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Ep.145: How to find your art style with Abigail Larson
By Iva Mikles • Updated: May 21, 2018 • Interviews
Hey, guys! In this episode, I am chatting with Abigail Larson, a mixed-media illustrator. Her work appeared in Spectrum Fantastic Art, Art Fundamentals, and Digital Artist and she's worked with publishers like IDW Publishing, Titan Comics, 3DTotal.
Get in touch with Abigail
Website: http://www.abigaillarson.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/abigail_larson/
"It is not important to focus on finding your style, but rather on creating a lot, trying different things and studying lots of artists. The style will come to you!"
Abigail says that developing your art skills is the most important thing you can do in the beginning – anatomy, perspective, color, and light. A lot of young artists focus on finding style but forget you have to master the fundamentals first. You can't wing it to make it look believable
Abigail shares she went into freelance too early, she was too eager, and she would slow down and work on her portfolio and set up her business properly first.
Abigail works only with 'flat rates' when charging her clients and then add % on top in terms of merchandise and licensing
Inspiration: Books illustrated by Arthur Rackham
Books Abigail illustrated
Abigail worked on this game: The Huntsman: Winter's war
Abigail is currently working on The Dark Wood Tarot for Llewellyn Worldwide
Special thanks to Abigail for joining me today. See you next time!
All artworks by Abigail Larson, used with permission
Creative, artistic, happy! That's you. There are endless possibilities for living a creative life. So let's inspire each other. Art Side of Life interviews with Iva.
Iva Mikles
Hello everyone and welcome back to the next episode of Art Side of Life where I chat with inspiring artists and create the rise art related videos. My name is Iva and my guest today is evident Larsen, and in this episode, you will learn why research is so important in her work and what do you need to do to find your art style?
Abigail Larson
So many artists I deal with and especially the people who like my style, a lot of young artists can get confused because so many people focus on the style and forget that you have to learn the foundation first you have to like let go someone a teacher told me once you have to learn the rules before you can break the rules.
I began as a freelance mixed media illustrator working primarily with pencil ink, watercolors and Photoshop. Her work has been shown extensively throughout America as well as galleries in London, Paris and Madrid. Abigail's illustrations have been featured in various publications including spectrum fantastic art, art fundamentals, and digital artists. And she has worked with many publishing houses such as IDW, publishing, Titan comics, and 3d Total in 2016, with Universal Pictures and these are our games, she worked on a game, the Hansmann intersperse, the company and game to the Hansmann feature film. So please welcome Abigail Larson. And let's get to the interview. So welcome everyone to the next episode of Art Side of Life. And I'm super happy to have Abigail here. Hi. Hi. So super nice to be joined us here today. And let's just start directly with the background. And maybe you can share some of your creative stories from your childhood. What was maybe like a creative outlet, like running with a kite on a meadow or drawing on walls or what influenced you may be in the young, early eight.
Okay. Well, there was a lot. I grew up in America. I live in Italy now. But I grew up in America and my family had a really little ranch house in Virginia. And Virginia, of course, has lots of rolling hills and forests. And our neighborhood was right smack in the middle of a really wooded area. So I spent all my time in the forest. It was really, really fun. So I mean, I was mostly climbing trees and running around barefoot and I used to like pull out a blanket with me sometimes when the weather was really good. And I would just like lay on a blanket and I would draw or I just literally just like daydream and think of stories and like your quintessential fairy tale childhood. It was just amazing and beautiful and wonderful. So I mean, like that was my whole whole childhood was just running around the woods. I read a lot of books, and my parents are scientists, they're my dad's an archaeologist. They both studied science, but my dad became an archaeologist and my mom went into, she was an cultural anthropologist, and went into historic textiles. She does historic interiors for like museums and stuff. She's worked on the White House and a lot of presidential homes. So my upbringing was around tons of antiques, and my dad collected like fossils. And I mean, just our house was full of crazy things, and lots and lots of artwork. And so I grew up with a not necessarily artists, but people who appreciate art. And it was just, it was a lot it was it was so much it's, you know, stir in my imagination. So I definitely had tons of opportunities to go to museums and look at lots of art books. My parents fed that, you know, to me, you know, my brother's into sports. And of course, they helped him with sports. And my sister was, you know, not so much into that stuff. But I was I was the one who was like, really into the stuff that they liked. So they definitely nurtured that. Especially my dad, which was really, really fun. Like, I remember I would go with him on some of his jobs where he was excavating. And we did, we found whale bones and shark teeth and stuff like that. Like it was just like, cool, fun stuff. So, like, for a long time as a child, I wanted to be a paleontologist, because I loved I loved digging in the dirt. I just thought it was so fun. So I don't know. It's just there was a lot of a lot of learning and a lot of a lot of imagination. You know, a lot of just just really daydreaming, you know, and having fun with the natural world.
And so what helped you to form your kind of the goal setting that you want to be artists instead of maybe, you know, digging up the bones.
Yeah. It's funny how it shifted. Actually, I got into my dad got me a had lots of books on dinosaurs, of course. But he got me a book on how to draw dinosaurs, which was really cool. And I think that might have been the turning point. For me, I always like to doodling like, there are pictures of me as a really like two year old, like holding pens and stuff and trying to draw in. And of course, my parents, you know, encouraged that. But I, when I got the How to Draw dinosaur books, I loved it. And it turned out, I was pretty good at it, you know, for a kid. And my parents saw that. And so they just, they would buy me art supplies dad would take me to we had a little local art supply shop, this was Leno, back in the early 90s, late 80s, you know, back when there were like little mom and pop shops in Virginia. Now it's all Walmart and Target. But he got me a beautiful, huge set of colored pencils, like really nice high quality, I don't even remember what they were, but I remember being just blown away by this. And so he would take me out and give me art supplies. And you know, he would draw with me, and it was just like, super cool. And they really pushed that and not not pushed like in the, you know, they forced me to do it. So your relation? Yes, yeah, they, they nurtured the passion. And when I was in high school, I had great teachers, a lot of great art teachers who also encouraged me, and I just got better. And, like, I kept playing middle school composition notebook. Like, I would just draw characters like girls, and I would draw outfits for them and like, dry and write little stories, was released, stupid and corny, but I just I loved it, it was a lot of fun. And that went up through high school, when I had actual training, I had some actual classical training and drawing and a lot of that was just luck. I had a great teacher who who was wonderful that the fine arts. So I learned how to like paint and how to do gesture drawings and all that kind of stuff. So I got a really good early foundation in art, and well, how
was the decision process for you, or maybe the conversation either with your parents or teachers like what to pursue, you know, like, going for a studio job or working on your own or creating own books. And, you know, like, because a lot of people around maybe don't understand and they you will say like, oh, you cannot live from art, or you can be only in the galleries or doing the fine art. So kind of what helped you to kind of set this goal, like what type of art to do and how to live from it?
Well, it's funny, because, uh, so many people I talked to so many young artists say things like, you know, my parents told me I can't do this, or, you know, I don't think I'm that good at it. I don't know what to do. And, and I had the opposite upbringing. I had parents who said, you know, you want to be an artist, we're going to find out how you can do it. We don't know much about it. But we're going to help you find out and I had teachers like, like I said, who were I had one who went to VCU, and he recommended it for me. He said, You are really good at drawing, you should consider illustration. And I was kind of, you know, in high school, I was sort of like, I wasn't really thinking about my career. To be honest. I was just thinking, I love drawing and I don't know what I want to do with this. But he said, you know, with illustration, you can tell stories with art. It doesn't have to just be gallery work you can do. You can you can create images that tell stories, and it was just it opened up, you know, a whole new field for me, I got into, he showed me a book by Arthur Rackham. And, of course, I loved it. And I didn't realize but I had seen our the records work before I had a little book of Shakespeare that had random illustrations in it. And so it was I was like, oh my god, I never like it clicked. Finally, when I was, I guess in middle school in high school, I was like, oh, man, you know, I could get a job telling stories with withdrawing This is such a cool idea. And it still wasn't really a big career did decision for me, but it was I knew I wanted to go to college. So he went to VCU. And I said, You know what, I'm gonna try and get in there. And he wrote me a great recommendation letter. He was extremely supportive. It was I was just so fortunate to have that kind of support. And of course, my parents, too. Were, you know, I think, I think they didn't voice it very much. But I'm sure they were apprehensive about it. Like, oh, man, art school, you know. They never said it. They never said it, but I'm sure it was like, I'm sure they were worried about it. But
it might be the also the older generation, which are like now 50 Plus where it was not so common. Only the fine art galleries or the other art and now they are emerging, so many different types of art, like studios, or almost every city and so there are so many more options now as well.
