We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Alejandra Gracia a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Alejandra, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. One of the toughest things about progressing in your creative career is that there are almost always unexpected problems that come up – problems that you often can’t read about in advance, can’t prepare for, etc. Have you had such and experience and if so, can you tell us the story of one of those unexpected problems you’ve encountered?

I graduated with an Equestrian Studies Degree and a minor in painting. I was hoping to pursue either one of the industries, but mostly leaning toward the Equestrian Industry. But, things were not exactly coming together for me with horses. I decided to create my own art business. I was striving to become an artist without having to do commissions because I had never painted anything that wasn’t assigned for homework. I found out how hard being creative is, I am currently still struggling with creativity and figuring out what it is that I want to paint. But, in the meanwhile, since I have so many works of art already made. I still needed to figure out a way to earn money. I found out about Printify and how I can use it to sell my artwork digitally. I thought it was perfect for many reasons, including I didn’t have to worry about the manufacturing or shipping, and I could keep my original works of art. It turned out to not be as easy as it sounded. Understanding the website was stressful, as well as editing the photos so they are good quality. Connecting the website to Etsy and Shopify was also a whole other stressful event. Once I uploaded some art, I had to now understand marketing, so I could make a sale. In the end, I ended up having to become an art influencer on social media platforms, which I honestly didn’t want to do, but it’s the easiest way to promote art. I chose to major in my two passions, horses and art, but graduating made me realize that what I needed to major in was probably business and marketing. So I could turn my passions into a reality. I have realized that talent alone is not enough, and although It sounds so obvious, I truly had to live through it to understand what that meant. Truth be told, I am applying to schools to pursue the horse dream again, after this unsuccessful year of pursuing art. I hope to be able to make a career out of both my passions and not have to leave one as a hobby. As you can probably tell, I am a lost alumna, still unsure of what I want to do with my life.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

My passion for art has been a lifelong pursuit, but it was during my formative years that I discovered my love for portraiture. What makes my artwork distinct is not only my style but also the medium I choose to work with. I primarily utilize dur-a-lar paper, a material that may not be as commonly used in the art world. For some reason, my art always looks best on dur-a-lar. It can look very cool, particularly the clear dur-a-lar, which adds transparency and can be layered.

While I explore various subjects in my art, I am particularly drawn to portraiture and animalism. I strive to capture emotion, especially when it comes to animals. I am intrigued by apes and their resemblance to human emotions and mannerisms. I hold special pride in the way I chose colour. I am fascinated with colour theory, and I tend to choose contrasting colours, as well as challenge myself to choose colours with a limited colour pallet. I think it makes my work more interesting when I limit the amount of colours I paint with, as well as not overthink it and act on instinct when painting. This is why I am a fast painter, I don’t like to think about every detail too much, which allows my consciousness to take over, and therefore I am more connected to the creative side of my brain.

Can you share your view on NFTs? (Note: this is for education/entertainment purposes only, readers should not construe this as advice)

I do not like them. I do enjoy digital art, but most NFTs have a style that I don’t find interesting. I prefer physical art over digital, but of course, I appreciate many forms of digital art just as much as I do with physical works. NFT’s are just another form to make money at the end of the day. I think they have taken the romance out of art and the art industry, and turned it into a bank. I usually tend to favour both sides, but when it comes to NFT’s I’m more skeptical. Betting that a work of art will be worth millions also seems too risky, and I am not one to gamble. I think there is beauty in how the industry already works, the way art collectors move within the business, scouting and visiting galleries. I much prefer going shopping in stores than shopping online, for example.

Are there any books, videos or other content that you feel have meaningfully impacted your thinking?

A philosophy that I carry with me, which I didn’t exactly take from anywhere specifically, it’s more of an observation I have made from listening to art professors and also judging works of art during critiques. When I teach art I always encourage the students to not be afraid to not know the design elements because I feel like the more people guide themselves with the elements of design, the less creative the work will look. There is a beauty that comes from not being educated traditionally, the works tend to come out looking a lot more expressive and interesting than when the amateur student tries to fit their work with the rules of design.

Here are a few that I can think of that have inspired me.

Books
– steal like an artist
– keep going
– show your work
– seeing is forgetting, the name of the thing one sees
– the story of art without men
– women in art
– the seven lamps of architecture

Movies
– The Danish Girl
– Midnight in Paris
– Mona Lisa smile
– Frida

Contact Info:

• Website: graciart.squarespace.com
• Instagram: alegraciart, alegraciav, digital_prints_graciart
• Linkedin: Ale Gracia
• Other: VSCO: alegraciav

Image Credits
Alejandra Gracia