We were lucky to catch up with Autumn Rain Turkel recently and have shared our conversation below.
Autumn Rain, so excited to have you with us today. So much we can chat about, but one of the questions we are most interested in is how you have managed to keep your creativity alive.
Diversity is the key to keeping my creative spark going. Often in the visual arts we find ourselves retreading ground already covered time and again. What has kept me sane in my daily work is to foster a diversified approach to both producing and studying arts. For me, this has meant study of a multitude of creative outlets and approaches. Within art I study things such as oil painting, photography, illustration, and sculpting. This has branched out into tertiary things such as the study of natural history, cultures, animal and invertebrate anatomy, and various other elements including technical things like 3D and video editing.
Ultimately, diversity and staying inquisitive have fostered an (almost) undying creative spark.
Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?
I am currently an illustrator working to help bring to life the vision of other creatives in the advertising and fantasy art spaces. I’ve worked for many years behind the scenes for advertising studios in Los Angeles that cater to the major studios. It began with sketching layout for movie and tv posters and billboards and transformed into full finished illustration for movies, TV, and video games.
As of 2020 I launched a Youtube channel and branded content for The ART’S Department, (a cheeky play on my initials) on Youtube and website. The idea is to bring my personal take on the arts and creative well being to the masses. Seeing as it is a side project, it often times takes a back seat to the illustration work. But I always come back to it as it is not just a side hustle, but a passion to share and give back in some way to the community that I am a part of. I have tried for many years, even previous to starting the channel on Youtube and the community around it, to foster connections for artists. Both connections with each other and connections to clients that I may not have the time to work with. Generally, just connecting good people. It was something I did when I ran The Original Drink and Draw Social Club here in Los Angeles and it’s something I hold up as an important aspect of my personal code.
Along with the launch of the branded content, I started seeing a gap in the reference materials that artists had access to. So around that same time, I began offering reference packs up for sale on gumroad and artstation, in conjunction with gesture drawing videos included and posted on Youtube. I have always used gestures as a warmup to begin my artistic day and I saw them as something that should be shared with the world. Luckily we live in a time when that is more possible than ever. I had to take a hiatus from posting them as work took over my schedule, but I have more planned in the near future.
https://www.theartsdepartment.com/
https://www.youtube.com/@autumnrainturkel
https://www.artstation.com/arturkel
https://www.artstation.com/arturkel/store?tab=digital_product (WARNING ADULT CONTENT)
https://theartsdept.gumroad.com/ (WARNING ADULT CONTENT)
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
If I had to pin-point specific qualities or skills that have helped me in my journey it would be the following. 1. Work ethic, work hard, but also keep a growth mindset. So, work at growing when you aren’t working at executing for clients or for the vision of your journey.
2. Diversify your areas of interest and expertise. This allows you to cast a larger net in your endeavors. When it comes to artists, understand the fundamentals in a way that allows you to have a range of styles and approaches. This can make you less of a big gun stylistically because you won’t be as hyper focused on one technique. BUT, it will allow you to slot in on projects and teams and make a big difference. In other words, you’ll be more useful on more projects and therefore you will get more opportunities than someone hyper focused on one look.
3. Be charismatic. Some may say that charisma is a natural thing that is just something you have, or you don’t. In my experience, that is not the case. It is something that can be learned. As such, it’s something that can be practiced. Being able to communicate with clients in a way that helps them relax and makes them feel important will always benefit your career and output. So practice being easily likeable. There are many free youtube videos dedicated to techniques. Go out, get out of your art cave, and practice charisma. It will help build your career, your community, and maybe even your personal life. (Also, charisma can atrophy, so keep a daily practice of some sort to help keep it going.)
Alright so to wrap up, who deserves credit for helping you overcome challenges or build some of the essential skills you’ve needed?
I have been lucky, or smart enough, to have a community of friends who are all creative visual artists, musicians, photographers, designers, and just an all around amazing support structure.
I have lived by the theory that you never want to be the smartest one in the room, and I think that has served me well over the years.
The most steadfast of these has been my closest friends and creative confidants Daniel Landerman, Robh Ruppel and Matt Kennedy.
Daniel is someone I went to art center with. We began at the same time and gravitated towards each others work. Over the years we have maintained a close relationship that has fostered our art and entrepreneurial thinking. To this day, he and I communicate weekly about projects, ideas, techniques and approaches. I highly recommend finding your own Daniel and keeping them close.
Robh was one of my instructors at art center who I managed to worm my way into friendship with. He has always been a big picture sort of thinker and that has helped round out my approach to any project. While I can tend to get in the weeds on the day to day, he has help foster an ability to zoom out and see everything as a whole, to better grasp the trajectory of a project or an idea.
Matt was someone who dated my ex girlfriend back in the day. I think it perturbed her that her ex-boyfriend and her current boyfriend managed to connect around the arts. Matt is another big thinker. He’s the type to not only have the big picture in mind, but also his finger is on the pulse of culture. His influence has been one that has helped me to keep in mind the shifting ideals and ideas of culture in the broader sense. His ability to charm the pants off of anyone is truly inspiring and is the basis for my understanding of the benefits of charisma.
All these folks are the tip of the proverbial iceberg when it comes to the people who have helped foster essential skills in my career and journey. I have kept a large circle of artists and entrepreneurs as friends for as long as I can remember. I’m lucky to live in a place where they are readily part of the daily fabric of life. Today, we need to build communities in a way to help support each other the way these folks have supported me. Thankfully, with the technologies available to us, it’s easier than ever.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.theartsdepartment.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/arturkel
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/arturkel/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/autumnrainturkel/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/ARTurkel
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/arturkel
- Other: https://open.spotify.com/artist/6hqk5ojBAjXy24jSInH98J
https://music.youtube.com/channel/UCpZ8KfQfvXFqdv3H7BRqYxg
Image Credits
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