It's so true. And even then, you know, this was probably late 1990s, early 2000s And I went into college in 2006. And, you know, it was there was so much changing and developing at that time, I think just and then In the last 10 years, it's just it's gone crazy. It's amazing how much the art world has developed, and especially the illustration world, you know, of course, you know, with the internet being so accessible, that's a huge, huge, huge help. But when I, when we were first starting out, it was, it was very delicate, you know, social media wasn't really a thing, you know. So, I don't know, it's been a it's been an interesting transition these last 10 years. But yeah, when I first started out, it was, I think my parents were kind of, you know, we're not sure how this will work, but she really loves it. So let's see where it goes. And they were just very cool about it.
So what was your first job? The first art job, you know, you like a commission, or was it something else? If you can tell us that story?
I'm not actually sure. I don't know if I remember my very first commission. You know, I started out on Deviant Art. So I'm sure it was probably like some deviant art commission. Like my first, the first thing I did that really felt professional, I got into a gallery show when I was in high school, like a local, they had it at the library. And it was like this cute thing that they did for the high school students. And I, I was placed I was a juried show, so I was like, oh, man, people like my work. Cool. I think it was it was, I did a piece for the frog prints. I was doing like fairy tales. I'm still, of course, still doing fairy tales. But even back then I did like a little watercolor of the frog prints. And that got placed in a show. And I was just like, Oh, so cool. So that was like my first step.
So what helped you develop your skills the most? If you think about it, like maybe there was some advice along the way? Like, I don't know, going for the life drawing classes. Or like, as you mentioned, the telling stories, if you can give us like, maybe specific example, maybe one or more if you want.
Yeah. Well, my, my first like, I had some of my drawing classes, one of the things that really stands out to me, when I learned how to do gesture drawings and learning anatomy, that was like a really huge key to me, because before then I'd been drawing like, you know, cartoony stuff. And so it was a huge, huge thing to like, step into fine arts and really learn, you know, perspective and color theory, and especially anatomy for me because I draw so many figures. So that was a really big deal.
Yeah, because when you practice the anatomy, you draw basically realistic, but then your artworks are really stylized and still, like, cartoony, or how to call the illustration. But you know, that behind the whole illustration, there is a skeleton, and there are the muscles and simplify the
lines, right? Yes. And that was a big challenge. You know, especially I think so many artists I deal with, and especially the people who like my style, a lot of young artists can get confused, because so many people focus on the style, and forget that you have to learn the foundation. First you have to like, like someone a teacher told me once you have to learn the rules before you can break the rules. And I always remember that, like, you know, it's okay to have like weird perspective, you look at my pieces, you know, I don't draw straight lines, you know, nothing is totally perfect. But I spent years mastering how to draw perspective, like we had in college, I had a professor who made us draw, he would make us sit for hours in the hallway, we had to draw the hallway. But of course, it was a big industrial buildings, there's like pipes. And that was the worst I hate hate drawing architecture. But, you know, after years of doing that, and practicing, I can do it without being overwhelmed by trying to draw an interior I can I can tackle that easily. Because I had so much practice in doing that. It's essential and, and with learning figures, you have to understand the skeleton, you have to understand muscle structure, you can't just like, wing it and really make it look believable, if that makes sense.
Exactly. Because as you mentioned, like Yeah, to know the rules before the break them as well. Like, I don't know, because so for example, right? And he was super, like good at realistic drawings. I was like 15 I think and and then he
understood, yeah, he understood the form and he understood you know, shadow and shape and color and all of these things are incredibly important. I took a lot of them into color theory which was which opened my eyes because before then my stuff was just kind of I was just like a free for all and I did a lot of mono monochromatic stuff because I didn't really understand color theory until I until I was pushed into learning it and it really helps and even now like I do some, some monochromatic pieces and things like that and but understanding tone and shadow helps that to make your pieces stand out and understanding complementary colors, secondary colors, a whole nother basing like basics to a lot of professional artists. But if you're still if you're learning or are confused by it, it's it's a huge, huge help.
Because also when you just start thinking about it and then you go outside and just try to observe that helps so much. So just in the back of your mind. And maybe you can mention as well like well that you're kind of the Maybe the biggest steps in your artistic process if you're starting a new project or new RFPs, you know, like, how do you do your research, do the thumbnails, maybe you set up the color palette? Or maybe you can mention some of your, you know?
Sure. Well, the first thing I do with most of my projects, what I do now, I do a huge variety of things, I do some design work, I do children's books, I do game design, all of that stuff starts with research for me, I have to get inspired by something before I can start, even if it's even when I have a time crunch. You know, I work with a lot of tight deadlines. But still, I mean, if I can just google something or get on Pinterest and look for some, like a lot of my things are period pieces. So I'll look up historical costumes, I might see a silhouette of a dress that I really like, or I'll look up some artwork from that time period and see if there's something that sort of stirs my imagination. But it all starts with research I have to do, it's essential for me to like, kind of immerse myself in what it is that I'm working on. That's the first thing. And then of course, thumbnails come next every that's just sort of standard on every client, you know, needs some previews. So thumbnails are next. And I'll usually do like five or six of those. And, you know, I'll try to several different poses. A lot of times, I'll model myself or I'll look online for artists References. Like there are some websites that have like, you know, models who stand in different poses where you can, you can look at them and or I'll just stand myself and do it. So thumbnails are next, I have to wait for approval on those, then, of course, there's always redos, and they need things fixed. And then then it goes into final lines and colors. And that part of the process ends up going pretty quickly. But it's most most time consuming to do the research and to sit there and sketch, and you just get the right composition.
Yeah. And then when you mentioned the research, do you so maybe, how do you do the research? Exactly? Kind of do you maybe search for maybe three or four icons, you know, you put maybe on the mood board, or maybe research for the hair of the character, and you mentioned costumes? So do you try to combine these kind of mood boards or just really randomly, it depends,
honestly, it's it changes from project to project. And depending on how much time I have like my big project right now, I was hired by Llewellyn to do a tarot deck. So that's a huge, huge project mean 78 cards, and it's going to take me over a year to do it. And so I have a lot of time. So I can sit down and I get on Pinterest and I set you know, for almost all of my big projects, I just make its own board. And I'll just, I'll scroll through things. I'll just Google search or I mean, Google is just such a huge tool for me, honestly, like when I'm when I'm researching things, I spend a lot of time researching like, like, if I'm not sure of the, if I know the time period of the piece, I will go and I will look on Wikipedia, I will like find out about every article of clothing and every kind of hairstyle like I get really into it, I research as much as I can. Because it's it's kind of fascinating to me how people used to live, which is why I love period work so much. So all of that stuff all then you go look it up. And if I see great images, and sometimes I'll see images that have the right mood, or like a color scheme that I like or, or something like a composition that I really like or I think is successful. I'll save all of that stuff and put it into a Pinterest board. And then I can scroll through it later and pick out things and I still I kind of like draw a little bit from all of that, to get to get to my
leg also, as you mentioned atmosphere or color, or whatever it is.
Sometimes yeah, sometimes you run across it. And often I'll run across things for other projects. And and I'll save that for other things. But yeah, you know, inspiration will hit you randomly almost, it seems.
Yeah. And when you do thumbnails, as you mentioned, you do also the poses and the composition, do you do also different thumbnails just to explore the color or that's part of that.
