Murals create a sense of synergy in communities. Aside from their visual aesthetic and ability to beautify and add vibrancy to concrete and asphalt, they promote art accessibility, have positive effects on mental health, and can help construct a welcoming atmosphere, and a tangible sense of place that, in turn, strengthens neighbourhoods.
Read MoreThe State of Millennial Art: Anita Rudakov
There are two things you need to know about Vancouver’s South Granville neighbourhood. Firstly, everything—including the new cannabis store that just opened up near West 15th Avenue— looks like a Michelin Star restaurant. Secondly, don’t be fooled by the neighbourhood’s vanity, as it’s home to millennial artists who are blooming under the surface of its ritzy, Le-Creuset shadows. Anita Rudakov is one of them.
Born in Richmond, the 21-year-old is starting to establish herself as a professional illustrator in Vancouver. Rudakov’s freehand digital illustrations are unique yet relatable. Her work is grabbing the attention of both art enthusiasts and fellow creatives, helping her land more customers, commissions and success.
Sarah Amormino: I noticed that your art focuses a lot on women, why is that?
Anita Rudokov: I like drawing women. Their bodies are more interesting, women or genderless people. It’s not so much women as in blonde hair, lipstick, or some frilly thing—it’s just more femme because boys are boring.
SA: What kind of style would you describe your art as?
AR: I think that my art always has a sense of humour to it, and if there’s no sense of humour there’s something ironic or something silly or weird about it. I like playing with colour and patterns a lot, and I really like illustrating people and faces. I’s rare that you’ll see one of my illustrations without a person in it.
SA: Why do you do what you do?
AR: I guess right now, it’s more of a creative outlet and hobby because it’s not something that I’m making money off of yet. But it’s something that I’ve enjoyed doing for so long. My Mom put me in art classes when I was around seven years old, so I’ve been drawing for a long time. I got an iPad recently, so that’s how I started doing more digital illustrations,. A year ago is when I started taking art more seriously and calling myself an artist, which is still something I’m a bit weary of.
SA: Do you feel supported in Vancouver as a young artist?
AR: The biggest thing is to support your friends – that’s how I got the confidence to produce more art and put more art out there. Just hearing my friends say, ‘Oh, I’d totally buy that,’ and hearing such a positive response from them is what pushed me to put my art on social media, or at least try to get into publications and magazines. There are a lot of publications in Vancouver that are trying to give new artists a voice instead of just hiring people that have a big social media following, which is super supportive.
SA: How do you think millennial artists are shaping Vancouver’s creative industry?
AR: There’s always people or certain groups of people who are trying to give other millennials an opportunity, so I think a lot of it is about confidence. It’s great to see when young people have the confidence to put on an event or a show or an exhibit. Seeing other millennials doing things encourages me, and that encourages other millennials to put themselves out there more. I mean, it’d be helpful if there were more programs to help people gain that confidence instead of having it be a self-made chain reaction.
SA: How has social media impacted your work?
AR: I started my art Instagram about a year ago, which is when I started actually drawing more often and getting better at drawing and wanting to put myself out there more. So social media has been really big, because a lot of people who I’ve talked to didn’t even know I drew or was an artist. It’s been pretty instrumental in getting my art out there to people's feeds and phones and lives, so it’s been crucial for getting the support I need to get it off the ground. I’ve had a couple people direct message me about prints for sale.
SA: What’s the best piece of advice you’ve been given about working in the art industry?
AR: Probably not to be intimidated by other artists. I think that in Vancouver, an artist has to be someone who went to Emily Carr University and has their own $400/ month studio on East Hastings, and is like five seconds away from moving to Montreal. So not being shy because I don’t have a formal education or formal art training, but just being happy with the progress that I’m making and not feeling like I’m less of an artist because I don’t have the experience.
SA: Professionally, what’s your end-goal?
AR: I hope that I can one day do art full time, that would make me really happy. I don’t know if it’s completely realistic, but I hope that I can work towards that. In 10 years, I want to have at least tried to write a graphic novel or illustrated a graphic novel, or maybe a children’s book. Something more long-form and narrative-driven—something that would really challenge me. I’m not setting a goal of being published, I’m setting a goal of trying.
Rudakov is published in SAD Magazine’s 10th Anniversary Issue, Nostalgia, and is currently working on a collection of comics. To learn more about her art or to buy one of her prints, visit her Instagram at @anitaillustration.
