Rebecca Davies

by Nisha Btesh May 25, 2020

Tell us about how you became the woman you are today. Where did you grow up? What moments in life have influenced your character most?

I grew up on a farm in a little village outside Aberystwyth, West Wales. Everything around me was always rural and quiet so I didn’t really have any neighbors of other kids my age to play with when I was younger, so as I grew up, I always liked school and college, where I would be around people and atmosphere! My character was most influenced when I began to go to college to study Art and Design. In Aberystwyth, college was the place all the ‘weird people’ would go to but I loved it! I felt like I could fully be myself. I could fully express myself! I could wear whatever I wanted as there was no uniform, I could say what I want and do what I love everyday which was drawing. It really helped with my confidence too. It was also character building in the sense that I first felt heart ache and all the other depressing teenager stuff but all this has formed me into the person I am today. 

Tell us about the exact moment or period in time when you realized you were born to create.

Ever since I could remember. I would also ask my mum to by sketchbooks and black fine liners and I would spend loads of hours drawing, drawing characters that would all wear cool outfits and have their own little personalities. I don’t really have an exact moment, I’ve just always done it, I’ve never not drawn really.. it’s not really something I just picked up one day, I’ve just always done it.

Tell us a little bit about what drew you to your medium. Did you choose to work with this medium or did it choose you?

Again, it’s something i have done since I could pick up a pen really, even the fact that I draw figures and give them little narratives was something I’ve always liked doing since I was young and still do to this day. I feel like the medium chose me. This is gonna sound pretty cringe but drawing is something I’ve always felt that I was gonna do for the rest of my life.

A lot of women believe they need formal training in order to succeed as a Female Artist. What’s your take? Did you have formal education or are you self taught?

I definitely think you need some sort of formal training because if you wanted to do what you do as a profession, would you not want to perfect what you do? I definitely think university has made me think this, I never really thought art was something I felt like you needed formal training for, I just thought at the time that it would be something to do for fun but as I see this as a profession I definitely think You shouldn’t rule training out.

What do you want the younger female artists coming up behind you to know about you, your journey, and the art industry in general?

What I would tell the younger female artists that come behind me is take advantage of all the facilities at our school or university, learn everything! For example when I was in college I didn’t think I needed to learn more than I already knew which was just drawing on paper, but you should never think like that because as I went to uni I began to learn that I really liked digital art because I gave myself the opportunity to learn how to use photo shop and Procreate and if I didn’t give myself the opportunity to learn these things I would never of known that I would consider this as my medium. Also be confident in your way of working. They're going to be days where you’re going to look at other artists and feel like you’re not gonna be good enough, or your artwork is not going to stand out like others and that is not the truth! you’ve got to stay true to who you are and keep at what you’re doing because you only grow if you keep going.

How do you define your creative gig? Full-time career or side hustle? Explain why you’ve chosen one over the other.

I think at the moment it’s more of a side hustle but only because I’m currently in university working on my final major project. As much as I want it to be my full-time career, It’s not the right time right now but as soon as I finish university which isn’t that far away because I’m in my third year I’m going to be working so hard in building a platform for myself where my artwork will be my income.

What is the message you're sending into the universe with your work? Why do you feel so strongly about this message?

I think the message I personally wanna send the universe is I’m so fed up with how society expect a woman to look and to behave. This is why I do the work that I do, I want to create work that people will look at and think “wow the ladies In that image look beautiful! Wow she’s using a dildo? That dildo looks pretty cute! I want one, I want to enjoy master-bating”! Haha well something like that.

What is the biggest challenge you've faced as a female artist?

One of my biggest challenges as an artist is the competitive industry that we are all in. We are all working for the same opportunity as much as we like to admit it or not and there are some people that will definitely knock your confidence in order to get to where they wanna be and there have been times where I felt like I didn’t even wanna do illustration anymore purely because of how some people have made me feel But I’ve just tried so hard to overcome these feelings and press on because I really do love what I do and I don’t wanna do anything else but I’ve just tried so hard to overcome these feelings and press on because I really do love what I do and I don’t wanna do anything else. 

What is your biggest focus and/or goal in your career right now? What plans do you have for yourself 1,3,5 years from now?

What gives me the most anxiety is how much I should charge for my work. I personally find it really difficult because I don’t know what is expensive or what is cheap in the art industry because I’ve only just started selling my work and creating professional commissions. Obviously you don’t wanna charge to little because the amount of work you’ve put into it but you also don’t wanna overcharge someone because no one is going to buy it haha, Obviously you don’t wanna charge to little because the amount of work you put into it but you also don’t wanna overcharge someone because no one is going to buy it off me haha!

   Why women should feel proud of themselves.

To learn more about Rebecca Davies, please click here. 

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