The PROJEKT

Artist Proof: Genevieve Tan aka PandaPad is a graduate of Humber College’s Advertising and Graphic Design program. She was born in the Philippines but is currently working in Canada, specializing in Graphic & Web Design, Anime Style Illustrations & Pixel Artwork.

Artsprojekt: What inspires your art?

Genevieve Tan: Although Asian myself, I can’t say I’ve been heavily raised in the Asian culture since I’ve grown up in Canada for a good number of years. This is probably why I find it so intriguing to theme most of my art around the subject because it is always a learning experience while still relating to my background. But looking closely I’m mostly influenced by nature, technology and food…actually emphasis on food. In terms of how I create my art I don’t stop with just illustrations. From crafting to photography, I love dabbing into different medias to make different compositions. What is definite in my art is the fact that no matter the inspiration, it all goes towards my main goal which is to display the talent that God gave me and to produce art for a general audience to enjoy.

AP: What is the relationship between technique and content in your work?

GT: I’ve got to admit when it comes to style, I have A.D.D. and tend to switch from one to another when doing my art pieces. In one aspect after my graphic design program, I really had a lot more appreciation for clean designs which tied in perfectly with my style. I then transferred my knowledge of design into my other art ventures such as my illustrations, web designing and pixel art. So even if I drew something with a lot of detailing, I tend to find ways to keep the overall composition clean. I choose the style accordingly depending on the subject matter I am drawing/trying to portray. Yet even with a similar subject matter, it is always fun to test multiple styles to emphasize a different feel to the overall piece.

AP: Describe your first experience of making art and how it affected your life’s journey

GT: Does drawing circles on a piece of paper count? That’s probably the first thing I ever remembered drawing…lots and lots of circles. Does it show I like circles in my artwork? It wasn’t probably intentional and I never looked deeply into the meaning of it, but if I were to define my views of shapes, I consider circles to be very organic compared to those with edges and sides. And thinking about it further, I do tend to lean towards more organic subjects and rounder corners. Even when I do technology pieces I tend to still add organic elements and yes…circles.

AP: Describe your most recent experience of making art.

GT: I’ve recently been putting away my 0.5 lead pencil (more like I misplaced it…), picking up my inking pens and just sketching. Although you can’t erase anything, I actually don’t find it too difficult because even my original pencil work tended to be very finalized with minimal use of an eraser. The only reason why I prefer pencil is because the lines are softer compared to inking which is why I am currently challenging myself to find ways around that.

I’ve also been excited to get back to my original goal which was to express my faith through my art. God gave me this talent, so why shouldn’t I use it for Him? Although my work is still very much into the whole cute character, Asian-inspired style, this isn’t to say that my Christian-themed pieces will not dab in these styles either.

AP: Take us on a guided tour through a day in your life as an artist

GT: My typical work day starts with a wake-up call at 6:30am and I am out of the house by 7am to commute to work for an hour. My graphic/web design job lasts 8am - 5pm, then commute another hour home. Once home, I sit in my home office and start working on all my other art projects and by 11:30pm - 12am, I’m out like a light. Where do I find time for everything else called a life? My loving mother insisted I stay at home until I get married so she does the house stuff which allows me to allocate more time to my work (although that doesn’t leave me much room to learn how to be a proper wife I guess). I eat at my desk (bad habit I might add) and when I need a serious break I go out with friends. In everything, I always allocate time through the day to learn and communicate with God. But for the most part I’m a workaholic…good or bad thing for an artist?

AP: What are your upcoming projects?

GT: I’ve got a couple of projects just in the planning stages which includes making a game with a fellow artist from StudioDYV (http://www.studiodyv.com) as well as doing more hand-crafted art and design work for maybe a bridal line with another artist. The two subjects seem to be on the opposite ends of the spectrum aren’t they? But a creatives work is never done and I’ve found that if I don’t keep my mind racing for creativity, it becomes lazy. Where-ever God leads me on my creative ventures, I just have to take it one step at a time.

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