That's sometimes I do some some clients asked for that specifically, normally, when I once I do the line work, I'll put it in Photoshop. And then I'll do several different layers and try different colors when the line work is done. Usually the most the farthest I'll get with thumbnails is tones like I'll do blacks and whites to see which which you know, which characters need to come out in which things in the background and we push back that kind of stuff, but color color usually comes later for me. And I know lots of artists do of course color thumbnails, and some clients prefer to have color options ahead of time which then of course I'll do usually usually that's later for me
so you prefer to work with the value tones, right the same style you structure. Yeah, because, for example, I prefer to work with the color and the kind of the feeling where they are a different color tumbler. That's really interesting. Yeah. And when you mentioned like that you have the tight deadline. So how do you kind of schedule your day or how do you plan your week? You know, how do you limit yourself like okay, I have maybe one day to do that. So do I have one hour or, you know, prioritize the project and stuff?
It depends if the project has a really, really strict deadline, and then the research, of course, takes, you know, sort of a backseat, and I just limit myself to, you know, a few minutes or an hour or something like that, it changes every day. And with every project, there's no I have no structure at all. It's a complete free for all. Because I like to, I like to sort of tinker around with things like, I'll do a lot of doodles and sketches and just sort of wait for something to fall into place. If I have the time to do that, that's my favorite way to work is just sort of get it on paper. And, you know, just play with it until it feels right. So there it's very loose. What how I work. But I've had projects when I worked with universal on the huntsman video game, and desert Allah games. When I did that, that was I we have I mean, I had up seriously tight deadline, everything had to be in very quickly. And I was lucky to have a really good team who helped me, they had people who helped me color. And they helped with doing the backgrounds. And so it ended up going very quickly. But that one was a real challenge for me, because there were tons of characters, I mean, animals and creatures. That was a big, big, big project. And a lot of it we didn't even end up using, so it was just like, oh my gosh, is mind blowing how much how much work it was. But that one, I definitely I would get up early in the morning, I would start sketching because at night, they, they would be emailing me, because they were in California. And so I would get emails in the morning, I'd have to see everything I had to fix. And then we did like we all did a big team check in meeting through slack. And I was just like, oh, I have so much work. But it was it was so much fun. And I learned so much. And that that big project was one of my that was in 2016, I think. And that was one that really taught me time management, because it was so nice to have a structure and have to like have meetings, you know, it was really interesting. So that helps me to sort of plan my day like start off sketching, only limit myself to one two hours and then move on to this other thing. And then like later, I would have finished line work. And that's when I would start coloring. And that's all in the computer. So it was like it was nice to structure myself that way.
Because now you use Photoshop, I guess or some other tools as well, you cannot live without
just Photoshop. That was my big main tool. Behind me, you'll see I've got a little drawing table, a drafting table, and I use a light tablet for transferring sketches. I work traditionally, in the first stage, I'll draw and sketch on paper, take those sketches and then transfer them onto watercolor paper and do inks on top of that with the light, you know behind it so I can see it. And then I'll watercolor it, scan it and then all the coloring is done in Photoshop.
Oh yeah. Because then you kind of combined all of the traditional images. So why do you prefer the traditional compared to maybe just sketching directly digital because it's faster, but then the textures? Maybe?
Yeah, to me, it's the texture but also, I've bought every kind of tool for we're trying digital drawing, I really have tried, I'm trying I've gotten tablets and I mean all kinds of stuff. It is just to me. It doesn't feel right, if that makes sense. Like drawing on paper feels better to me. I like the way the ink on paper looks. I know like people have told me there's there's brushes you can download that you know you can you can get it if the to me just does not seem the same. Maybe eventually I'll try it again and and see if I can try it but because I feel like it would save a lot of time and it would be it probably be easier for me to do it all digital. But just for now I love the way paper feels I love the way ink looks and and of course sketching on paper. There's just nothing like it. So yeah.
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I really hate drawing around people I feel I feel like every time I try it, someone always comes over to my table and wants to see what I'm doing. And it drives me crazy. I'm not I'm not incredibly socialist. I'm not great about that. But you know, in college, we used to do that I had groups of friends, you know, we were an art school. So groups of us would go out and we do like plein air painting. And that was always so much fun. I took oil painting we did like oil painting outside and it was like, it was just super cool. But these days no, I am in my studio, I am pretty much drawn, drawn to my table and stuck there for hours and hours. I do keep a little sketchbook for when I travel. And that's usually just in case I have you know, because I've got a bunch of clients and sometimes people say, you know, Oh, could you just fix this one thing and so I'll have to like get on get on the sketch and on the sketch pad and I'll be working on the train I've done I've definitely done a few paintings on trains before, which is fun.
If someone is kind of just starting to work with clients will do advise, you know, like, maybe charging wise do charge per hour per project, or per day, or you know, what is the best from your experience?
Well, there's a lot of debate about this right now, actually, there's some great articles going around about what our illustrators in particular should be doing. Because there's been a lot of confusion over the years about the worth of illustrators, which is is pretty. It can be, you know, a little discouraging for young artists because it seems like you it's just so hard to get ahead. As an illustrator. It's a very competitive field and it's very confusing. You don't always know what to charge people but I started off doing like $20 Commission's on Deviant Art, I was pretty young, and I didn't understand. But I felt like you know, a little drawing might take me now or is those that don't really know. So what my mom ended up telling me she she ran her own business for a while doing decorating and she charged per hour. And when she started out, so I thought, I don't know maybe like 50 An hour would be right and my dad in particular was like Don't undersell, don't undersell yourself, you know, you should charge more. And you know, he still says that even though I'm making pretty good money now. But my dad was always like the hard ass about it. Like you have to charge so much money. And so I did I started charging like 20 or 50 an hour and then that got to be when I started getting bigger projects. It got to be way too confusing to keep track of all that stuff. So I have flat rates now, which is usually like quarter page illustration, half page illustration, full page dustjacket that kind of thing. So it'll go from like, you know 150 250 it goes again, it goes up from there 300, whatever, depending on the project. So it does it changes.
Because it's also like, if we think about, like, how much value we actually bring to the, to the client, you know, if? Or maybe, do you ask as well, how the illustration is used? You know, like, if they sell, I don't know, like, merchandise, or because like, how much revenue it will actually bring?
Oh, yeah, there's also there's licensing. I mean, there's so much now, like, I've learned so much along the way, but you know, starting out, it can be, it can be daunting, you know, it's hard to know, the value of your work when it's being used, not just for, you know, book, but also like, like merchandise, like you said, I mean, sometimes things have, there's resale, and I've worked with museums where they've, you know, I've had stuff on consignment, like, I've had things where they've just done limited editions, you know, the tests, like, all these things you need to consider when you're doing it, and I actually have an agent, now, who helps me with this stuff. So when I get bigger projects, like books, you know, doing a fully illustrated book, The contracts for those can be very overwhelming, you know, you're just like, Oh, my God, this much money is amazing. But you do need someone to like reel you in, and, you know, help you make sure that you're getting enough with royalties. And I mean, all this, there's just so much that is involved with it. And then of course, negotiating prices, where I would start off where I would get a contract and be like, Oh, my God, you know, $1,000 is amazing. And, you know, I'm now looking back, I, you know, talk my talk to my agent about it, and she just laughed, she's like, Oh, my God, you realize you could have been paid so much more for this. When you're starting, when, you know, when you're just when you're doing it yourself, you don't really know, you know, the value. And I went freelance pretty early. I mean, if there's one thing I could change about the way that I have, sort of run my business, I guess you could say if I could change one thing, I would have slowed down. I jumped right in. When I was still in college, I was really anxious to get started. I wanted to be an illustrator after after college. So like, I set up my website, I hadn't postcards, I was, you know, I had a client list to like people I wanted to work with, like, and it was, of course, you know, Simon and Schuster, like, like, huge, like, impossible clients, but I made lists. And you know, I was like, I'm going to do this. But of course, I got rejected from everything, because of my work just wasn't, it was you know, I was college student work. I was not where I needed to be. So I wish I had slowed down a little bit and like, taking some time off and just worked on my portfolio, but I was just too anxious. So my like, looking at my portfolio portfolio from college. I'm just like, Oh, what was I thinking? But yeah,
yeah. So if you're, like, maybe applying for, like, working with a client is that Does that still happen like your networking, or they always come to you now at this stage?
