Art
From Armchairs to Art Galleries
Red Bull Doodle Art judge Archie Geotina shows how passion and perseverance pays off.
Archie Geotina
© Archie Geotina
While most parents might frown upon kids who have a tendency to write on walls or scribble on the furniture, one man shares how he defied convention and turned his early doodling on armchairs during class to a full fledged career in the arts, and how, with a little perseverance and a lot of heart, anyone can achieve their goals.
I would master drawing on the tables in class, and in the armrests of the chairs.
Artist Archie Geotina, this year’s Red Bull Doodle Art Philippines’ judge and jury, admits that he didn’t think to study art in college, but says that it has been a very integral part of his life since early childhood.
The master at work
© Archie Geotina
“Drawing in class was my talent and it's how I would always kill time. I would master drawing on the tables in class, and in the armrests of the chairs. At that point in time, those things were art to me,” he said in an interview.
But Archie says that while art was part of his life since he was a kid, with cartoons as his first inspiration, he didn’t study art formally. Instead, he studied Psychology at the Kalayaan College, and indulged in his hobby whenever he could.
“I would draw from the moment I was free, either at home or in class, and all throughout the day. I have a black book. I especially used it when I dabbled in graffiti and tagging before. Me and my friends would fill it up and create would-be burners in it during class,” Archie said.
Expression of self
© Archie Geotina
From there, I let myself go freely once I start painting.
Before long, however, Archie left school to pursue his craft full time. Since deciding to do art full time, Archie admits he has lost a bit of that luxury of drawing anytime he wants.
“I don't have the time to draw anymore as much as I did. When I do though, it's conceptualizing murals or paintings. From there, I let myself go freely once I start painting. In my opinion, my doodling has evolved from freestyle drawing on paper to expressing myself through my subconscious--but now I use mixed mediums to create my images,” he said.
Despite that little sacrifice of being able to doodle what he wants whenever he wants to, Archie says he recognizes that he’s extremely lucky to have made a career outta his passion.
The world is your canvas
© Archie Geotina
Mixed mediums
© Archie Geotina
Follow the dots
© Archie Geotina
“I think I am very lucky to be doing what I'm doing and still have fun with it,” he says, adding that the motivation to create new art comes from an almost primal sense of survival--in a way, for Archie, art is life.
“From a creative standpoint it's a very existential way of existence. You survive only with how much you can put out and how well you execute. That keeps it exciting and scary, but at the same time it's comforting to know that [as long as] you're not lazy, you will never fail. It's very competitive but not so much something like politics. You just have to be your normal self,” he said.
For this year’s Red Bull Doodle Art contest, Archie says he wants to see innovation and rawness innate in budding artists.
I want to see the imagination, creativity, style, and inspiration and bright-eyed-ness of the future artists! I want to see pure imagination expressed through the best style and purest intentions.
Red Bull Doodle Art is now open for submissions till September 5 2014 11:45 PM.
Think you have what it takes to be the best doodler in the country? Visit Red Bull Doodle Art or the Facebook event page for more information.