We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Ariana Cimino. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Ariana below.
Hi Ariana , thanks for joining us today. When did you first know you wanted to pursue a creative/artistic path professionally?
I always loved to draw and paint as a child. I would doodle on any paper that was in front of me. Even with school work and my teachers would either praise my drawings or tell me to focus on my actual school work. In middle school, I began to draw frequently and the art I was making reflected how I was feeling. As I got older people began to ask me “what do you want to be when you grow up?” or “what do you want to study in college?” I always got nervous because I had no idea what I wanted to do. It wasn’t until my junior year of high school when I started taking my art more seriously. My family encouraged me to take my hobby of making art into something further. I quickly developed a strong portfolio of artwork to submit to art schools. When I was accepted into my first choice, The School of Visual Arts in Manhattan, I was intimidated at first. It was a lot for me to be in an atmosphere with so many talented individuals, but I was excited to start a new journey and actually get to focus and improve my artistic and creative skills. What really sparked my interest in art was Bob Ross, the late American painter who made instructional painting videos. In 2018, my dad had brought up Bob Ross and mentioned that my late grandmother used to love watching him on television and followed along with the episodes. I’ve never really watched an episode until that day. Soon after that I gathered a bunch of oil paints and supplies that I needed and followed along to Bob Ross tutorials myself. I even would just watch the episodes while I ate a meal or got ready for the day. Listening and watching Bob Ross and seeing how much he loved doing what he did and his appreciation for the little things in life really inspired me to pursue art professionally. I’ve had many people tell me it would be a difficult career path with low income and it would be a big mistake. While it is challenging and discouraging sometimes, especially after recently graduating, for me, doing what makes me happy especially in a career aspect is the most important thing.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
I’m an illustrator based in Staten Island, New York. I graduated in May 2023 from The School of Visual Arts in Manhattan. I have experience making promotional signs for businesses as well as art for special occasions. Displaying my art across social media platforms has resulted in me being commissioned to make pet portraits and even people portraits. When I first started college the art I was making was more serious and realistic. As I learned more and exposed myself to other artists, I realized that my art didn’t have to be realistic and it could be more playful. While I do like making realistic people and pet portraits, the art I love making the most are colorful, loose and creative illustrations. I work in a variety of traditional mediums, primarily gouache. My love for animals, especially dogs, is prominent in most of my art work. The world is full of so many dark and cruel things and I want my art to make people laugh, smile and put them in a good mood. I try to incorporate my child self through the expressive marks I make and the playful colors I use. My biggest dream is to illustrate/ make children’s books. While still focusing on my illustration work on the side, I currently work part time as an after school counselor for elementary school children. I showed the kids the art I’ve made and they were so excited and surprised at the work I’ve done. Seeing their reactions to my work and the praise and encouragement they give me, inspires me to keep doing what I’m doing and to not give up on this creative career path I’ve chosen.
What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?
The most rewarding aspect of being an artist to me is to be recognized and appreciated for the work I create. There are a couple of experiences that come to mind, for example when my art was displayed on Link screens around NYC this past June. Getting to see my art in the real world on a big scale was a proud moment for me. Another memorable moment was when I went on a cruise this past summer. I decided to bring my sketchbook and drawing supplies on board. I would wake up early and draw on the lido deck. As I would draw, many people would come up to me and praise my art. Someone suggested that I draw the cruise director and I thought it was a great idea. I spent the last few days on the cruise spending some hours in the morning drawing the cruise director. More and more people came up to me and would check back to see if I was still drawing and to see the progress I made. When I showed the cruise director the drawing he was shocked and speechless. Seeing his reaction and how grateful he was, was an unforgettable moment that brought me so much happiness. This experience was another proud moment for me and I felt appreciated for the work I made.
How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?
Through my years in art school I noticed almost all of my peers worked digitally on their iPads or computers while I would bring traditional mediums with me to class everyday. I’ve always shied away from using technology to make my art because I was so comfortable using physical materials. I tried drawing digitally but I didn’t enjoy it and everything I drew didn’t have the same quality as the art I made traditionally. In my junior year I was in a class where I was the only one who worked with traditional mediums. The professor and my peers would often point out I didn’t work digitally and I would feel intimidated and felt at a disadvantage. After talking to my other professors who work traditionally as well, they encouraged me to keep using the mediums I enjoy but to use digital methods to my advantage. I invested in a flatbed scanner instead of taking photos of my art and used adobe photoshop to adjust the levels appropriately to make the digital version look closer to the original painting/ drawing. I also learned ways to adjust the colors and make changes digitally so I wouldn’t have to risk messing up the original. I recently started using Procreate to make some refinements and minor changes to paintings. I wish I had learned these skills earlier. Learning to not be afraid of change and using digital means has helped me tremendously and ultimately has made me a better artist.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.arianaciminoart.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/arianaciminoart/