This is the fifth in a series of profiles in the Surface Pro 3 Lighten Up campaign, where we sit down and chat with mobile professionals, influencers and creators in Singapore about their work and what they carry in their bag around town.
Grace Ciao’s story is one many Singaporeans will be able to relate to – an avid artist when she was a kid, she eventually put her passion on hold and ended her education career with a business degree from the National University of Singapore (NUS).
“I never meant to be a fashion illustrator,” she said, “But I’ve always loved art and the inspiration to paint came alive again when I was on student exchange in the Netherlands. Even then, I didn’t think of it as a possible career route until March 2014, when my work with flower petals started to catch people’s attention online.”
Indeed, Grace’s works with flower petals even made it to Buzzfeed back in May last year. The popular website’s feature of her elegant illustrations captured the imagination of many worldwide and propelled her to Internet stardom.
Since then, the humble young artist has worked with leading fashion and lifestyle brands such as Jaeger LeCoultre, Coach, and 313@Somerset, and popular local favourites like Love Bonito. She has even been invited overseas to perform her illustration in front of live audiences.
Grace’s success at turning her passion into her career underscores the importance of technology to creative professionals today, which is why she’s currently toting a Surface Pro 3 around town to hone her skills in digital illustration.
Can the venerable tablet keep up with her skill? We catch up over tea to find out.
What’s in your bag?
I have to travel around town quite frequently to meet-up with clients, so I usually travel light. My smartphone is essential for keeping in touch with everyone, and to capture photos of striking scenes and objects that I can draw on for inspiration later on.
I’ve started to load up most of my portfolio onto the Surface Pro 3 so it’s very easy to pull out my work and show them off to potential clients. Plus, its unique form factor acts as a conversation starter of sorts – flipping the type cover and snapping the kickstand never fails to draw attention!
Of course, most importantly, I keep my sketchbook and drawing materials with me at all times.
Your breakthrough act of using flower petals as dresses is amazing. How do you get inspired with such creativity?
The use of flower petals came about completely by accident! I was doing my usual illustration one day and noticed a dying rose on my table. It was the desire to preserve its beauty that led me to incorporate its petals into my illustration. I actually had so much fun that I went on experimenting with different flowers, and the rest, as they say, is history.
To me, creativity is all about finding two seemingly unrelated ideas and then joining them together to create something fresh and unconventional that people have never seen before. The way I came upon the flower dresses is an example.
The best part about creativity is how something small like using a slightly differently material can pleasantly surprise you. There was one time I worked with a restaurant and they offered me some lettuce to work with. It wasn’t a flower, but the result was amazing due to the vegetable’s texture and frilly edges.
So once in a while, I challenge myself to do something different, like experimenting with different raw materials, and trying out new tools like Surface Pro 3. I still love to paint with physical paint brushes and paper, but you can’t run away from technology and it’s important to stay ahead.
Do you find being a creative professional particularly challenging in Singapore?
I think the culture here is starting to be more supportive of “unconventional” career paths like mine. Many of my friends and family members didn’t understand what I was doing in the beginning, but now that I’ve been recognised for my work and get a steady stream of clientele, my parents are more supportive of what I’m doing.
The fact that being creative is now work actually makes it a bit of a challenge. In the past, I painted leisurely whenever inspiration strikes, but now I have deadlines to meet and I don’t have the luxury of time to wait around until I think of the best idea. I’m trying to pace myself so I don’t take on too many assignments at once and cause myself to burn out.
As a freelance illustrator, I also have to handle all of the business side of things by myself, from client pitches to administrative tasks. This mix of creative play and methodical work can be straining sometimes.
In that case, how has Surface Pro 3 helped with the way you work?
I am still exploring the different features the Surface Pro 3 offers, but I must say that the device’s ability to balance both my creative and professional needs is really quite handy. It acts as a full PC for all the paperwork, while the Pen is handy for quick sketches and note-taking when inspiration strikes.
It took me a while to get used to drawing on a screen and getting used to the tools in various apps, but once I did the versatility of the pen was really interesting. I especially like how some of the tools actually reproduce similar effects to using the real art materials, such as water colour paint.
The device also helps to get my ideas out faster and easier as it integrates many different ways of input into one. For example, I usually paint on paper, then scan it into, edit in Photoshop, and then maybe transfer it to another tablet or smartphone to showcase it to other people.
With all that under your belt, what’s the next big thing that you’re working on?
I would love to try working with even more flowers. We live in a very tropical and commercial country, so I’ve already experiment with most of the flowers that I could have access to – roses, lilies, and orchids, just to name a few. I especially like flowers with various patterns, shades, and gradients, and my friends in Europe regularly show me pictures of flowers that look amazing and fun to work with, but I have no easy way of getting them here.
I am planning to ramp up my illustration workshops. I’ve conducted three workshops in the past year, and think it’s time to teach more regularly. Surprisingly, I meet a lot of Singaporeans who are interested in art and design, but don’t pursue that route for various reasons. I hope my workshops will at least help them to play and explore what they’ve been missing out on.
I’m really excited at all the things that are coming my way! I’m focusing a lot on my illustrations and hope to work with more international fashion labels in time to come.
For more information about Surface Pro 3, please visit surface.com/sg