Now, fortunately, these last, you know, knock on when these last three or four years or so I've been very, very fortunate to have my work come to me, which is still blows my mind, I think that's just kind of crazy. But yeah, I got lucky. And it's a lot of online networking and pestering people, definitely push my portfolio. And my agent, of course, helps a lot. She has my work, of course on hand, and she helps me with with getting jobs. And so I do still reach out to galleries. And I do still reach out to publishers. And I've gotten some work that way as well. But most of the bulk of my work is coming to me now, which is really cool. And how
did you find the the agent which like you are happy with and you know, fits with your goals and everything?
Yeah, that was that was sort of crazy how that happened. The first agent I worked with, I'm with the same agency red sofa, but the first agent I worked with, she just was a fan. She liked my work. And so she approached me and said, you know, we have this small agency, you know, we really love your work, we I think we can represent you. And so I signed on with them. And it ended up being really, really great. Now they're a literary agency. So like, it's not really like an art agent, which is a it's a different thing, usually for gallery artists, but they helped me so much with finding and talking to potential clients, you know, they get an agency will get your pitch and your manuscript into the right hands. Whereas almost all publishers, they do not take unsolicited manuscripts, so it helps to have an agency help you out in that in that regard. So they found me actually
agencies like in your area where you live, or they're like from different country.
This agency is from America, but they have they work with artists like me all over the world, and so they're very, very flat. Trouble. But yeah, they're American based.
So when you mentioned you are in Italy, why are you in Italy?
I abandoned America
travel Are you worried from Italy or
I live here, my husband is Italian. He he was born and raised here. But then he came to America and we met and, you know, fell in love and got married. And we spent four years together there. And we, you know, we would come back to Italy to visit his family and stuff. And every time we came here, I was just like, Oh, my God, do we have to leave, you know, I love it here, I really have to go back to America. And, and we, we seriously talked about it, we had a house in Richmond. And after a year of that, we were kinda like, you know, wait, we could probably make it work in Italy. And you know, we could probably do it. And so we did you know, we, I sold everything, and my husband had a green card for America. But we ended up just coming right back to Italy. And we got an apartment here. And you know, we've settled in, it's been about a year now. So, you know, it's a little culture shock for me. And this is a new city, we're in turn. So it's just, it's different, but it's what I've really wanted, you know, it was I grew up in America, of course, and I, you know, I love it, but, and Virginia is so beautiful. But after a while I was I was just kind of thinking I think I would be happier in you know, in Europe, I came here and I felt like I was already at home and we traveled here regularly. And we've gone, you know, to a few other places. And Italy really struck a chord with me. So we decided we would move here and it's been really wonderful.
How is your Italian? Terrible? But yeah, you can go around the beat
a little bit. But yeah, I'm still learning I really want to enroll in a class here because I really want to be like super fluent. You know, my husband's a little bit but yeah, it's it's a slow process.
Perfect. And when you mentioned that you have a studio do you have to travel to the studio? Or it's kind of like it digitally or
it's in my apartment? Yep, I have this is this area is my studio. It's a big 17 foot long room. It's just a big open space. We just moved in literally in January or early early January late December. And so it's been a you know a little bit of a process to get it like you know, own situated it's a bigger space than I'm used to. I always work at home I don't like to have to go out and go somewhere else or pay rent on another building but this this is my my workspace and it felt like a it's got a little balcony and big windows so I kind of
do because then it's also good that is not like your bedroom or living room because it's like a separate space. different fields. Okay, now I'm working and now I'm relaxing.
Exactly, exactly. It's really important to like not have it too close to like the home area.
And like how much time do you spend maybe working? Do you take weekends off? Or do you work usually at night? Are you like a night owl or productive
early morning and late at night? During the day? There's a lot of stuff we have to take care of usually like you know, there's just a regular errands life stuff Yeah, like like right now actually, I have to like run to the post office I have to you know, send artwork to a gallery like I've just always there's always something that needs to get done. And then of course it's just regular things like groceries and whenever I'm in Italy everybody takes the middle of the day off so
from some areas
oh my god it can be it can be so crazy but so I have to like block out times during the like morning and afternoon to like run out and do things but middle of the day everything is very quiet. Usually I take some time off and as in the middle of the day. And but I'm usually up till 2am I for some reason, even if I get up really early, like early morning is when I'll do my focus stuff like if I have to write something if I have to like answer interview questions or answer emails, like I really need to focus I do that stuff in the morning and I'll do a lot of research in the morning but it's nighttime is when I really relax and it's just when I can sort of get in the zone of drawing and for some reason that's just the nighttime works better for that for me
yeah really nice and when you also talked about the the client work so how do you what do you leave from mainly Is it the client work or the illustration for the books you also sell your own prints? So maybe like whichever one is the biggest chunk for you or like how do you combine your income streams?
It's all it's all of it pretty pretty equally. I do pretty good regular sales from my print shop, which is great because they sell worldwide and they take and society six they take care of all the printing In shipping for me, I don't have to worry about any of that. That's a huge chunk of my income. And then the freelance work, which is all the contract work and private commissions, all of that stuff. That's, that's the other really big chunk. But yeah, that's
nice. Because it's always nice to see you how people combining like, do you use Patreon? Or you sell art brains or whatever?
Yes, right? Yep, I'm on, I'm on Patreon as well. And that's, I have like 30 I think, patrons, it's not a big thing. I'm really bad about remembering to advertise it. But I do have a little bit of income from that as well, which is great. So it comes in from a few different sources, but mostly, it's the freelance and the print sales. Those are my big, my big income.
Oh, cool. So now now people can go check out your Patreon so we can. Perfect. And if we think about also, like along the way, the whole art career, what would you consider the most difficult time because that's usually the time where we learned the most or maybe if you can share, like, what would be the takeaway kind of from this time?
Most difficult times. Usually, I mean, I think this is true for pretty much anyone is whenever there's personal things that come up, like our move to Italy was huge for me, of course, it was for Davidow as well. But it was, I mean, it was exhausting. We had to We sold everything that we owned in America, we couldn't bring any furniture. So we just whatever we can carry in like six suitcases. And you know, the flight was really long. And then this physical moving we when we first moved to Italy, ame is a we were staying near where his mother lives, which is anywhere in the north. And it was Albenga is the name of the city, but she lived in or to Barrow, and we moved to Ronzo, which is our little tiny medieval mountain village. And we moved there just because it was convenient it was you know, when we got to El Banga, we would get on the bus and have to bust up the mountain to our little apartment. It was an adventure for a while it's like getting used to this culture. And you know, in little mountain villages in Italy, it's a bunch of you know, it's elderly people, and none of them speak English. And it was really fascinating to me and a big learning experience. So that was like, I just just getting used to life in Italy was it was wonderful and exciting. But I could not create I was I found it very hard for the first probably the whole month, the whole first month we were here. I had to of course, I had to like order desks and tables and like things to work on. Like all of this stuff. I had to. I had my beautiful iMac from from America that I had that had my computer. And you know, and that was it. I just found it so hard to I had no real studio, I had a spare bedroom in the apartment we were in. And I just sort of set things up there. But there was no window and it was just sort of small and dark. And I had such a hard time with that. And it's not like it was a devastating thing, you know, but it did stifle my creativity for a long time. And I had trouble with that. I mean, but of course anytime I go through, like when I was younger, I guess in my early 20s I had a bad breakup. And that really shook me up and I had a hard time I that was just an awful time in my life. I got into it immediately after that got into a car crash. And yeah, it was it was awful. Like, it was like every bad thing that could happen happened at once during that time. Again, that slowed me down a lot. But after a while you just start us just start to slowly get back into work and finding that creative spark again, and it does it does eventually come back. But it took a while. And of course Yeah, whenever, you know, the hard times come it's usually just life that's gonna
happen. Yeah, so the takeaway from it would be that it just you have to go through it and then you just accept that like, okay, maybe the creativity is not there right now, but it will come back.
