Gabautlwane finds a niche in cartooning
Nnasaretha Kgamanyane | Sunday January 16, 2022 06:00
In an interview with Arts & Culture, he said he chose painting on shoes because it was cheap for people to buy as compared to artworks. He added that he uses acrylic to do his patterns. Gabautlwane also stated that he learnt that type of art through YouTube videos adding that he has been doing that art since the beginning of January this year. “My inspiration is driven from my family, friends and my fellow artists who always encourage me to do more. My favourite work is the one of SpongeBob and most people liked it very much. The public likes my works wholeheartedly and they place more orders to support me. The theme is cartoon paintings.
My marketing is based on social media where people see my works,” he said. Furthermore, he pointed out that he has not yet exhibited his new shoes painting because it was still new.
He, however, explained that he was facing some challenges in his new adventure saying some customers place orders and fail to pay the price agreed. He also revealed that art materials are very expensive. Gabautlwane said he achieved a very strong marketing strategy through Facebook where people keep seeing his works. Looking back, his teachers played a major role in encouraging him to take his artistic talent seriously. To inspire him, they went to the extent of choosing him to be the one who draws diagrams on the chalkboard all the time. "When I proceeded to my junior school, I met other art teachers at Boitshoko Junior School who introduced me to coloured pencils which I am still using now.
I started focusing on art in 2019 after attaining my Occupational Health and Safety certification. I realised that my talent can penetrate the art market as my senior school teacher at Moeding College kept saying," he further told Arts & Culture. Furthermore, he stated that his favorite artwork was a drawing of Alliance for Proressives leader, Ndaba Gaolatlhe, that people also liked and appreciated on social media and on the streets. This young talent chose to also specialise in portraits drawings. He also added that he hosted an exhibition earlier this year at the Airport Junction mall.
However, he indicated that ever since COVID-19 started, art businesses sank because there were many restrictions and everyone was financially unstable. He added that art materials were also expensive. Gabautlwe disclosed that he started drawing portraits since 2019, adding that it helped in marketing.