Artists of Austin

Courtesy of Mike Johnston

Artists of Austin: Art in a Growing City

By: Amritha Ramkumar

You walk out onto the streets of Austin, and you look around. There are many tall, gray buildings surrounding you, all of them blending together. As you walk further towards them, you notice a bright pop in the distance. When you get closer, the colors form into shapes, and the mural in front of you astonishes you. The lines flow together in harmony, depicting the city of Austin by showing key elements of it and its values. You look at the mural Arts In Austin | 8 to notice all the small details. The minuscule spots and close elements that make up the entire painting cause you to wonder how long they took to make or who may have made the piece. Maybe they put a part of themselves into the artwork, leaving not only a marking or a signature, but also a fragment of their minds. Austin, like many other cities, has been growing tremendously for years. With this expansion, the city has gained an abundance of vibrant murals and street art works. These pieces have made Austin’s buildings more colorful, and added more spirit into peoples’ lives. More importantly, the artists behind the work have stayed committed to creating and fixing murals to make them accessible for all to see. These murals can evoke emotions within the viewers, making their days a little brighter, or leaving them questioning the deeper meanings behind the murals.

The muralists in Austin also enjoy contributing to the city. Whether it’s a commission, promotion, or graffiti, creators use these artworks to express themselves boldly in a large city. Dating back to the 1950’s and expanding into the future, these murals have had a big impact on Austin as a community. They bring people together, share ideas globally, and create beauty in urbanization that would otherwise look bland. They light up busy offices and turn the city into an open art gallery for both residents and visitors to experience. Mike Johnston is a mural artist in Austin. He has worked in the art industry for 8 years, with clients including Spotify, Nike, Alamo Cinema, and even the NFL. He enjoys using vibrant colors and painting hiphop inspired murals. “It’s such a creative city,” Johnston said. “I’m really grateful to this city for that, for being so supportive, and allowing [me] to do what I do.” Along with Johnston, many other artists thank Austin for its rich art community and close network of artists. By having this foundation of Austin arts, many artists are able to gain a large following and be successful, gaining recognition from celebrities and famous brands. This is crucial for artists, since some of them are full time artists.

However, it can be difficult to gain a following. Many artists spend months, and even years working hard to create something worthy of the spotlight. They put tons of effort and time into their work, only

Courtesy of Mike Johnston

for it to be rejected or considered weird. Johnston shared that he didn’t think it was possible to be an artist, so he settled down as an art teacher for 12 years. After finally gaining the confidence, he took a leap of faith and decided to be a full time artist. “Then it felt I could do [it], I could make a full-time living,” Johnston explains. The pressure to make artwork that is likable enough for viewers is an issue artists usually face. Being an

“ I think there’s always gonna be people that Like your stuff, and there will always be people that maybe just don’t Like it or they just don’t care. ”

artist can be a risky career, in the sense that their followings can expand incredibly fast, or stay the same for long periods of time. Another issue many artists face is their commitment to the arts. Most artists don’t have supportive backgrounds when it comes to the arts. This is due to the stigma surrounding creative careers, where people think that they are impractical or unstable careers to have. The confidence to become an artist can take months, or even years to achieve. However, if people gain this confidence, they can end up being very successful artists and creators. However, other artists aren’t full time self-employed artists. Chris Smith is a muralist, 3D animator, and artist,who makes graffiti in his free time. He’s always been passionate about the arts, even from a very young age. “I’ve been doing art since I was a kid, basically always … drawing, sketching, and stuff like that,” Smith shares. Arts In Austin | 9

He took his passionate love for art and turned it into two careers, instead of simply being a full-time artist. This allows him to have a stable salary as a 3D animator, and also have a job off to the side for when he has free time. Throughout all of the challenges these artists have been through, they gained immense knowledge about being an artist that can be used as advice for aspiring artists. Mike Johnston shares one of his most important pieces of advice, which is to be open to experimenting with new things and to not be afraid to fail. “The only way you get better is by trying,” Johnston encourages.

“ And, you know, as far as motivation goes, the more you do it, the better you get at it. Your motivation comes from getting good at something and kind of progressing. And so, yeah, I would say just kind of keep progressing and keep at it. ”

- Chris Smith

After these artists overcome the challenges they face, they are able to have a stable career in the arts. Chris Smith goes into more details about what it’s like to be an Austin artist, and what a day in his life looks like when he’s working on a mural. It takes a lot of commitment to finish an outdoor, large-scale artwork by a deadline.

“[I] try to get there early and then have my stuff, you know, whatever I need in my case. I do murals with spray cans. And so I have all my equipment, my ladder and stuff. I get it going, and then usually I’ll start sketching out the thing on the wall and then get going. Usually it takes me a full day or two days depending on the detail and the mural,” Smith shares. On days when he works on murals, he spends all day working on them with minimal breaks in between starting and finishing. After all of the hard work, most mural artists have to deal with their works being vandalized, getting painted over, or eventually fading away. This must be difficult for them to face, since it takes a lot of time to create a mural, but it is just something mural artists have to adjust to. One of the beauties of a mural is that it can be temporary, but can cause so much joy at the same time. Mike Johnston goes into detail about what he does after finishing a mural, and how he feels when others take interest in his works. “As soon as a mural’s done, I don’t leave right away.

I’ll clean up and then I might just wait in my car for a little bit just to see people walk up, to see if they notice it. To see if they stop and interact with it. And then it’s really fun when they stop and they wanna take a picture with it. Cuz that’s kind of in a lot of ways, the end goal. You want them to really connect with that piece,” Johnston shares. The feeling of others enjoying his work is one of the best parts of his career.

“ A lot of times [my murals] go away. You know, most of the paintings that you see on my Instagram are actually not around anymore. They don't exist. that's also another thing as far as being a muralist in general, you have to sort of accept the fact that it won't be around. ” - Chris Smith

“I would try out for the basketball team, 9th, 10th, 11th, 12th grade, all those years cut. Never made the basketball team. It broke my heart. And then here I finally get it. I’m working with Nike. It’s kind of like I made the team in a way, you know, kind of like a success story in the end,” he says. Whether what their inspiration is, mural artists end up creating some of the most notable pieces in the city of Austin. It takes perseverance, hard work, and lots of effort, but in the end, it pays off for most artists. They get to see others enjoy their work, and most importantly, they leave a mark on Austin.

Courtesy of Chris Smith

While a lot of murals are commissions, they can still be fun for the artists to create. Mike Johnston is very interested in hip-hop style works and color palettes. He also enjoys shoes and basketball. He shared that when he was in highschool, he would always be cut from the basketball team, and he never felt like he was good enough. However, when Nike commissioned Johnston to create artworks for NBA player Kevin Durant, he felt like his childhood dreams were finally fulfilled.