Running my own smol art shop was a dream I didn’t know I had until I started making the stuff. It’s kinda funny. I have so many friends who told me over the years that I should sell my work as stickers and prints, but I kept hesitating and second guessing myself (see: token creative introvert). But now I’m doing The Thing™! All it took was that first step after a friend suggested, “Hey, wanna sell your art as bookmarks at our shop?”
That was back in March. I was six months pregnant and reaping the benefits of that wonderful stage toward the end of my second trimester when productivity was at its peak. I was drawing so much. Writing so much. Heck, I even wrote and illustrated the first draft of a picture book in two days and sent it out to my agent. I had four friends check it out, and I managed to make each one of them cry! The feedback, needless to say, has been great.
“Oh, so this is what motivation feels like,” I thought to myself. It was nice.
KARAKUGAKI
[ka·ra·ku·ga·ki]
noun
- A rakugaki (doodle, scribble, graffiti in Japanese) drawn by Kara Bodegon-Hikino
- Your new favorite smol art shop
I got the name KARAKUGAKI during a drive with Sho to his office in Makati. I’d been thinking of the word rakugaki for a while and adding “ka” to form my name and make it mine gave me all these nice feelings. The last time I gave another name for myself and an art project was with Karate Chops, where I drew my music reviews as comics or “visual reviews” in 2014. That thing grew beyond visual reviews to full interview features painstakingly drawn and on video. But I’m past my Music Journalist era. With KARAKUGAKI, I felt I was headed toward a more solid direction into my Merchant era.
We’re midway through September and I have three bookmarks (exclusively sold at Mt. Cloud in Baguio), four sticker sets, a birthday card, and two washi tapes. I wouldn’t exactly call it an entire arsenal of merch just yet, but the love it’s been getting is pushing me to make more and share ’em with the world.
This month, I did my first pop-up at Grouphug Market. It was the perfect setting for an introverted n00b such as myself. It was low key, close to home, and comfortable (yaaay aircon), but at the same time was extremely tiring, especially when you’ve got a three-month-old baby in tow! Thankfully, I had Sho, Antonette, and Peavey with me to help with my booth and the baby.
I’ll definitely table at another event soon, but not too soon. Gotta recharge, make more stickers, and let the kid grow up a little more. I know better now and I’m so glad I got to do this.
When the kid is asleep, I get to work on KARAKUGAKI and my graphic novel Squalo & Mage. Progress with both has been quite slow since the kid takes up a lot of my time (EBF all the way!). But with the time I do have, I started making another collection that I’m really, really excited about. I’m also looking at consigning and collaborating with some local coffee shops in the near future. It’s been pretty terrific. All I had to do was take that first step. Yes, it does help to get nudges (read: validation) from other people, but nothing will come to anything if you don’t make a move to start The Thing™. You can go on and on, second guess yourself with “I’m not good enough,” “I don’t know where to start,” or “I’m too busy,” and that won’t get you anywhere at all. Believe me, I know. That was me for over a decade.
Baby steps. That’s all it takes to get started on The Thing™. Before you know it, you’ve already made strides.
Follow KARAKUGAKI on Instagram.