While VQFF is still very much a film festival at it’s heart and core, the organizers also wanted to showcase the ways in which multi-disciplinary artists have adapted the medium. Come and learn something new, meet new people, and literally see for yourselves how these stories make you feel.
Read MoreOh, to zap the ache of a lonely heart away! Take that, lovesickness! Tim Bauer’s Atomic Broken Heart Cure puts into ink and colour what we’ve all been searching for. Add a synth-y power chorus and some futurism by way of the 1980s, and you’ve got this month’s complimentary mix. Or should I say antidote?
Read More“I grew up with drag queens and it fascinated me for anyone to be able to go outside, be totally different, and be themselves, and be strong about it, with their heels on, walking tall. I always admired that. I always considered that to be a superhero feature, because superheroes always change their outfits and take on a different persona. I always equated the two in a lot of ways. The idea of gender being a performance is a really bold statement that I admire in drag queens as well.”
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Future Graphic by Rhea Lonsdale
The next issue of SAD sheds the worn-out coat of the past and looks to the future.
Send us pitches for your best essays, articles, poems, stories, and artwork on that evasive time which holds so much promise and invokes so much anxiety. Think future generations; environmental liminality; new structures for old systems; the future is _____; and all those shiny hopeful things which glimmer on the horizon. As always, we encourage you to interpret the theme creatively. Please send your submissions by August 31, 2019.
Underrepresented writers—including but not exclusive to trans, Two Spirit, and non-binary folks who are Black, Indigenous, people of colour, queer, and/or identify as having a disability—are particularly encouraged to submit.
Part of SAD Mag’s mandate is also to provide a platform to new and emerging writers and artists. We are happy to work with you if you’re new to the scene. If you have any questions about submitting, shoot an email to one of our friendly volunteer staff members.
See you in the future!
Learn more about how to submit here.
What does it mean to create a culture, break down the existing structures of power in order to create the world we want to exist in? Who are the creators of culture, and who is culture created for?
These are the questions that drive the annual CURRENT: Feminist Electronic Arts Symposium, a Vancouver-based multidisciplinary and intersectional electronic art and music initiative.
Read MoreQueer artists in the past have had violent experiences and created violent works regarding the church, which is very valid. In terms of addressing my own personal experience, I’m not saying it wasn’t violent, but I’m also not saying it was only violent.
Read MoreLike a warm breeze, this mix inspired by the photographs of Katrin Braga will ease your mind. Braga herself chose some of the songs, so you know they’re bound to be good. Listen on!
Read More“Nature is something you have to sculpt yourself around. You can’t control it. You have to live with it and merge with nature. It becomes part of who you are.“
Read MoreWe’re here to talk about identity as the core of who we are, about how capturing our fluid thoughts, expressions, histories and states of being into something explainable can feel like an unending journey.
Read MoreThe National Film Board of Canada (NFB) and imagineNATIVE Film+Media Arts Festival are partnering to launch a call for Indigenous voice artists to apply for this year's $50,000 Digital Project Prize. Application deadline is August 24, 2019
Read More“It’s the sheer will of artistic survival. Creative people need to express their art, and they’re going to find a way to do it.”
Read MoreThe jazz festival is here! It can be overwhelming to flick through the full lineup - we’re making it easier! Here’s a list of five must-see shows, in no particular order.
Read MoreFrom June 3rd-6th, the unceced Coast-Salish Territories of Vancouver were host to two Conferences: Women Deliver—"the world's largest conference on gender equality and the health, rights, and well-being of girls and women,” and Feminists Deliver—“a grassroots collaboration of British Columbia-based self-identified women, girls, non binary and Two Spirit people and the organizations that support them that have come together, on account of the 2019 Women Deliver Conference.” Web Editors Elysse Cloma and Elizabeth Holliday took the opportunity to attend both conferences and reflect on the spaces they created and held.
Read More“I ask theatre organizations to trust us, and let us Deaf artists lead the process for the best possible impact. This is the kind of work where we ask people to give up their position of power and allow space. It is not easy to do.”
Read MoreSAD Mag is an independent Vancouver publication featuring stories, art, and design. Founded in 2009, we publish the best of contemporary and emerging artists with a focus on inclusivity of voices and views, exceptional design, and film photography.
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