We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Cole Newman a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Cole, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Can you talk to us about a project that’s meant a lot to you?
I think this entire career over the last 3 years has been extremely meaningful but the biggest thing is the yearly milestones. Exactly one year from the first time I ever painted (February 22nd 2020) I had my first art show, two years after my first painting i had my first private live performance which is probably the second most meaningful milestone of my career where i live painted a massive 20ft painting as a commission. and finally this February where I announced my first ever Los Angeles art show which took place in early June. this entire process has been amazing and so fulfilling. the second I started this career I knew “this is what I need to be doing for the rest of my life”.
Cole, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
I am an artist and content creator, In high school around 6 years ago I started hand painting water bottles and selling them to my friends and by middle of college scaled up my business to hand painting over 10,000 cups. then I got extremely bored and quit the business and just focused on school. during covid I randomly did a painting from a technique I saw online and posted it on social media. it did very well and I decided to myself “ I should keep doing this” and sure enough after 3 years I’ve been able to scale my career up to over 2.5 million followers. I think the thing that sets me apart from other people is my personality. I love to teach and my goal is to inspire others and share my process. I never want to keep or make art seem unattainable. the goal is for more people to create because I think the more creativity we have in this world the more it races the tide for new creatives. I don’t want to become the next great artist I want to inspire them to start painting or creating in general. I think the most proud moment I had was when a kid and his mom came into my studio and I was able to give him an experience where I told him to do whatever he wants in there throw paint at the wall? go for it put it in a squirt gun and shoot it at a canvas go for it if I was given that opportunity as a kid to do something like that with no restrictions I would have decided immediately that I would do nothing else of my life except for that. so my goal is to be able to provide that in any capacity to people. another thing that was extremely fulfilling was the second week I started posting social media content I was getting bombarded with huge amounts of hate and was about to actually quit but I received an email from this man from Australia who works with special needs kids and told me he used my technique which I had posted a tutorial of with his students who all have special needs and they were able to create art that they otherwise wouldn’t be able to. he sent me pictures and it blew me away how I could connect with someone across the world.
What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?
I think the best way that Society can help to support creatives and Artist in General is to try and create themselves. what I mean by that is so many people say oh I’m not creative I couldn’t do what you do and I say that is completely wrong. I think that everyone has the capacity to create an add value to this world but some people are afraid to do so. I think that people who are seeking full-time work as a creative will be more valued if people who don’t working that space have at least tried their hand in it. there are so many people out there that get taken advantage of when it comes to creative work and for a potential client to do some themselves will make people realize how much value they bring
Is there mission driving your creative journey?
honestly the end game and NorthStar of my content is for me to have fun. I have always wanted to help people and enjoy doing so and if I can Inspire someone to create or make them happy enjoying my video that’s fun for me. me going to the studio and slinging pain at the wall and laughing and having a great time while having a camera recording is fun everything I do is the pursuit of that childlike Wonder we all had as a kid. my goal is to be 80 and someone asked me how did you know when you were an adult and my response would be I’ll let you know when I feel that or something of that nature
Contact Info:
- Website: colescolor.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/colescolor/?hl=en
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Colescolor/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCM7yrBeqwSUA6znUlrelLlw
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@colescolor
Image Credits
https://www.instagram.com/alexendersimoes/ https://www.instagram.com/iamnicknguyen/