Today we’d like to introduce you to Chloe Van Vreeswyk.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Chloe. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
I grew up in Oceanside, California. From a very young age, I always remember doing something creative. I was always drawing, sculpting, writing stories or making music. As I got older, my passions became more solidified and I began painting and drawing consistently around the age of 14 when I started to work on developing a specific style (something I’m constantly still working on). My artwork started out very dark, like creepy illustrations and gnarly mutilated looking situations. Alex Pardee was one of my first inspirations as a kid. I struggled really badly with depression growing up, and my art directly reflected that. I was definitely a weird kid, always drawing intense demonic looking little scenes and characters; trying to understand who I was and what that meant in context with those around me, and working that out through visual art without even really realizing it. Once I decided to pursue art in college, everything shifted. Part of that was just me growing up a little bit, but my style has become much lighter in terms of color and theme. I’m also still learning a lot and I’m trying not to limit myself to one thing just yet. I like irony, and try to use a more subtle cynicism now. My captions are a huge part of my work usually. I like to create silly backstories to the characters I create. As of right now, I’ve been dabbling in digital art, making images with Procreate on my iPad. It’s all very new to me still, but I like to believe that my style is somehow visible even though my mediums and themes change constantly.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It definitely has not been easy. I’m a very social person and my biggest struggle so far in my young adult life has been trying to manage how much time I’m putting into my craft and battling the little voice in my head that tells me all my friends are at the bar. Artist guilt is real. I used to be so much more prolific when I was a kid before I had a car. I would literally be stuck at home and I didn’t have a TV in my room, so all I did was paint or play music. I think the biggest obstacle has just been myself; my doubts, my fears, my laziness, my unending ability to find distractions and excuses to do anything but sit down with myself and face a blank canvas or paper. Comparison is also wildly unchill. Social media has helped my work reach people that I might not have without it, but it’s also made me feel so behind where I should be and so unsuccessful. I think also coming to the decision that I actually want to be an artist, and that’s something I have to fully step into. For me, it’s been a massive challenge to remove myself from what’s easy, from what everyone else is doing, from the allure of instant but meaningless gratification, and to try and work on something personal, alone in my room, with my brain and my hands. It used to be so easy, but life gets complicated. Inspiration is not the source of hard work. I recently moved up to LA county, where I don’t know anyone really, mainly to get away from the distractions and focus on my work and my goals. Now that I’m a full-time student pursuing my BFA in Illustration, I’m forced (in a good way) to create and to learn. And I really do love both of those things at the end of the day.
We’d love to hear more about your work and what you are currently focused on. What else should we know?
So I would say in general I’m a visual artist. I’m a painter, and I often use a mix of acrylic and ink. My work is generally very figurative; characters, little scenes, people/creatures doing things in a range of settings. I have a background in fine arts, using anything from graphite, pen and ink, watercolors and gouache, to oils or acrylics. For me, most of my work takes place in the expression, the choice of colors, and of course the captions. This is what led me to pursue illustration. Small narratives or writings accompanying an image, or even in the future, books or animation. Lately, I’ve been dipping my toes in digital art, and thats been my medium of choice lately.
Do you look back particularly fondly on any memories from childhood?
Oooo, this is going to sound so nerdy, but I think my favorite childhood memory is probably going to Comic-con when I was in middle school. It was right when I was just getting introduced to the world of artists. Comic-con isn’t just for comic stuff it’s like a mecca for creatives on every level. Just seeing all these people at these booths with their artwork, and that’s their life. My parents both appreciate the arts in general but I never grew up around any real working artists, so it was kind of my realization that it was real.
Contact Info:
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chloemariev.art/
- Etsy: etsy.com/shop/
cynicsandcharisma
Image Credit:
Jose Diaz, Chloe Van Vreeswyk
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