Today we’d like to introduce you to Cara Khan.
Every artist has a unique story. Can you briefly walk us through yours?
I grew up in a creative house, filled with crafts and fixing cars and interior design and building ponds and all kinds of cool stuff. I was a lucky kid and was supported in everything I ever tried. Or quit. I had a near full ride to study criminology and I asked if, after taking a figure drawing class, it was okay if I went to art school… and they said, of course. I spent six months making a portfolio and applied to Ringling College of Art and Design and to my surprise I actually got in. And then I worked my ass off. I was scared shitless for four years. But that ended up getting me a job at Dreamworks where I worked on Megamind, the Madagascar movies and How to Train Your Dragon 2. After quite a few years we missed home, and so we ended up back in Florida where I was in the right place at the right time. Magic Leap was coming into being and had my position available. So now I create art for them by day, while painting and writing as much as possible in the evening. A lot of art is luck, but also just being available for opportunity.
Please tell us about your art.
I’ve never understood to have any reason to draw or paint other than I feel like I have to. I grew up surrounded by artists, was never discouraged from creating and it easily takes over my life. I love art- I love absorbing it, learning about it and from it, appreciating it and being inspired by it. I am lucky enough to do it for a living. But even working in it full time seems it’s not enough. I do need people to… see? What I see. And I don’t even know what I’m looking at most of the time. I like fantastical but familiar worlds. Making organic objects mechanical, using saturated colors and a hint of surrealism. I use every painting as a reason to learn as well- for example, these crystals are pretty cool, I want to get better at understanding refraction and reflection and translucence- what is a beautiful image that could accent a study of this and turn it into a surreal portrait? It honestly sounds kind of funny and practical when I really think what drives me to create art. I don’t think I’ll ever stop being a student. I observe the world as a potential for creation. Maybe I’ll be a badass old lady who knows exactly what she wants to paint every day. But for now I’m on the journey and I’m ok with it.
As an artist, how do you define success and what quality or characteristic do you feel is essential to success as an artist?
An endless drive. You must be that go-getter-never-stop personality. There is no slummin it in art. Without that, you may find yourself in a block for years. Even when you’re blocked, there’s things to learn, to practice, to do. With doing comes inertia and it’s addictive.
Success for me, I suppose, is being able to make a living doing this. I’m lucky enough that it’s my day job. It doesn’t mean it’s enough for me or I wouldn’t be writing and painting and making my own work and putting it out there. I think success might be a moveable goal post. It’s never been easy for me to accept that I “made it” as an artist. I’m always looking to the future for a challenge to rise to. One day success for me will be that people choose to buy the art I made for myself because it speaks to them. That would be pretty awesome.
How or where can people see your work? How can people support your work?
My website www.carakhan.com has all of my work to both look at and buy limited edition signed prints. If you sign up for my mailing list, I mail out backgrounds and some behind the scenes of my work, too. But my most active account is on Instagram @cara_khan. I also have a society 6 for larger prints and more eclectic items.
https://society6.com/robotoctopus I just really started committing to the convention circuit this year, so you may be seeing me in person more often very soon.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.carakhan.com
- Phone: 7277443592
- Email: cara@carakhan.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cara_khan/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CaraKhanIllustration/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/CaraRKhan
Image Credit:
Cara Khan
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