And I always knew that because you know, throughout your life, you as creators, you know, everyone knows, it never goes away completely and like feel like it's gone for a while but it always does come back and how I deal with that really is just I tried to stay inspired. And sometimes it feels like oh my gosh, you know, how can you say that? You know, stay inspired. It's impossible. But you know, sometimes it's just watching movies. You know, I would watch a really beautiful movie or listen to music I would find a new artist to listen to I would go to a museum I had there were like always galleries to go to and events. It could come from anywhere. It could just come from a walk in the woods. You know, traveling helps me a lot if I go to a new place and get lost. You know I kind of enjoy that inventor and it could be anything like that to spark the crate.
Do you have maybe like advice to young self you know something you wish you knew before you started the art gallery?
I definitely I would tell, I mean, any young artist, I would tell myself if I could go back, just be patient, stop trying to rush it, you know, don't don't rush into it. And it can be. I mean, especially I don't know how young artists do it these days with like Instagram and seeing like constant, amazing artists doing great things. And it must be so overwhelming. You know, I'm kind of glad that I didn't have that when I was starting out, you know, we had Live Journal and MySpace. And that's it. Like, it wasn't too overwhelming. Like, I would go to bookstores and see other illustrators and be like, oh, man, you know, but, I mean, everyone wants to, like, publish their artwork and be the next great artist. And I feel like if you just slow down and take your time, learn the craft, experiment and explore. And don't worry about having an amazing style. Don't worry about being the best draftsman, you know, don't worry about how well you paint. Focus on creating and, and finding joy in creating and drawing the things you love, not what you think people will love, but what you really enjoy. Take your time and have patience, and the rest will come
definitely and healthy. Also, we did telling you the story is in your artworks, right? Do you write like notes, you know, when you have a story or?
Yeah, it's terrible. Actually, I've, I've gotten so distracted recently, in the past two years, I started writing, and I'm really interested in fairy tales. So I've been like rewriting my own fairy tales. And I'll come up with like, this is just a way to keep me sane, to be honest here, because there's so much work that I have to do. And a lot of it's very demanding. And there's a lot of pressure. And sometimes it's it's not even like I take a break from drawing, I'll keep drawing to take a break, but I'll be drawing my own things, you know, exploring my own fairy tales, and having fun with my own characters and you know, developing their world. And so I yeah, I've gotten into that a lot.
Oh, perfect, then so what about like the future? What is your dream scenario? You know, like, what would you like to be working on in like, five to 10 years? And it's like, okay, this is how it will be for me.
Well, one of the things that's kind of crazy for me now is that, like, for example, like right now, I'm working on this tarot deck. And years ago, you know, when I was in college and working with Llewellyn, they were on my list, you know, I love that publisher. And I always wanted to work with them. And I always thought, Oh, my God, it'd be so cool to do a tarot deck. And now, here I am, is so amazing. And they contacted me. Yeah, they contacted me out of the blue. It was like a complete surprise. It was just like, I don't know, everything lined up perfectly. And it just happened. Of course, you know, I'm almost 30 now. And it took me a long time to get here. But so for example, like it does, it does happen, you know, when I, when I was asked, when I was younger, well, how do you see yourself in 10 years, I'm there and I'm doing what I wanted to do, which is an incredible thing, I think. And I'm really, really lucky. And I'm so happy to be where I am now. But from here in the next 10 years, I think, I think I would love to see myself doing writing and illustrating my own books for you know, bigger publishers, I love to see my fairy tales, you know, take form, I'm thinking more like graphic novels or something or like fully illustrated books, especially young adult. I've done a lot of kids stuff. I've done some children's books, but I'd love to get into young adult and graphic novels. So maybe in the next 10 years, well, we'll see something like that.
I'm looking forward to see though I'm sure. It'd be awesome. I would love that. Yeah. And one of my last question is like, what would you like to be remembered for? You know, in like, 100 years, like super far in the future? Oh, my gosh,
if anyone was gonna remember me? Um, I don't know. Not one thing in particular, really, I hope that I hope that, you know, I have a lot of artists, young artists who have contacted me now who say that my work inspires them and that they that they've seen my work on DeviantArt years ago, and they still follow me like I would, you know, and that's just a few years back, but I would hope that in many years to come that my artwork, whichever pieces they are still can inspire people still can make people feel, you know, a little touch of darkness and romance or something, you know, something that's Dalek, I hope that my artwork will continue to do that
for for future generations. Just bring some emotion from the artwork. Yeah,
or seeing the picture and telling their own story for it. I I love that about some of the things that I do that some of my pieces, people will say, you know, I looked at this immediately and already came up with a storyboard. I think that's so cool that, you know, an illustration can do that for someone. I hope that continues.
Yeah, I totally agree. Because yeah, that's something which it can bring creativity in someone.
That's right. And I think that's amazing. I feel like there's so many people who say, you know, oh, I don't have a creative bone in my body. New York, I can't draw I can, ya know, it's everyone's creative. Everyone has their own their own brand of creativity. So you know, if it makes you feel something or think of a of a story, then that's wonderful. I think that's a really, really important.
Exactly, yeah. And so before we say goodbye, maybe you can share, like, last piece of advice or key takeaway, and then we will slowly finish.
Yeah. Well, I think it's just a very important that, you know, one of the questions I always, always get from people, as they say, your as your style is so unique. It's, it's so interesting. How did you do it? And I always tell people, especially the very young artists, you know, I did it by accident. You know, I didn't mean to draw like this. It was something. You know, like we said earlier, I learned the fundamentals of fine art UI startup drawing, realistically, my first drawings were like with, with actual shading, and, like proper proportions, like, my early stuff, looked like normal, regular fine art. I developed a style after studying lots of artists like I looked at so many artists, you know, Harry Clark, and Aubrey Beardsley. Of course, Arthur Rackham, and Ben Duloc. All those people, I studied lots and lots of artists and illustrators. And eventually, I started to find like, you know, I like to draw chairs this way, I like to shade this way. I like this kind of hatching, and it was totally by accident, and you wake up one day years later, and you're like, oh, I have a style now. So I would tell people, you know, it is not so important that you focus on finding a style, it is important for an artist to have a style, it's important to be unique and to stand out. But you should focus more on, on just creating on trying lots of different things. tried lots of different styles. If you're not sure. Study lots of artists and the style will come eventually.
Definitely. Yeah, I totally agree. That's a really great advice to finish this conversation. So thank you so much, again, for being here. It was so great.
Thank you so much for having me. This is really fun. It's great talking to
you. Oh, thank you so much. Definitely. My pleasure. And thanks, everyone who joined us today and hope you are inspired and go continue creating something. So see you in the next episode. And thanks again. Thank you so much. Hey, guys, thank you so much for listening. I really appreciate you being here. You can find all the resources mentioned in this episode at Art Side of Life. Just type a guest name in the search bar. There is also a couple of free artists resources ready for you on the website as well. So go check it out. If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe and leave a review on iTunes or Stitcher so I can region inspire more artists like you. If you want to watch the interviews, head over to artsideoflife.com/youtube. Continue to inspire each other and I will talk to you guys in the next episode. Bye.
Thanks for listening to the Art Side of Life podcast at www.artsideoflife.com
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Home » 05/07/17 Wiqas Ahmad
05/07/17 Wiqas Ahmad
This week on Century Of Lies, we hear from Wiqas Ahmad, a drug policy reform activist and youth advocate based in Pakistan. Plus, skeletons in Congressman Tom Marino's closet have popped the White House's trial balloon about Marino becoming the next Drug Czar, and a leaked White House memo reveals that the Czar's office may be for the chop.
Wiqas Ahmad
Download: col050717.mp3
Drug War Facts
DEAN BECKER: The failure of drug war is glaringly obvious to judges, cops, wardens, prosecutors, and millions more now calling for for decriminalization, legalization, the end of prohibition. Let us investigate the Century Of Lies.
DOUG MCVAY: Hello, and welcome to Century Of Lies. Century Of Lies is a production of the Drug Truth Network for the Pacifica Foundation Radio Network, on the web at DrugTruth.net. I'm your host Doug McVay, editor of DrugWarFacts.org.
WIQAS AHMAD: My name is Wigas Ahmad. I am a youth activist and advocate for young people in Pakistan, especially, I'm working for young people who are living with the stigma -- stigma of gender identify, stigma of drugs, and stigma of health, which is HIV AIDS. So I'm working for young people in Pakistan, and -- yeah.
