I hated art class for no reason other than the fact I couldn’t draw, paint or sketch for shit. I’m sure if I had any talent in the department whatsoever I would have loved it, in the same way my classmates who were pencil magicians did. That being said, I was never one to think that being a good drawer would actually get you anywhere other than impressed with your own work or a becoming a “struggling” Brooklyn artsy type (blame Hollywood, not me). Boy, was I wrong.
We’re going through a bit of a time right now. Street murals are popping up everywhere, stencils are overtaking puppies on cards and every Tom, Dick and Harry in the business world wants a sign writer for their company’s latest campaign. It’s a creative job that injects cash into your life at the same time and look, it sounds ideal.
Lauren Webster, the talent behind Lauren & The Lost Boys, is someone who’s been able to make a fully fledged career out of her art skills, to putting her creative prowess on everything from signs to motorbike helmets. We got some hot career tips from the ledge herself, so watch the video below for maximum inspo.
ON THE AUSTRALIAN ART SCENE
“It’s an amazing place to be a creative. The Australian landscape in itself is so inspiring and I think it’s something that’s kind of infused in so many of the creatives that work and live here. It’s a pretty fun, playful environment. A lot of Australian artists are quite chill and it’s part of our general culture and vernacular and it feeds into the creativity as well.
ON FINDING YOUR INDIVIDUALITY
“Everyone takes reference from somewhere, but I think its important that people find something that really interests them and that they really do believe in, and that they’re not just looking outwards to their immediate environment to see what’s happening or who to look at for inspo. See what naturally comes from you, what you really are interested in visually and what your strengths are and kind of play to that and research that and practice it, and your look will come from there.”
ON NOT BEING PERFECT
“It’s important to find your look and your vibe and what your passion is, but don’t feel too inhibited that you need to perfect that before sort of putting it out into the world. If you don’t start somewhere and kind of, you know, hide away into your basement until you think you’ve reached perfection, you’ll probably never be coming out the basement.”
ON MOVING FROM HOBBY TO CAREER
“I have been creating since I was a little kid, like most artists probably do. I did art all through high school and then from there I went on to art school and it’s kind of been a slow progession to working full time as an artist ever since then.“
