say people like Teagan prove how wrong that is. The most admirable trait is still with whichever style she draws, with typography or illustration, she shows her love for nature and how she respects it.
Today I want to start off the post with a somewhat gloomy topic (such fitting photograpy, don't you think?) because it's something I don't want to put aside again and it's very important to me. Let's start! Today is the 8th anniversary of my mother's death. Can you believe it? Eight years have I continued living without the person that I love the most in the world. Without the person I am the carbon copy of. Without the one soulmate who understands me within and without. She is the strongest woman I have ever known, the most respectable colleague and the most loveable friend and family. She was a working woman but, respectively, never forced me to be one too and never judged me for whatever dream I had. She taught me to be a confident, independent woman. Despite her job, she never neglected her family and friends. In fact, she was the first to know, to help and to care for everyone in her life, she makes time for them instead of squeezing them into her busy schedule. She was a wonder woman. Some people don't want to be like their mothers, I want to be like mine so badly. Good thing God gave me a head start with my looks and my attitude. You can read more about the event of her death here. Warning: it sent my friends to tears!
Now, on a cheerier note, since I've officially become a working woman when I finished my first ever commission last week, I thought I'd dress up as such. This was actually the outfit I wore when my Stepmom and I attempted to go to IFW for the second time but gave up halfway because the line was super long and we weren't all that determined to go anyway. If you happen to catch me working at my desk these days, chances are I'd be wearing a shabby nightgown, with bed hair and a fan in hand to fight off the heat instead of a chic work wear such as this. But, you know, fake it 'til you make it, they say. You would probably think me an editor in chief of some local fashion magazine in this getup now, wouldn't you? I say local because there's no way I can compare to someone like Miranda Priestly or Anna Wintour - let's face it! I can never stop being grateful having lived in this era in humanity history. Now women roam the cities, working like the men - inequality of payment aside - and providing for themselves and their families. On that note, if you want me to do a commission for you - I would recommend it as a wedding gift/invitation or children's book - you can check out all the info here.
P.S: Tomorrow's apparently International Women's Day so this post seems fitting. Cheers to all the women in the world!
Since the last couple years, Indonesia's fashion industry has been growing quite rapidly. When before you couldn't find enough decent local brands, now fashion labels are popping up like mushrooms on a rainy day. Suddenly, Indonesia has its own fashion week, where they introduce local designers to the public. I think the first one was probably held just last year. This year's slogan is the best: Fashionable people, Sustainable planet. It introduces a lot of ethically made sartorial products as well as local fashion labels, one of which happens to belong to my Stepmom's friend. The brand is called Kana. As someone who has seen the behind the scenes of this brand up close, I can assure you that it is completely handmade, using sustainable, natural materials and hand-painted patterns. It is super high quality so if you want to put your money where it's worth it, this would be the place. Aside from them, I've seen some really awesome and familiar brands too, such as drsv, Portee Goods, and mks. I think supporting local brands is another way to be more fashionable with a conscience. First, you would know their workers are paid accordingly. Second, even if you're not too sure about their materials, you would at least be reducing gas emission in the delivery. I've also found some amazing brands that I'd never delved into and ran into a middle school friend - who turned out to have a label exhibiting at the event. It was so much fun to get to know some really cool, local labels and talented, passionate people.
ModCloth dress via Delightfully Tacky // Madonna hairband // Céline purse // vintage loafers // hand-me-down tights // outfit photos by Uli
You probably know that I've never been to Fashion Week before so I didn't really know what I should wear to attend one. However, about a week ago, I received this dress I purchased from Elizabeth in the mail. I missed out on a real jackpot of a sale from her closet once before and I was determined not to miss another gold mine of her items. Also, you probably notice this dress from this wish list I made several months back. What are the chances that I could actually get my hands on it! It also becomes the first mustard coloured dress I've ever owned! This is just too special. So much so that I actually owe Firu money for getting me this dress. Let me tell you, I was actually a bit worried that it wasn't going to fit me at all a few minutes after I sent her over the money. But my mind was so set on the dress that I was willing to wait several months while I try to lose weight to be able to wear it. It turns out this was meant to be! It fit me perfectly! The added bonus: the back side of this dress is so darling. I don't think I've ever seen it before and I'm absolutely in love. Thank you, Elizabeth, for letting me have this dress. You can see one of the ways she styled it sweetly below ;)
Learning batik! If you didn't know what batik is, it's basically Indonesian traditional wax-resist dyeing technique, generally used on textiles and mostly used for clothing. It dates back to the colonial times and probably even before that. I've just recently learnt about its history and I was left completely in awe. My stepmom's friend Aunt Rini, who happens to be the founder of Kanagoods, is happy to teach me how to do this technique. I've just started the lesson and I'm super excited!
Currently reading...
Griffith REVIEW 40: Women & Power. My sister was actually the one who bought it but she hasn't read it yet and I don't know why. It's a compilation of essays, memoirs, fiction and reportages around the topic of feminism. I'm very much impressed how it's talking a lot about the second wave of feminism, which concerns not only the developed countries but also the struggling women of the third world. It's given me a real good understanding of what feminism is all about without being too oppressive or aggressive toward men. Power comes in all shapes and sizes. Definitely recommended!
Currently watching...
四月は君の嘘 (Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso/April is Your Lie). Such a heartbreaking anime about four friends: one is a piano prodigy who was pressured in the music industry by his dead mom, one is a talented violinist who suffers from a terminal illness, one is a young girl who's been in love with the prodigy since they were little but couldn't understand music and one is a young boy who plays soccer and is very popular among girls. This story has a similar feel with with Hachimitsu to Clover (Honey and Clover) but in an innocent, childish way. Also, I adore the artwork very much! My feelings for Tsubaki is too great, why is Kousei such an idiot?
Listening to...
Goose House. If you read my birthday list accomplishment from last year, you would have heard of them. I just recently found out that they also make original songs and even released albums too! They were actually the reason I started watching Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso and Gin no Saji - both of which I enjoy immensely! My most favourite songs from them are 光るなら(Hikaru Nara) and オトノナルホウへ→(Oto no Naru Hou e→), which just happens to be the theme songs for both these animes.
Thinking about...
Going professional with my art. This month I got my first ever commission from a complete stranger, it was very flattering and, no doubt, I worked my ass off for it. I made it official that I'm opening a commission just a few days ago. If you're interested in it, please let me know. I'm very excited about this, about getting my art recognised. I'm also no longer accepting art trades, at least not until my commissions and current art trades are finished.
Art trade with Karla Alcazar // first stage of drying up some dip-dyed batik by Kanagoods // celebrating Gina's graduation with my fantastic soulmates // outfit for my first ever job interview! // book of the month // learning batik for the first time // trying my hand at dip-dyeing // this is how an expert does batik // Indonesian Fashion Week with Uli