DOUG MCVAY: What is -- so tell me about the work you do in Pakistan. You're doing organizing around -- for, with Students for Sensible Drug Policy, and around drug use. I caught part of your panel a moment ago, but I walked in midway through, so, I hate to ask you to repeat yourself, but could you tell me what you were just telling folks in the other room?
WIQAS AHMAD: Yeah, actually, you know, there, we were discussing about the situation of Pakistan. As you see, in Pakistan, I'm working as an ambassador for SSDP in Pakistan, as well as I'm working for Youth Rise and International Working Group. It's a global -- both are global networks.
In Pakistan at this time, 8.9 million drug users are living, according to UNODC. Yeah, it's a big number, but internationally, when we see mostly about the Pakistan, so they're publishing different news about the militancy and those people who are dying from the militancy, but we don't publish about the drug war happening in Pakistan. Because of the drug war there are more than 700 people dying daily. It's the report of, like, UNODC, and this is international reports that there are 700 people dying daily, 700 drug users dying daily.
So, it's a big number, but, it needs international highlighting, and, yeah. There is, like, in local media, there is -- they are published in different newspapers, but internationally it needs highlight, that this number should be highlighted, and this needs a big support, to stop this war on drugs and the criminal policies, and policies should shift from the criminal to the health, public health policies, and to the human rights based policies, where the drug users have access to their basic human rights, to live equally and to not isolate, because in Pakistan the maximum number of drug users living in isolation and in exclusion from their communities.
There are pressing criminal charges from the government side, and there are also, like -- there are three type of challenges to drug users. One is from the government, the government policies and war on drugs. Second is from the religious people. They consider it as a sin. They consider it against Islam, and because we are living in a Muslim society, they consider it against the religion and even when you're talking about the human rights of drug users, they are looking at you, like, are you a Muslim? Also, third, is misinformation or wrong information in the community, the perception built by wrong information in the community.
So, these three challenges are killing daily a lot of young drug users.
DOUG MCVAY: The -- when they talk about drug users, this would be any illicit drug? So it would include hashish and marijuana as well as hard drugs, or are we looking -- is that mostly just people -- are they counting, basically, in talking, about people using hard drugs? I mean, is there are larger number who are doing other stuff?
WIQAS AHMAD: Yes, it includes all type of drugs. Because, if you see, marijuana, cannabis and poppies coming from Afghanistan though Pakistan for international -- a spreading international market, and especially in the city where I'm living, Peshawar, it's on the border of Afghanistan. So, we see there are a lots of people suffer in the cities, just because of this war on drugs.
DOUG MCVAY: It's a Muslim society, so I presume alcohol is not exactly widespread, or is that a -- have we here in the US managed to corrupt people that way as well?
WIQAS AHMAD: Yeah, it's a very good question, it's a very good question. Actually, in Pakistan, they ban alcohol. They consider it a drug in the religion, and that's why they have banned it in the country, but in Pakistan, there are some areas, like Sindh. Sindh is a province in Pakistan where Karachi is the main capitol of that province. There is allowed alcohol for non-Muslims. Right? But, their local high court, Sindh High Court, just about a month ago, I saw in the news that they ordered that it shall be stopped and it shall be illegal if someone's doing the business of alcohol in that area, even if they are non-Muslim.
But, then, just two, three days ago, our Supreme Court issued an order, that we cancel that order, which was issued by the Sindh High Court, and they said that Sindh High Court doesn't have authority to publish such orders. So it was a good sign, a good move. But, yeah, when it's banned, so, like, there are a lot of alcohol drinkers in Pakistan, and they don't have access to a quality of drinks, or quality of wines, so, yeah, it's a big challenge.
DOUG MCVAY: So, well, in the US, when we banned it, we just -- people just made stills and brewed their own, which, which, yeah, tends to be dangerous, because you might have adulterants. Is that, I mean -- wow. Do they -- we called them moonshiners. Do you have, do people produce alcohol for themselves if it's, since it's illegal.
WIQAS AHMAD: Yeah, when it's illegal, international and the quality for coming to Pakistan, so people are producing these products locally, and they give them different names, and, like Tara, and they are so many names for the local products, even sometimes they smuggle international bottles and just mix morphine and different tablets and water in them, and then they are selling in the name of international brands in the Pakistani communities. So the product is still coming to the Pakistani community, but it is not that much pure and that much a quality product.
So that's why it's -- it's also a big challenge from a health perspective, if you see that are people use these -- like those people who drink wine, and alcohol, so they consume also those unhealthy substances by the name of other quality brands.
DOUG MCVAY: So, tell me about the -- tell me a little about the work that you're doing with Youth Rise. That's an organization I'm somewhat -- I'm a little familiar with, but I know you do, the Youth Rise does work internationally, and, well obviously among young, but --
WIQAS AHMAD: Actually, our organization is working globally for drugs and harm reduction. We are more focusing on the young people to reduce harm related to drugs, and for that purpose we are sensitized -- we are doing different sessions with the young people, we sensitize, doing sensitization of parliamentarians. We helped a theater program, there our volunteers are going to different communities to promote awareness about the harm reduction community, and through their theaters, and their different plays, they, our activists are using social media as a tool to promote awareness and to connect the different young people. Yeah.
And recently, we are working to establish a help line for the drug users in Pakistan, because it's very much important to have a help line for those people who use drugs to excess. Because, in Pakistan, if you see, on one side there are 8.9 million drug users, but there are only, in government, there are 30,000 beds in the government hospitals for drug users.
So on one side, 8.9 million people, and on the second side, the help facilities for our drug users are only 30,000. So it's very shameful what our government does, well, like, that is a big number. So, yeah, but, if you see that, there is an opportunity as well for Pakistan if they legalize these drugs. So, on one side, the 8.9 million citizens will have access to a quality product. Secondly it will do very much better for the country's economy. Third, it will also help people to get access to quality of education about drug use.
As I mentioned that in the FATA, if you go to -- this is an area on the border of Afghanistan, if you go there, you will see people using drugs like family, parents, sharing drugs with their children. And there is no issue, because there are no government policies working, neither Afghanistan government policies nor implementing our Pakistani, they have their own traditional policies, and those policies, when they're supplied -- they produce drugs for different communities, in the same time in their communities, when you visit there, so, parents teaching their children, as well.
Their grandfather and their brothers, teaching their children about the health education for drugs and to take the quality product, and they -- even -- there is so much experience, when you show them a product, they will tell you that which quality -- what is the quality of this product. So, it's regarded -- there is no policy, so there is health education, which is traditional health education, but secondly, there, the people, the drug users, have access to a quality product. There are no drug users who are living in the streets of that area.
So, it's like a model, but still the war is continuing there, media don't have access to that area, to the FATA area, and most of the time I request to those media people, to journalists, to go and see the situation of FATA. Apart from the drug war, apart from the militancy and those things, you can check the people, those who use drugs, you will never see an isolated person, a person excluded in those communities, because there is no stigma or discrimination against drug users. They're considered as part of their traditional community system. Yeah.
DOUG MCVAY: That's what I -- wow, see, that's my -- you heard me ranting a minute ago, the, I firmly believe that a lot of this is just based on the, you know, we just, we don't accept the humanity of other people, whatever difference it is, whether it's where you come from or the color of your skin or maybe it's just the, you know, I chose to use this drug. Okeh, well you're no longer human. And, and that -- doesn't, that's not the problem there, they accept the humanity of people around them. That's --
WIQAS AHMAD: Yeah. In FATA area, especially like -- from FATA, there is about two kilometers away my city, Peshawar. There you will see hundreds of people living under the bridges, under the streets, taking drugs and excluded from their families, and their families hurt them, their community hurts them, their government have strict regulations, government throwing them -- throwing water on them sometimes, sending them to jails, and like every bad society and government can do, they are doing with them. But, on the other side, there are, only two kilometers away there is the FATA area, and there are like -- the situation is better, even though the drug is coming from that area.
