Daily Inspiration: Meet Shakira Shipman

Today we’d like to introduce you to Shakira Shipman.

Shakira, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I started drawing pretty young, around, and probably well before, the age of ten. I had a “How to Draw Manga Characters “ book that I can’t remember the origins of so my first few drawings were anime girls, or rather, myself as an anime girl. I got into drawing because I was inspired by the drawings my aunt had drawn when she was younger, although hers were fashion designs. I tried that, but it didn’t stick.

I’m technically self-taught in most things, I’ve only really taken two art classes in high school, but I also like to say Bob Ross taught me. I watched his videos growing up but didn’t own the materials at the time to practice what I was learning. When I finally got around art supplies beyond a No. 2 pencil and printer paper in high school, I was able to get a feel for some of the techniques I saw him using. It wasn’t until college (around 20 yo) that I was able to support my passions and buy paints and brushes and canvas of my own, and that’s when I was able to really begin honing my skills.

Since then, anything I’ve wanted to paint, I’ve learned to do on my own. I don’t use references (I like to challenge myself to see if I can create exactly what I see in my mind) and I’m not versed in color theory or any technical skills like that. I just paint what I feel. I think that’s why my work resonates with people and I’ve begun to gain more interest in what I do.

I started selling my work in 2018 after receiving pushes from people I knew and decided to make it an actual business in 2019, so it’s still a fairly small venture. It was originally named Shakira’s Canvas but I changed the name to expand on what I do and Sleepy Girl Co (collective) was born because I am a sleepy girl with a huge collection of artistic inclinations.

I have a website that I sell from and I vend at certain places, as well. I’d love to have a studio/shop of my own to create and sell from eventually, but right now I do everything out of my home. I’ve participated in art showcases and painted a storefront in downtown Raleigh in 2019. The next steps now are to grow my name and clientele. I want to start doing more murals and big projects inside homes and restaurants.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
The act and process of painting and creating and getting better at both has been fairly smooth. It’s something I wholeheartedly enjoy so I never find a down moment in learning and experimenting with new mediums and subject matter. Even frustration with something that I can’t get right goes away eventually when I convince myself I can. I genuinely enjoy learning more about the things I do creatively.

Sometimes being able to buy the materials I want to work with can be difficult, as things can get expensive. And that’s where most of the struggle has come from for me. It’s easy to produce art, it’s harder to create a name from it and sell it, and thus turn a profit. Even people who are interested sometimes don’t actually make purchases. Sales aren’t really consistent and good sales or the sale of an original one week could be followed by weeks of inactivity.

The fight right now is extending my reach to more clients and potential buyers. The question has been how. I’ve discovered on this journey that I’m definitely not an influencer/social media expert. I want to create, not keep up with algorithms, that treat black faces and art differently and juggle social media accounts. So, right now, I’ve just been trying to find a way to balance the creating with the showing and selling of what I’ve created lol. My dream is to do this full time since it’s my passion and being a starving artist is not cute.

This is less of a struggle because I try not to look at them that way, but I also have a few mental health disorders (I don’t like calling them issues or problems) that I deal with. At my best, I’m creating multiple, beautiful pieces a week, up to date on my website, quickly responding to clients, and consistent with my social media posts. At my worst, I can’t create for weeks and have unfinished projects everywhere, and I’m a ghost online with no new posts for weeks.

This doesn’t help the social media or business aspects that I already struggle with, of course, especially when compounded with the pressing feeling that I HAVE to create to keep up. It’s something I’m learning not to give into, the sensation that I’m not doing enough because it doesn’t help what I’m already dealing with.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I am mainly a painter. I work mostly with acrylics but I have a deep love for oils and have been using them more recently. It’s fun to do a combo of the two because acrylic dries fast so you can use it for backgrounds and then use the oils for your main focal point as they take a while to dry so you can play around with and perfect your subject.

I’m typically known for painting and drawing landscapes and nature scenes, outer space and celestial things, and women, usually black and usually naked lol are carefree and exuding power and grace. I specialize in capturing skin and skin tones and like to say there’s nothing I can’t draw. I’m proud of literally every single piece I’ve created because they’re all a piece of me that I’ve decided to share with the world and because each is better than the last.

I’m well-versed in most mediums and have experience with colored pencils, markers, pastels, and just plain graphite and ink. I can’t be contained to just drawing so I also sew and make my own clothes, do resin art, make jewelry, build props and make costumes for cosplay. I used to do makeup and run a beauty account, I braid hair (I count that as a creative activity), model, and write. I sing, too, and would like to make more connections to make music because it’s something else I really enjoy that deeply resonates with me. I have tons of “song skeletons” in my voice memos that I want to make.

Honestly, anything that involves using my hands to build or my mind to create is something that I want to, and probably will be a part of. I call myself a creator because I don’t just think of concepts, I bring them to life. I think what sets me apart from other than my unique art style and the sheer mass of things I can do is the fact that I draw on my experiences as a black woman and my dealings with my emotions and mental health. I can’t create what I don’t feel. All of my art is a direct piece of me so it’s kinda like you’re peering into my soul. That’s really raw and authentic.

What are your plans for the future?
My ultimate long-term goal and plan are to have my own storefronts/studio spaces that I create and sell from but also host galleries and exhibits from. I’d like to create a space for other artists to come to collaborate and work in an environment catered to them and give smaller artists an opportunity and place to grow and create a name for themselves. Being successful in the art community is partly about who you know and networking to make the right connections.

I want future artists to not struggle with people taking them and their craft seriously, or finding the area they fit into. I’d also use the space for paint nights, dance classes, and regular art classes to provide the local community with a venue to pursue the creative hobbies that they’ve been interested in but don’t have the time/space for in-home. I think it would be a wonderful community outreach program and a way to more deeply connect the artists to the people around them.

In the more imminent future, I have plans to release a coloring book filled with the same beautiful women and landscapes I’m known for drawing. I joke a lot that I want to be the next Lisa Frank but it’s not a joke lol. I’m looking to expand the products I put my art on and plan to release more wearable merchandise, as well. I’d like to focus on getting more of my originals shown in galleries and exhibits, too. I got to travel to Brooklyn for the first time recently because I was featured in one.

I really enjoyed the full experience and got to meet a lot of other artists, so it’s for sure something I’d like to do again. I want to be a part of the development of a cartoon/animated show or video game, to create a comic book, work on a music video, illustrate a board game or do pictures for children’s books. There’s really no limit to what I plan to put my hands on! Anybody following me should just expect that I’m going to cover all the creative bases.

Contact Info:

• Email: [email protected]
• Website: sleepygirlco.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sleepygirlcol/
• Facebook: https://facebook.com/sleepygirlco/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/sleepygirlco/

Image Credits
Sleepy Banks, Thomas Way, and I-Njeri Hiwott