We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Ece Erten. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Ece below.
Ece, appreciate you joining us today. So let’s jump to your mission – what’s the backstory behind how you developed the mission that drives your brand?
With every single image that I produce, I like to have a moment with my subject matter; if I am drawing the coffee cup that I am drinking my morning latte out of, I take my time appreciating how it sits on my desk, its curves, how the shadow kind of falls in a different manner each time etc. etc. I think I would say that is my main goal with my illustrations -to allow the audience to take a moment to appreciate small everyday things.
Ece, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
I was born and raised in a city called Izmir in Turkey and moved to New York just about 3 years ago for my undergrad (shoutout to SVA!) I am currently freelancing as an illustrator, based in NYC. I don’t think that any of my family members nor my friends were shocked to hear that I wanted to actually pursue art as I had always been that one kid in class who would just have her sketchbook out. Drawing and painting have always been my go-to tools to spend time with, hence I chose to major in Illustration. I was always drawn to watercolors and printmaking, allowing me to also dabble in design and type. Filling up empty spaces on any kind of surface with words and images bring me so much joy -why should we leave it blank and white anyways? I like to believe in upmost maximalism and an exaggerated use of color. I genuinely believe that good illustrations used from the textiles we fill our wardrobe and home to the coffee cup we hold on our way to work can help better our spirits and way of living. That’s what I want to achieve. My next passion project is designing and illustrating wine labels!
Oh also, my name is pronounced like “Ae-jae”
What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?
That it is okay if certain images don’t come out perfect in the first go. When I was learning how to paint with watercolors for the first time., I was really struggling. I just could not get the water to paint ratio right, and I could never wait long enough for the paint to dry therefore my paintings would always end up in “disasters“. I had even sworn off using watercolors for a few months! I just couldn’t face making mistakes on paper and not being able to cover or erase it due to the nature of the medium. Funnily enough, as time went on I started to really embrace the freeing nature of watercolors. I realized that making mistakes were not the end of the world -and certain images didn’t need to look “picture perfect” What once was a burden now feels the opposite -I can’t help but feel at peace using them, and the only reason why I came to that realization was because I decided to dig my way through the medium and find a way to use it that sat my mind at ease. Today I do most of my illustrations with watercolors, and I couldn’t be happier with where I am right now (even though I still have a lot to learn!)
We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?
I believe I was a sophomore in high school when I first started on my art account on Instagram. I was talking to my dad trying to decide on usernames and after deciding on “ertenart”, my dad turned to me and said “Listen darling, I don’t want you to worry about the amount of likes you receive or the number of followers you gain and associate your worth or creativity to those numbers. Just post what you create and then the rest will settle on its own -never be discouraged by social media.”
At the time I had not taken him seriously, I had just nodded and said “Okay whatever dad!”
But looking back on it now, I realize that it really helped me with how I have been perceiving my social media journey for years. Every time I try to talk my peers into creating/being more active on their art account (both art and non-art students) I tend to hear phrases like “But what if the account is perceived as ‘lame’?” Or “What if I can’t receive a decent amount of likes?” Etc. Etc. My first advice is always to just post whatever you create -it is as simple as that. I feel like even on social media, we as the consumers, crave authenticity. Therefore not every image or feed has to be curated to the core. Now, don’t get me wrong, I don’t post anything that I am not sure or proud of, but I will both post a finished illustration or random pages from my sketchbook. Your social media should be a reflection of you/your creations, it should not be a reflection of what you think will attract the most amount of likes or followers.
Don’t think too much about it!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://Www.ecerten.com
- Instagram: Ertenart
- Linkedin: Ece Erten
Image Credits
Ece Erten