So, there -- when there is legalization, there is responsibility. And when there is responsibility, there is acceptability, and there is respect for human rights. So, we need to legalize drugs fast so it will bring all these to society, to be more respectable, and they'll live and become a good taxpayer for our countries as well.
DOUG MCVAY: Yeah, it's brilliant. Do you have any closing thoughts for our listeners? And I know, we're -- we're in between sessions and there's loads of people coming by, so, any closing thoughts.
WIQAS AHMAD: Yeah. I will say that, most of -- when you're in Pakistan, people ask me, you are working for drug users, for drugs to be legalized, but drugs kill people. So, I want to tell to the listeners that drugs do not kill people. It's the stigma, it's the exclusion from society, it's the discrimination, it's the war on drugs that kills people daily. In other words, drugs themselves do not kill people. So legalize the drugs.
DOUG MCVAY: Thank you so much.
That was Wigas Ahmad. Wiqas is a youth activist from Pakistan who's working in health and education with a focus on young people to have access to all their rights, including health, education, and enjoying a peaceful life. He started his activism at a very young age by joining the school scout team and volunteering with his village social organization Youth Welfare Society. Wiqas is the current Executive Director for the Initiative for Youth and Sustainable Development in Pakistan and is a part of several different international and national networks like Youth Peer Education Network, International AIDS Society, Youth Rise, and Students for Sensible Drug Policy.
You are listening to Century Of Lies, a production of the Drug Truth Network for the Pacifica Foundation Radio Network, on the web at DrugTruth.net. I'm your host Doug McVay, editor of DrugWarFacts.org.
Well, you'll recall, the White House floated a trial balloon, the possibility of US Representative Tom Marino, a Republican from Pennsylvania, with some incredibly outdated ideas about drug policy, was potentially going to be named as the new Drug Czar. No official announcement ever got made by the White House. The trial balloon went up and it looks like there are enough skeletons in Congressman Marino's closet that that trial balloon dropped like it was made of lead -- the proverbial lead zeppelin.
Well, Tom Marino's withdrawing his name from consideration, considering it wasn't really ever put forward that's interesting but never mind. So, we're left with Richard Baum, who is the Acting Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy. Baum has been there for 18 years, and what's really intriguing to me at least is that there is very, very little that you can find -- video, audio -- by Richard Baum. It's amazing. I am looking, and when I can finally find something, I'll get it for you.
He attended a UN University event in 2015, that had to do with the upcoming UNGASS. Recording of that event? Nowhere to be found. Again, if someone out there could please find any recordings of this guy, and get them over to me, I would be very grateful. We'll find out more eventually, in fact we'll find out what exactly the White House has in mind for the Office of National Drug Control Policy over the next few months. A memo was recently leaked -- by the White House, by the drug control policy office, oh heavens, who knows. It's Washington, the leak probably came from several different sources.
On Friday May Fifth, the White House press briefing, Deputy Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders was asked about this leaked memo, and so let's listen.
SARAH HUCKABEE SANDERS: Margaret.
MARGARET TALEV: Thank you, Sarah. Really interesting and I thought surprising story on Politico, saying that there's a plan by the Trump administration to gut the national -- the Office of National Drug Control Policy, and I'm just wondering if you could tell us, is that report correct? And why? Is the thinking to, I mean, obviously he cares about the opioid addiction problem, he talked about that and brought Chris Christie into the mix. What would be the reason for gutting that office? Is it to move it somewhere else? I've got a French election question also. I'll wait, though.
SARAH HUCKABEE SANDERS: Look, my first piece of advice would never be to use Politico for a source of -- for your story, but in terms, when it comes to the opioid epidemic, I think the president's been extremely clear, this is a top priority for him. I certainly wouldn't get ahead of the conversations about the budget. We haven't had a final document, and I think it would be ridiculous to comment on a draft version of something at this point.
MARGARET TALEV: Would you loosely address the idea that he's contemplating a substantial cut to that office, and to move that sort of work outside of that office?
SARAH HUCKABEE SANDERS: I'm not going to comment on ongoing discussions. Again, there's not a final document. When there is, we'd certainly be happy to discuss that. I think the bigger point here is the president has made very clear that the opioid epidemic in this country is a huge priority for him, something he is certainly very focused on tackling, and something that I think was ignored by the previous administration that won't go ignored in this one.
DOUG MCVAY: That was Margaret Talev asking a question of Sarah Huckabee Sanders regarding the leaked memo from the Office of National Drug Control Policy that indicates that the ONDCP, the drug czar's office, may be for the chop.
Again, another trial balloon. We don't know what all is going to happen. And what's important is, it's not like the drug war is centered in the drug czar's office. That's a mouthpiece, but the real work still gets done by the Justice Department, and Health and Human Services on the other side, on that soft, or demand reduction, side, the one that really works. The criminal justice stuff, that's still headed up by Attorney General Jefferson Beauregard Sessions III, and his extremely backward views on drug policy are already wellknown by listeners to the Century Of Lies, we've played plenty of his stuff in the past.
As more news comes out, we'll be reporting it. In the meantime, the one thing we do know: Congressman Tom Marino will not become our next drug czar, and the drug czar's office is going to be fighting for its continued existence. Expect to see a lot of Democrats coming forward to talk about how wonderful the drug czar's office is, expect to see Republicans sitting back and just letting the other side do their work for them, as they continue mounting a drug war.
While we have time, let's hear from one of our old friends, Sanho Tree. Sanho gave the keynote address at the close of the Students for Sensible Drug Policy conference this year in Portland, Oregon. His address dealt with the dictator of the Philippines, Rodrigo Duterte. So, let's hear a little bit of what Sanho had to say.
SANHO TREE: All right, and you know the way Donald Trump tweets stuff, that he probably shouldn't tweet? Duterte says these things on camera over and over again, including just -- admissions that boggle the mind. For instance, he admitted recently that he had been taking fentanyl, and using it, and abusing it. Fentanyl. Right? Which is, you know, many times more powerful than heroin or morphine, and he's been using this at a high dose because he has chronic pain and other health issues, his doctor prescribed one quarter of a patch. Right?
And he's been -- then he told his doctor, well I told him I was taking the whole patch. Quadruple the dose, and his doctor said this is abuse levels. You have to stop. And he said this, all of this in front of cameras, in a press conference, not realizing the irony that he was putting people to death for using methamphetamine, shabu it's called in the Philippines. And that's the primary drug we're talking about here, while he himself has been under the influence of very high doses of fentanyl.
But, and this is the same person that Donald Trump congratulated, the first people, first international leaders he called in December, before he even was inaugurated, Donald Trump called Duterte and congratulated, and they talked to each other, and he congratulated Duterte on his drug war, he said you're doing it the right way.
So, I'm not very hopeful in terms of getting US policy to put pressure on the Philippines, and there are limitations to what we can do, because the Philippines is also making a strategic pivot towards China and away from the US. But, at the same time, there are other issues at play, so that there's a Trump Tower in Manila. Of course there is. And, so, one of the first things Duterte, President Duterte does, is appoint the developer of Trump Tower of Manila to be his special representative to the United States. Talk about cashing in on business connections, right?
And so, it's more important than ever to really pressure the State Department to take on -- take a more firm position on these things, even though the State Department is relegated to, you know, it's been marginalized under Secretary Tillerson. But, what we have in the Philippines is a combination of two vicious forces. One is the long term dehumanization of drug users, and the drug trade, that the winds of drug policy reform and of harm reduction have not blown through the Philippines. It's neither a source country or a transit country to the US, in terms of drugs, so there's not a whole lot of focus from the US on that, and from other countries as well.
And so you've had long term dehumanization of people who use drugs, as well as long term scapegoating, and so President Duterte basically projected a host of social ills and said, you know, these are the people who are responsible for this. Scapegoating -- do people know where the term scapegoating comes from? The Old Testament. They would literally, in the old days, they'd confess the sins of the village onto a goat, and chase the goat out of the village. Presto, your sins are cleansed. Right? That's where scapegoating comes from.
