We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Johnfredrick Daniels. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Johnfredrick below.
Johnfredrick , looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Earning a full time living from one’s creative career can be incredibly difficult. Have you been able to do so and if so, can you share some of the key parts of your journey and any important advice or lessons that might help creatives who haven’t been able to yet?
From day one when I started painting, I didn’t think of it as an income.I thought about just getting up every morning.The same you would as a job and working from either 8 to 5 or 9 to 6 . What I wanted to do is just get into a better mental space, I didn’t really think of it as a business Just thought about it as just doing the work then. Once I did, I needed to find an amount that I could sell these for where it would be manageable to sell them and actually create an income base to pay for my bills. So I started to calculate how much my bills were. How much I would need for the end of the month?And then, which bills were due mid month, and which bills were due at the end of the beginning of the month. I wish I would have started at a younger age. You know, because the Head Start would have got me further by now. And I would have been a little bit more eager to jump in at a younger age and a lot more energetic. I think when it comes to starting your own business, you don’t really wanna speed up the process, you wanna take it step-by-step to know what you’re doing, repetition is key, And learn the things that you need So that later on, you don’t have to re-evaluate, so if you just start off taking the less amount that you can, that can keep you living and keep you taking care of your family, and bills, then you just continue to add-on, and I think, with experience comes a higher pay and greater opportunities. But it starts with just taking your time. And I remember when I first started out, I never used a projector or any other tools except for grids, and I will take the time for hours, And grid it out, and then after I did a grid. I would paint each block one by one, I think that was therapeutic. I think a lot of artists jump in, and the first thing they do is wanna speed up the process to go to a to a projector but what happens is, you’re skipping the process of actually taking the time to learn each square, And to learn perspective. So scaling up is hard, but anyone can just project and trace the image, But actually taking the time to learn your perspective, and how if you don’t have that projector how big that image is going to be is important.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.
I actually got into being a artist by a failed suicide attempt. As a veteran, I was going through therapy and counseling, and they recommended that I did something that would be fun for me, And I thought about doing art, and so I began a journey of healing and self evaluating, working on the things mentally, that was taking me away from myself and my family and as I began to do art, I began to feel a bit better, and then art became a business.
As this journey began, I started painting on paper and poster board, then I upgraded to canvases and walls and vehicles. I’ve painted a motorcycle and school bus, I’ve painted tons of walls. I’ve did a lot of donation paintings for people that have passed away or lost loved ones.I paint on jackets, I paint on clothes. I do man caves, bars, outside and inside.
One of the biggest obstacles that I see with doing art is trying to bring someone else’s vision to life. So a lot of things I’m solving is just trying to actually capture the image that is in someone’s mind. But the cool thing is, once you do figure that out, and it’s on that wall or on that poster or on that painting. And they love it, it’s, it’s one of thee greatest feelings of accomplishment ever. What sets me apart from others? Is that I’ve dealt with a lot of loss? A lot of lost loved ones and deaths in my family that were vital to my mental health. So I think with these losses, I came a little more empathetic, and with that seeing someone going through a loss or grieving, I kind of reach out to them and ask them, is it? Okay, if I can paint their family member, child mother, fathe, whoever it is that, you know, sometimes it’s even pets. You know, pets are part of the family now. So what I learned is that sometimes people are not going to tell you how they’re actually dealing with things or what they’re going through.And it’s up to us as humans to kind of reach out and see what’s wrong and make these people speak up, Be open enough to break the ice and have those convos, Someone has to open that door so people can feel comfortable, and tell what we could do to try to help them.
I am most proud of I think is 2 murals. The mural for “Alix Rice” in N Tonawnada at the skate park and the mural for the Jefferson tops victims here in Buffalo, both of these were important to these communities. And being able to do something for free that shows that we see, and we acknowledge the pain that is in this community and trying to bring light or a smile or bring someone out of the darkness. Knowing that if you lost a loved one, how it would affect you and being able to capture these moments and work with the community to bring these paintings to life, these murals is are the most fulfilling things that I’ve done IN LIFE . So I’m mostly proud of the murals that I’ve done for the community. I didn’t make any money but put a smile on a whole community’s face.
I want my fans to know that I am a father that I am a veteran that I am a loving black man.That has went through so much turmoil that I had to find something to do, and art saved me. I also want them to know that I wanna be the best artist of this generation.Not just in one medium, but doing murals and doing portraits and painting on anything. I wanna be the artist that is alive to get his flowers. I wanna be the artist that people turn to when they have questions that they can’t answer, trouble on their mind, And I can come up with a answer to Solve that problem, and bring that art to life. I also want them to know that I’m here. I am here as much as I can be. Whether it’s taking a phone call, stepping away to respond to a message, or being there for someone that’s not in a good headspace, or not feeling right that I know what it feels like and a lot of times people don’t understand that their peers are the people that we need to reach to, you might not have to go to psychiatrists or therapists. You will be able to talk to someone that’s been through the same thing, to see how they made it out of that and I think once you know that, I think I can save a whole bunch of people.
What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?
The most rewarding thing about being an artist is when a project is completed.And that consumer or person is just ecstatic, seeing the smile that it brings to their faces, especially on a portrait, is like one of the most fulfilling things.In the world
We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?
So when I first started doing this journey, I was posting my pictures. And I remember George Floyd passed away. I got into these groups. “Pain and paint” and also a “Chronic art” page. And I was getting 7 to 10,000 likes for these paintings that I painted, which brought more followers and things to my page. As I got an email, stating that they were able to pay me for my views and things. Soon thereafter, my page got hacked. It was so devastating to lose all my friends and the family members that had passed away. So I just lost out on these things. And so I think rebuilding my page and knowing every friend on there is now an organic supporter of my business. Seeing that, these people are my real friends, real followers, real supporters this is actually my community
Contact Info:
- Website: https://fineartamerica.com/art/johnfredrick
- Instagram: Fredzdaartist
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/1GshRarEDp/
