Guest Blog by China Chukwu.
China works as a Paid Social Assistant at Dentsu X and is also a (fantastic) illustrator and digital artist.
It’s World Creativity Day, and as a creative person, I’d like to share just a little bit about my creative journey which involves using myself as creative inspiration. I’ve been drawing myself ever since I could remember.
Secondary school was the first time in my life where I got to experiment with art. My classroom was filled with art made by my fellow students; colourful paintings covered every inch of wall, inspiring sculptures stood proudly on podiums, and intricate textiles dangled from anywhere they could. This room gave me a sense of peaceful creativity whenever I stepped into it. Needless to say, it was by far my favourite subject during school.
The art form I gravitated towards the most was illustration. I tried every other type of art, but I always did best with good old pen and paper. Even in my other lessons, I was always doodling in the margins of my exercise books or the back pages of my school diary. The freedom to bring to life anything in my mind kept me from the boredom of my less creative subjects, not naming any names (maths and geography!).
Even in art lessons, I began to struggle with having to imitate other artist’s styles for homework, and trying to keep up with filling up a huge sketchbook for coursework when I chose it as a GCSE and then at A-Level.
But you’d be surprised to hear that I eventually switched out my Art A-Level to focus on other subjects. I still got to be quite creative, especially with my photography course, though it was never quite the same as art. Even then, I often had to use myself to stand in for photo shoots when no one was around. No one knows my face more than I do!
Over time, with all the art that I have managed to create, my self-portraits stand out to me the most. I used to be much more self-conscious about my looks.
Portrait of myself dated 2020.
But the more I used my own face as a reference to create something, the more I noticed the little details of what makes faces so interesting (if I do say so myself!).
I can now look back on my self-portraits and see the interesting ways I’ve changed over the years-
Portrait dated May 2023.
Through my ever-changing hairstyles, and even my art style itself. Some of my art looks like it’s been drawn by very different people. But there’s also nothing wrong with trying something completely new each time you try to be creative.
I don’t draw as often these days, but when I do, I usually create more enjoyable works of art. Whether that’s a quick sketch, or a detailed study that takes hours and hours. Now that I no longer need to create art for grades, I’m inspired by the people around me, including myself. I’ve learnt to be creative in my own way!