The Art is in the details

At my core, I am an Artist. Whether I'm making a meal, painting a picture, doing make-up or working on digital art within the context of TWO TOQUES, I'm putting into practice the fundamentals of art with each medium. I don't even know how to extract that element from myself. It's partly a learned practice, but also an inherent one.

I come from a gene pool of creativity on both sides of my family, so it feels very natural for me to move around within our world with an artistic lens. Some of the how and the why have come from theory and training without question, and my ability to retain that information and weave it into my thought process has come quickly. Does that mean I create masterpieces every time? Definitely not, but learning through creation is just how I do everything. Some of the skills I've adapted with time, age, and practice are listening and empathizing with people who may not find these artistic things as simple as I do.

Let's take an example from some of my past work. A project I was tasked with was to make a series of posts for social media that would encompass the company's core agenda for health through Chinese Medicine while not selling any of its products and keeping the message fun-hearted and on-brand. I took to learning about the purpose behind Chinese proverbs, and in doing so, I learned that some of the proverbs are meant to be tongue-in-cheek, and how the comedy was built into the phrase. So, I scoured through hundreds of phrases and pulled out 8 for this series. Next, I pulled together images and textures to enhance the context of each phrase. This is how you create continuity. Repetition is a key component of every piece of art. Common threads can come from many factors, but when I design, my best work comes out when the underpinnings of the project are repeated elements like theme, colour, texture and shapes.

These four were my favorite of the eight I did for this project.

Now that I've collected enough common threads using images, colour, theme and factoring in all the client's project requirements, I present the series in full. I give the client a sense of the beginning, middle and end of the series and reiterate their requirements so we can discuss the overall project during the review process. I also highlight the artistic elements they may not have even considered, so they can know how art and the fundamentals of art theory are woven through all aspects of their project.

Ultimately, my goal is to produce a high-quality composition incorporating the fundamentals of art and its principles into my client's projects, which runs consistent threads of their brand throughout the piece. In this way, they feel listened to when they see the work manifest as a representation of who they are and hopefully empowered for the next time they approach me or another company for design work. Equipping clients with the fundamentals of art helps to ensure that my work stands out, raises the bar and sets you apart.

Melle C