And when you've had that kind of dehumanization combined with vicious scapegoating, it's a formula for a classical pogrom. People know what pogroms are? It's not a term used much anymore, but in Czarist Russia, there were many pogroms against Jews, and it was a vicious way to dehumanize and to attack and to marginalize and to drive people out and to steal and to kill, and to do horrible things, and one of the things that made it possible was vicious propaganda.
So the Czar's secret police wrote a famous pamphlet, full of lies, of course, called the Protocols of the Elders of Zion. Right? Which is one of the most anti-Semitic texts ever written. And it became used during, you know, during Hitler, and others have used it since. But, we have Duterte now, issuing those kinds of lies at the presidential level. It matters what a president says, what a head of state says, whether it's Trump or Duterte, and when Duterte says well, if you use shabu or meth for more than six months your brain shrinks to the size of a walnut and there's no saving you, you have to be killed, there's no point in salvaging you, and, you know, this is the kind of dehuman -- that's what dehumanization allows.
But, it's also a form of, this kind of scapegoating that I think Craig Reinerman, Professor Reinerman from Santa Cruz, UC Santa Cruz, one of the great drug war sociologists, he had a lovely quote, and I don't like to read long passages but this is -- this one is really just so succinct. He said, "Drugs are richly functional scapegoats. They provide elites with figleaves to place over the unsightly social ills that are endemic to the social system over which they preside. They provide the public with a restricted aperture of attribution in which only the chemical boogeyman or lone deviant come into view, and the social causes of a cornucopia of complex problems are out of the picture."
This is what the drug war's -- is played out, this is how it's being played out in the Philippines. And Duterte also lies about, he makes facts up, much like our own president. But, the Philippine DEA estimates there are 1.8 million drug abusers in the Philippines, however they define it. Duterte magically picks a number out of the air, and he boosts it up to four million. And he's got a six year presidential term, which he's only just started, and he has vowed that he is not going to stop until the day he steps down.
And so, it got so bad that -- there was a vicious murder of a South Korean businessman recently by the Philippines narcotics police, who had used -- this is, these are the elite police. They used a fake drugs search warrant to raid his business, they kidnapped this South Korean businessman, they took him back to the national police headquarters, their inner sanctum, where he, you know, no one's supposed to be able to get at him. And then they suffocated him, they strangled him, they killed him.
Two weeks later, and then they issue ransom note to the family, demanding payment. And the family paid without proof of life. They were finally exposed. This caused such a scandal in the Philippines, it dented Duterte's popularity for a while, he's still quite popular. But he, and that kind of atrocity, forced him to call off the police for a while, and say, we have to figure out what's going on here, and we're going to suspend police operations. He brings in military and the Philippines DEA to come in and fill in in the drug war while the police are sidelined.
DOUG MCVAY: That was Sanho Tree, director of the drug policy project at the Institute for Policy Studies in Washington, DC. Sanho was speaking at the Students for Sensible Drug Policy conference in Portland, Oregon, recently, on the Philippine dictator Rodrigo Duterte. #BoycottThePhilippines #DumpDuterte
And well, that's it for this week. Thank you for joining us. You have been listening to Century Of Lies. We're a production of the Drug Truth Network for the Pacifica Foundation Radio Network, on the web at DrugTruth.net. The executive producer of the Drug Truth Network is Dean Becker. Drug Truth Network programming is also available via podcast, the URLs to subcribe are on the network home page at DrugTruth.net. You can follow me on Twitter, I'm @DougMcVay and of course also @DrugPolicyFacts.
We'll be back next week with thirty minutes of news and information about the drug war and this Century Of Lies. For now, for the Drug Truth Network, this is Doug McVay saying so long. So long!
For the Drug Truth Network, this is Doug McVay asking you to examine our policy of drug prohibition: the century of lies. Drug Truth Network programs archived at the James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Now that we've worked our way through the first series of Voice warm-up exercises, we've got some basic tools to create a regular warm-up with. Warming up only works if you're diligent enough to warm-up on a regular basis. The goal is not only to prepare yourself for the day, but also to build skills through your warm-up. So over time, this warm-up will become far too simple, too easy for an actor to find particularly useful. You'll need to update your warm-up by adding new exercises from the VoiceGuy, and from other teachers and resources, like books on voice and/or speech.
The entire Basic Warm-up Series is available as audio files from the Playlist page.
The VoiceGuy aims to put the tools in your hands to enable you to maintain your practice, without a teacher to constantly guide you. Look for more advanced series of warm-ups, podcasts and playlists in future postings of the blog. As those elements are added, I'll update this page with links to those resources. Starting tomorrow I'll begin the Intermediate Warm-up Series, with another ten step process through the voice work.
If you're finding these tools make you want to explore more voice work, please seek out a trained voice professional in your area. The Voice and Speech Trainers Association (VASTA) has a list of trainers, also listed by Country/State, that you can contact to find more information on further training. There is nothing like having a teacher to guide your learning!
Thank you for all of these wonderful articles.
My pleasure. Your comment has reminded me that I really should get my act together and start posting to voiceguy. So I'm committing to one per week.
I have just discovered your web site "The Voice Guy" and I am really excited to follow your excercises. I was diagnosed with oromandibular dystonia which has affected my speech. It causes uncontrollable muscle movements of the face and tongue. I am currently being treated with botox injections into my face and tongue but still have some problems with the clarity of my speech. Family understand me but strangers have difficulty. I have tried to get into some speech therapists but they mainly deal with children. I am really keen on impoving my articulation and your web site is one of the first that I have seen that deals with sounds and the tongue so thank you very much. Do you have a text book that I could purchase? I have downloaded the information from this web site and will start practicing immedately.


Welcome to my page! My name is Katie Burris and this is my third school year at Holly Springs-Motlow Elementary. I graduated from USCS in 2003 with a Bachelors of Science Degree in Nursing. I live in Inman with my husband and 2 children. A few things that I enjoy doing are spending time with my family, going to church, and crafting! My goal is to promote the health and safety of our students so that they are ready to learn. Please feel free to contact me anytime. I look forward to caring for your child this year!
During the school year you can count on the fact that we will see an increase in the numbers of individuals who become ill. This applies to both children and adults. However, as much as we want to have the children attend school, we want them to attend when they are well. You may feel that your child has missed so much school time that you do not want them to miss anymore. However, children who arrive to school sick cannot stay, and you must come to the school to bring them back home.
Head Lice: If your child has crawling lice or nits (eggs) ¼ inch or closer to the scalp, and if head-to-head contact with other children can be avoided, he/she may be sent home at the end of the day. Otherwise, your child may be sent home from school immediately. After his/her first treatment with a school-approved lice-removal product and there are no active lice crawling on your child's head, your child may return to school. All bedding and clothing (coats, hats, etc) will need to be washed in HOT water. If you have carpet in your home, make sure to vacuum it thoroughly after treatment. The school should check your child 7 days after treatment for any newly hatched crawling lice. If any are present, your child will have to be retreated for lice before coming back to school. Please talk with your child about not sharing coats, hats, and scarves. Remember that any child can get lice; it doesn't matter how clean your hair or home may be. Please notify the school nurse if your child has lice so that she may monitor the class for other cases.
Strep Throat / Scarlet Fever: Child should be treated by a health care provider and may not attend school until he/she is under treatment and without fever for 24 hours.
Infectious Rashes, Ringworm, Impetigo, and Scabies: Student is excluded from school until he/she is under an effective treatment and no longer considered contagious.
Remember, no student should be carrying any type of medication with them at school. If medication is needed during the day, it must be kept in the Nurse's office in the original bottle. Please see the link below for medical forms if your child should need to be medicated during school hours.
ATTENTION RISING 6th GRADE STUDENTS!
REMINDER: All students entering middle school must receive the Tdap booster in order to attend 7th grade. If your child has already received this booster, please bring documentation to school/clinic. If your child receives the booster after the end of the school year, please bring the documentation to your child's middle school over the summer prior to the first day of school. Students WILL NOT be allowed to attend/start school without proof of this immunization. Please contact me or your child's doctor if you have any questions.
Breakfast is the most important meal of the day! Please try to put something nutritious in your child's stomach before coming to school. Your child can also eat a FREE breakfast everyday here at school. This will help your child to concentrate better and stay awake.


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