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

Young Ick, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Have you been able to earn a full-time living from your creative work? If so, can you walk us through your journey and how you made it happen? Was it like that from day one? If not, what were some of the major steps and milestones and do you think you could have sped up the process somehow knowing what you know now?

I am a firm believer that the notion of a “starving artist” is a myth. Yes, it is part of the process with any journey of entrepreneurship across all industries. However, the starving artist is not the end result, but rather a part of the process leading to a goal. This notion was created by artists ourselves from self-sabotaging our self-worth and capabilties. It can sound corny or cheesy, but it speaks a lot truth when we say, “we become what we believe.”

The truth about entrepreneurship with creative work is that roughly 75% of life revolves around business, and only 25% of life is invested in our craft. That is just the way it is. If that’s not for you, that’s okay. This does not mean you’re any less worthy or capable, but the lifestyle just is not compatible with you.

In my humble opinion, the way I see it, it is 100% investment in your craft and another 300% investment in the business side of things. I know that math does not add up, but that is the amount of work that will be demanded from entrepreneurship. It’s no surprise that the common saying across all entrepreneurs is, “it’s a lot of work”, but it is also another common denominator that all entrepreneurs feel that the extreme love of what we do is worth the sacrifices.

The moment we say things like:

“I am an introvert, so I cannot build networks properly,” we’re boxing ourselves into not networking much.

“I couldn’t set such an outrageous price for my clients. No one would buy my work,” we’re setting ourselves up for underpricing ourselves.

For some artists, making their creative endeavours a profession can take the fun and love out of it, and that is totally valid. It depends on the person, and I really hope that artists do not beat themselves up if they realize the art as a profession is not as meaningful. It really has nothing to do with your self-worth or value as an artist. You are still an artist if you love what you do, and you are good at it, but choose not to make it a profession.

For others, they are compatible with this lifestyle, but their self-doubt amplifies this self-sabotaging voice that keeps them at the level of what they believe about themselves.

To clearly break it down, yes, you will probably start out working a second job, or a 9 to 5, or a job non-related to your field of pursuit. But this is part of the dues you will have to pay in order to earn the dream life you’ve wanted so badly.

The key that helped me immensely during the initial stages of preparing for entrepreneurship was
sharpening my fundamentals. The fundamentals are emphasized for a reason. They make your life much easier. It can be boring and monotonous to repetitively drill fundamentals. But the rewards are astronomically greater than the sacrifices. Every legend in every field all say, “sharpen your fundamentals”. The fundamentals is what will really take the quality of your work to another level. Quality = value and value = demand. It is not about giving into trends, or becoming slave to validation from people in order to make money. It is about how to leverage your strengths into creating value for consumers.

With that too, you will need to know the language of “elevator-pitching” your art to “dummies”, who do not have a clue about how the artistic field works. You have to take charge in setting the tone, the standards by educating those that you are sharing your art with. You could take an insane piece of work, and not communicate it properly to end up having no clients take interest in your work.

You have to get rid of the notion that artistic entrepreneurship only involves learning about improving art. It really requires you to learn so many other skills.

In my case, I started with working full-time as a line cook. I let go of social life, because my day to day schedule would be a repetition of work, art, sleep, work, art, sleep. Social life can come in later on and there will be room for that afterwards. It can get very lonely during the process, but it is a price worth paying to live the dream life. Eventually, when my fundamentals were solid, I could then take the leap of faith in going full-time with my muralism.

I would also advise seeking mentors. Seek the greats, earn their respect, and don’t get offended by their blunt feedback, because they will help you a lot.

Something that helped me a lot too was, I always reminded myself that the hardships of starting entrepreneurship was going to build me as person and contribute to my maturity towards adulthood. Emotional maturity, having a thick skin, having an open-mind: these are some of the things that the difficulties of entrepreneurship helped me learn.

What I share can come off as harsh for some, and that’s okay. But, I do not like to sugarcoat things. For those, who want it badly, you will surely endure through these difficult challenges, because the love of what you do, will easily keep you going.

Young Ick, 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 am a muralist specializing in photo-realism. What sets me apart from other mural artists is my attentiveness to the cultural setting of the community receiving the mural.

I am situated in Canada, where colonization is still very relevant and still has lasting effects of intergenerational trauma that many Canadians still to this day are tone-deaf to due to the dominant colonial mindset. My artistic upbringing involved being present with the experiences of indigenous peoples, and this cultivated my values in restoring confidence in heritage, and decolonization.

Whether it is a mural involving oral-traditions of First Nations, or a mural involving reviving ancient Far East Asian storytelling to revive cultural confidence, my murals accurately and properly get across cultural context. There are deeper nuances, narratives, and topics beyond just representation. These are multi-layered subject that require more than just the duration of a project to fully understand the cultural context. It is even embedded in the way you approach the community or conduct your consultation with the client. There are certain things you do and do not do. It is a process that is built over time, and also built out side of the painting process.

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

In muralism, the most rewarding part is the bridges I create with the community members, as I am painting, and this includes both the clients and the passerby’s .

Community engagement begins with the consultation with the client. As you speak with the client, you can get to learn about the community that they are located in, belong to, identify with, their heritage, and the stories that makes the community what it is today. Giving a voice, particularly to the voiceless, is what my muralism platform is able to do for the community members. Murals spark conversations, and each dialogue brings us one step closer to change.

Also, as you paint, the sheer size and colours of a mural draw a lot of positivity. People will stop and stare. Children are the clearest examples of this. I got to experience this the most in my most memorable project, which was at our local inner city help centre. The mural site was ridden with opioid poisoning, police sweeps (displacement of encampments), and a lot of negative energy. I chose to paint portraits of 4 community members, who have passed away and left behind memories of love and selflessness, and I painted them with vibrant magenta, cyan, and yellow backgrounds. I also specifically chose reference photos of them with candid smiles. Prior to painting them, I did not know too much about each of the individuals, but as I was painting, so many from the houseless community stopped by to bring up their memories they shared with each of the 4 people. It made the process more and more emotional for me as I progressed through the project. It also opened the doors for me to able to chat about some of the experiences that were going on in the streets. We often do not hear the voices and stories directly from the houseless community. The positivity of the mural set the grounds for people to feel comfortable talking and listening. This is the best part about my life and job as a mural artist.

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

I always say this to every client with or without a background in the creatives.

My job as the mural artist is very much like that of a pilot.
You never tell a pilot how to fly their plane. You just sit back relax, enjoy the flight, and let them bring you safely to your destination.

We are the experts in our field, not the client.

Mural artists are not just creatives, who want to present our work on a wall, but we are painters with knowledge in interior/exterior design, graphic design, concept design. We know what works and what doesn’t work. We know what complements and what does not complement.
We know the best look and vibe for your space. We know what will also spark dialogue, so that people will talk about the mural, bringing the clients more foot traffic and more business.
We know what is logistically feasible and what is not.

The knowledge and execution for what’s best for our clients is our expertise, not the clients’.

We are not commercial painters. Commercial painters are greatly skilled too and there’s nothing wrong with being a commercial painter. However, mural artists are not commercial painters.

This is a boundary I set with every client.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.busyrawk.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/busyrawk/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzbBAAVF0Zc4aro992VjTdQ
• Other: https://www.mixcloud.com/busyrawk/uploads/

Image Credits
1st image Jordon Hon 2nd image I took it myself