Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Gabriel Da Silva. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Alright, Gabriel thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights 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 consider myself a self-taught artist, my knowledge about art history and techniques came from reading magazines at the newsstand in my neighborhood (I never bought the magazines, just read them in the place and left), so I had to run straight home and put into practice before I forgot what I just read about anatomy or whatever I’ve read that day. Of course I didn’t remember everything and had to improvise and create my own rules.
Maybe, having gone to an art school would have helped me with the techniques, but I don’t know if it would have helped me with the way of thinking, sometimes art schools have their style and you have to adapt to it, not so attractive to me to be honest.
My interest in art as a form of expression began very early in school with Hiphop culture and graffiti. I am very grateful for that because in graffiti you need to find your own style in order to stand out on the streets.

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

I have always practiced art as a hobby, but I was not sure how this interest could give me practical use in the real world, I did not think it could be a job. At the age of 18, I enrolled to communication school, I found it not very useful and I left before finishing it. after that, I was accepted into a more specialized school focused on advertising where I learned a lot about the world of agencies and how the industry works, while allowing me to continue with my interest in art as an art director in an agency. Now I work as Creative Director in The Community Miami (2024 multicultural agency of the year according to AdAge).
As an artist who works in the advertising industry, I can bring a different perspective to client’s projects. At the same time, those skills in design and advertising are super helpful for my art practice as well, so those two worlds are complementary to me.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

As an artist and creative person, I feel I can express myself with no judgements, I really feel some kind of freedom, art is about feelings, Artists are catalysts of the world’s mood, and they have the job to bring that out and make life worth to live.

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative?

What no one understands in my case, is the amount of hours I can spend working on a project. When I’m flowing with a project, I simply cannot stop I can spend 15 hours straight working on a painting and that is sometimes difficult to make people understand.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://gabrielsilva.art/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/artebiel/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/artebiel/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@Gabriel_Silva_Art
• Other: I also have an e-shop where I offer printed and hand made tshirt: https://artebiel.sellfy.store/