We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Kaleb Duggan. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Kaleb below.
Kaleb, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. It’s always helpful to hear about times when someone’s had to take a risk – how did they think through the decision, why did they take the risk, and what ended up happening. We’d love to hear about a risk you’ve taken.
Art was always that thing that nagged at me in the back of my head. I wasn’t really successful in my art classes growing up. None of the projects that were presented to the class really inspired me so most everything I handed in wasn’t something I was necessarily excited about. I kind of kept my weird doodles to myself and random scraps of paper. All of this early “rejection” put it in my mind that I wasn’t really cut out for it, even though it was something I loved in my own way. I went to school for graphic design and was yet again met with disdain for my style and visions. I fell in line, so to speak, to pass my classes and graduated with my degree. I then went into a job where I could loosely use my Adobe skills to make a decent living and called that good enough. I didn’t have a lot of stability throughout my life for various reasons so this job meant consistency and safety, two very foreign things at the time. Over the years I grew to absolutely despise the work I was doing. It wasn’t exciting, it was tedious, and it forced me to be someone I wasn’t at all. An entire decade had passed me by, it felt like a blur. Just the same safe routine day in and day out. In the background of all of that I always kept a sketchbook. Time to time I’d fill the pages with the cartoony goofy characters I loved to draw. Eventually I met another artist and the topic of illustration came up. Begrudgingly I admitted to my secret stash of drawings and showed them off. They couldn’t believe I was hiding it, encouraging me to pursue something and anything with my art. For some reason that was all I needed, that spark that started it all. I made some social media profiles and relentlessly created. Opportunities just started falling out of the woodwork and I grabbed every single one I could catch. I was tired of hiding, it was time to give it my all. My practice grew and grew until I eventually could see myself living off of it. With the help of my partner I formulated my escape plan from the mundane work I had been doing for so long. The day I went into my bosses office to quit I felt like I was out of my body. I couldn’t stop the voices in my head from screaming that this was a terrible idea and I’m going to end up failing. I silenced my internal monologue just long enough to get the words out “I’m quitting”. It was terrifying and to this day one of the scariest things I’ve ever pushed myself to do. Now, I’m sitting towards the end of my second year as a full time artist. Without taking what to me was the ultimate risk I wouldn’t be what I had always dreamed of being. Every single day I am slapped in the face with gratitude.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
My work is defined by my colorful and whimsical characters and adaptations of everyday things. I use that as a blanket to cover whatever project or creative outlet I want to explore. The bulk of my work is wooden silhouette cutouts that I paint with bright acrylics. The motivation to explore this medium came from my initial journey with stickers. Everything started with homemade stickers that I would pass around to friends and businesses. It gave me an easy way to spread my art and they were convenient to always have on me. Eventually I got to thinking, how do I make this something larger? Something someone would want to hang on their wall. Cutting my designs out of wood in a larger format felt like a very natural progression. At this point I’ve made hundreds of these cutouts and sell them in galleries, shops, and at markets. I also do illustrations and use those in my design work. I mainly work with small businesses and musicians. I’ve designed logos, show posters, album covers and really anything for print/digital media. I feel my style is really what draws people in to commission me for work. Most of my projects are initiated with either extremely limited guidelines or most of the time no guidelines at all. I truly appreciate the freedom that my current work gives me, it’s one of the most important aspects of my career.
Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?
I’d say as a work from home artist you have to show resilience daily. The resilience to start on something you’re terrified to start on. The resilience to walk past the couch and not crash when you’re running on fumes. The resilience to trust yourself and follow through with ideas. It’s hard showing up for your art everyday but that’s what it can take to get to where you want to be. I may actually be bit of a workaholic. I do something relating to my practice every day and a lot of the time all day. I make sacrifices constantly so I can put more effort into something that’s going to help me advance as an artist. That’s not to say you don’t need some work life balance and it’s best to understand that before you find out the hard way. Hitting the wall when you’re already neck deep in commissions and deadlines is truly the worst. A lot of this is a mental game you’re playing with yourself and most of the time by yourself. I see the creative part in us as our inner child. You can’t ask too much of them because they’re going to rebel and make it incredibly difficult to work with. It’s best to nurture that part of you with things that bring them out. Be playful, reinvestigate old toys you used to love, watch some cartoons, just anything to dull the constant pressure of everyday life. It can be tough to be perfect with a full time creative life and you don’t have to be, just be consistent.
Is there mission driving your creative journey?
As far as goals are concerned I’d say they change frequently. It all depends on what I’m excited about and what opportunities I see around myself. I try to stay adaptable and realistic with my expectations. It’s incredibly hard and rare to “blow up” overnight. I strive to stay local and in my own world. Social media is constantly changing the game to reach fame and it’s impossible to keep up with. Going out and getting associated with your local art scene can be the best thing for natural growth in the art world. Find something close to you and aim there. That can be galleries, markets, or open submission art shows. Help grow your local community and it will be endlessly rewarding.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.toastytuna.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/toasty.tuna/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N36_d-tHOQk&t=2s
Image Credits
Artist Portrait – Colby Sexton
Art Photos – Myself