We recently connected with The’Cool Flame and have shared our conversation below.
The’Cool, we’re so excited for our community to get to know you and learn from your journey and the wisdom you’ve acquired over time. Let’s kick things off with a discussion on self-confidence and self-esteem. How did you develop yours?
My confidence comes from knowing that I’m already the best. It also comes from knowing my flaws and not shying away from them, its having the mentality to use those shadow parts of myself to good use instead of letting them lead me to self-destruction. Confidence is essentially a muscle, the more you train your mind to be at ease with who you are, you learn to love yourself to the point of absolute delusion. There’s also a fine line between ego.
Confidence grows the people around it, while ego destroys them to make itself feel good. That’s the difference between the two.
My self-esteem comes from knowing my capabilities and having full trust in myself to make the best decision. Even if I make the wrong one, I know that my ability to learn from my mistakes and prevent such occurrences from happening twice will give me optimism for the future. Also knowing ones character and which personalities it blends with and feels safe around will help you choose people that are right for your self-esteem
Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?
I create art that’s an escape from the terrors and chores of the real world. Whereby people will experience a utopia and they can relax while learning new things through my visuals. Psychedelic art is my specialty and the world is my oyster that is a trip in the night, also it allows the user to live in the moment and be part of something bigger than themselves.
The most exciting thing about creating my art has to be that it starts off as a random idea and during the process I get so zoned into the work that my mind and subconscious just does its thing, thus the final product is always amazing to look at. At the moment I’m venturing into new ideas to diversify my style even further, hence I’m on a break from Instagram. My focus is to try other platforms to expand my brand even further because staying in one lane the entire time will lead to stagnation. Also my art is heavily inspired by music, I basically create how I see the music. You heard that right folks, I basically see music and make art out of it, so if the song is mellow and vibey the art will for instance incorporate the sea, people laying down with flowers as their heads. If its a party setting, it’ll be chaotic with a fun vibe attached to it. To add one final point, most of my artworks are mostly done in the moment so if I listen to a song I’ll extract at least one word from it and add it onto my art without context to add that jazz to it. I never aim for perfection, in my art I live and get inspired in the moment.
I also find it fun to research new styles that are relevant to my existing style, okay I basically do a lot other than just creating art. Going out with my friends and relaxing for example allows my mind to be at ease, which is also inspiration for new art. Laughing with my family and forgetting the world exists is also inspiration. Playing with my cute annoyance of a cat, Peanut is also inspiration. Anything in this world can inspire you to create, you just have to let your mind breathe and live in the moment
Also I’ve been recently exploring dreamcore with a combination of weirdcore and ancient Egyptian art. Without giving away too much, as The Firepit we’re going to create our own way of communicating
There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
*disclaimer, my skills in explaining new concepts are as sharp as an unsharpened pencil so prepare yourself😂.
Art history. In this area you’ll need to read books or watch videos, sounds simple enough right? Yeah, it really is. Discover your style and get into art history after, for example if you love bright colours and retro vibes, learn about Pop Art. If you love expressing yourself and want to create more abstract styles, expressionism is for you. You’ll find artists who inspire your style even more, thus making your artistry more refined. Relating & seeing how art legends impacted their respective movements will also give you a profound love for this game we call art
Colour theory. Basically which colour goes where and how will it impact the overall mood of the artwork. If you mostly use soft colours such as pink, baby blue, and white your art will feel gentle. While reds, blacks and dark greens will make you feel like you’ve seen a Conjuring jump-scare. Also having the ability to use colour effectively is really helpful, it’s really the make or break of your artwork. Learning about complimentary colours and triadic colour schemes will add more your your artistic arsenal. The bigger the pool of colour knowledge you swim with, the more your art will stand out.
Basic PC/iPad skills. This is for digital artists, guys know your device. Its really helpful to just learn what your PC is capable of outside of your drawing software. Things such as shortcuts, battery life, customisation and so fourth can really boost your productivity by tenfold.
How would you spend the next decade if you somehow knew that it was your last?
I’d basically spend it on making memories and art. Memories would make my existence worthwhile while my art would make me immortal.
I’d take more bold risks, already I live life like a giant adventure. I’ve already got a lot of lore like I’m a grandfather, so making more of those crazy moments would be impactful and would then bleed onto my art. Making it more iconic and impactful.
Memories would be spent with my father and mother because they’re the ones who raised me, took care of me and loved me as their son. My baby sister and myself would go crazy, it’ll be vibes and just us relaxing and doing what twins do best, which is to fool around and spend time together. With my friends like False 9 & Raphina we’d have more crazy stories together and share knowledge that’ll help us for life. I’d also spend time making sure that the people around me, especially the ones who weren’t named that they’re fine and all is well with them. Of course I’d never tell people that in a decade I’ll no longer be a character of life, I’d wait till like a year left. There’s no joy in seeing the people around you worry and treat you like an egg just because you’re about to die in 10 years bruh.
Artistically, I’d maximise every second and use it to its fullest, my body will die but my art will make my existence immortal because with it my memories, thoughts and expressions are attached. Those who are inspired by it allow a fragment my presence to be part of them but with twists of their own personality. I’d also make sure my art is so good that I get a collaboration with Hirohiko Araki, I love that man and his work JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure to death. So that will be a goal I’ll strive for until my deathbed. Even if it doesn’t happen, I’m content with what I’ve done, so far so I don’t see a reason as to why because of a setback like that I won’t be satisfied then. I love my art journey and what it speaks about my character and journey as an artist that’s yet to reach his peak.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thecool.flame/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@thecoolflame7
