Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Jacksun. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Jacksun, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today How did you learn to do what you do? Knowing what you know now, what could you have done to speed up your learning process? What skills do you think were most essential? What obstacles stood in the way of learning more?
I learned to do mural work mainly through teaching myself and doing my own research. Then I began honing my skills based on what I learned. My creative roots are in illustration and small scale painting. I’ve taken art classes here and there growing up, but large scale painting was something I pretty much taught myself.
It helps that we live in an age of infinite information at our fingertips. When I first decided that murals were something I really wanted to do, I started to consuming as much media on the topic as possible.
I followed along with the journeys of famous muralists. I also did the best I could to connect with successful local muralists in Florida when I was living there at the time. I wanted to see how they worked, what tools they used, and what they believed they needed to carry out their best work.
Alongside my research in what it took to become a large scale painter, I had to practice a lot! I would always ask myself; how could I take my illustrations and paintings and multiple their size five, ten, or a even hundred times.
I had to get used to using new media like large brushes and spray paint. As well as being comfortable painting in less comfortable spaces. It’s a lot different when you’re painting outside in the hot sun or in cold weather 25 feet up on a ladder compared to in a studio.
Something I feel like that would’ve speed up my process if I knew earlier, was the importance of tools in art.
You have to invest in the proper things that you need to paint big in a reasonable amount of time. There’s really no going around that, that’s why mural work is so expensive.
Do not limit yourself from tools that might make you better at your craft. They are worth the money and if you’re willing to put the work in, it will pay you back more than you can imagine.
I used to think that I could make do with the bare minimum. And the truth is that I can, but it makes the process a lot harder. When you first starting to do creative projects that require a lot of resources you’re gonna have to invest a lot of your time. You’re gonna have to do a lot of stuff for free.
Because you need examples of the work that you can do. I started painting my friends houses, and small business.
I needed a portfolio that proved I could do the work I said I could.
It is essential to do things like this just as much as it is essential to hone your skills. You can know in your heart that you are more than capable of something, but if you don’t have proof of it, then it is no good to other people. I’m not saying that you need to work for free forever or undersell yourself. But one of the biggest obstacles in my experience was unrealistic expectations. It’s OK to have lofty expectations, but you have to understand that it takes work and dedication to get to that point. That is something that I had to fight a lot with, and that I continue to fight a lot with this day..
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
I am an artist, and the main service I provide through my art is murals. I still make drawings. I still make paintings. I still make prints. Technically these are services I do provide, but when it comes to meeting clients and collectors. I sell murals more than anything.
People ask for a lot of different things when they want a mural from me. Some people want a piece of art that expresses the message of whatever their business is. Some people just want a piece of art that beautifies their home or property. Some people want to mix of both. Some people want me to just express my creativity without their input at all.
It really depends on who I’m working for, and that varies vastly from person to person. What puts me apart from a commercial painter is that I’m an artist at heart. My work is very stylized and even though I work with businesses, I do not paint signs and advertisements. I may implement aspects of the business into my work but my expressive style is always going to show through what I paint. When I make something I want my art to have its own voice and energy. I want people to look at a mural and know that it is my work.
I take lots of pride in my ability to maintain my own expressive style while still implementing aspects of what my clients might want. I believe the greater art projects get, the more of a collaboration they become. When you take art outside of the realm of personal expression, it becomes a project that multiple people work on even if you’re the only one physically painting.
Murals are public art, and public art is a very powerful thing. It is a permanent installation that is constantly expressing itself outwardly to the people of a community. They are not limited to a gallery or art show setting. They become a landmark for culture, expression, and community.
I want people to know that the reason I chose this route instead of traditional gallery work is because I believe art should exist in more places. I’m not saying that I never put my work in galleries because I do. But I see the world is a place that begs to be beautiful. There should be more color and more expression on every day or mundane things.
Art is intrinsically human, so it should exist alongside humanity. It should be on every street corner, in every shop, on every house, and every building.
Murals amplify the creativity and artistic nature of our humanity, so the more that there are, the more that people are inspired to create.
Expressive communities are more healthy and more connected, so we need more expressive infrastructure. It only helps us move in a positive direction.
So when people ask me, what do I do? My most simple answer is I try to make the world more beautiful. And I try to exemplify beauty where it is normally overlooked.
In your view, what can society to do to best support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem?
I think in order for a society to support artists, people need to understand the value and history of art. We live in such a fast paced flashy society. Everything that surrounds us is trying desperately to sell itself.
Our identities, success, and self worth are tied to material and status. Which is rightfully so to fair degree. But we often don’t need as much as we think we do. We often overlook our desire to understand the world around us, and appreciate the artistic nature of the universe.
We are told from a young age that things like that are not valuable. We are told that artists live hard lives, and that life is better lived simply and safely.
The truth is, at least in my experience, that it isn’t. The appreciation of beauty and art makes life easier and less stressful.
The realization that satisfaction comes from knowing how to truly behold beauty is liberating.
Before we had language we had symbols. Art and symbolism was the first form of communication. Our Neolithic ancestors used images and art to pass down knowledge and history.
We would have nothing we have today without art. We would not be as technologically advanced as we are today without art.
When you learn the roots of why people were even drawing and painting in the first place, you learn the first human language.
So I come back to my point about the importance of valuing art and its history.
I’m afraid we don’t value it as much as we used to simply because we have forgotten our roots. We’ve forgotten the nature of our unity through expression and creativity. We’ve been taught to suppress our innate artistic identities to feed modern mechanical and materialistic lifestyles.
What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?
To me the most rewarding thing about being an artist is how it makes me connect with people. Creativity inspires inspiration between individuals. When I see other artists freely express themselves it inspires me to continue moving forward with what I love.
But that inspiration is not solely exclusive between artists. I am fully aware that my work touches people that don’t identify as creatives. Just as I often look up to people who aren’t artists to inspire my own work.
That’s the beauty of being a creative, the only boundaries are the ones I put on myself.
My identity is up to me to define. The energy I exude into the world is completely in my own hands. That freedom is incomparable to any type of value, it’s liberating.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.jacksunart.com/
- Instagram: jaccksuun