Today’s interview is with the lovely and talented, Anna! Fun fact, Anna created my logo! She’s done several logos for people I have interviewed on this blog such as Broadway Bowtique, Broadway Scrunchies and Ally’s blog, “One Hope Then Another”. Anna does so many different types of art. She also interviews Broadway performers! Anna is so sweet and I can not wait for y’all to meet her today!
What is your name? How old are you? Where are you from?
My name is Anna, I’m 17, and I’m from Oregon!
Tell me a little bit more about BwayDrawings!
Bwaydrawings is a platform I started to combine my two loves, Broadway and Calligraphy. I started it about 3 years ago when I was going into my freshman year of high school, and it presented a great hobby for me! I do “wreaths”, which are basically circles of flowers or another kind of simple design, with a lyric from a show in the middle. The lyrics are usually written in all different kinds of fonts that typically correlate with the tone at which the speaker says the line, or the word itself. Usually, the colors of the words and the designs correlate with the show, or the character’s costumes. I am able to correlate a word with a different font pretty easily, which I think has been a very large part of this process and my business being a success. I do them on paper, and then I also have a big collection of stickers that I have designed! I have website where you can buy prints and hand drawn pieces, stickers, and custom drawings, as well as a blog that I have used to interview different musical theatre actors, and have branched into using it to speak on mental health. I am also a part of the Broadway Makers Alliance, which is a great group of extremely talented people who all make broadway dedicated art, and being apart of this group has helped me in hard times where I feel like I’m not talented enough or I struggle with art motivation.
What inspired you to start BwayDrawings?
When I started doing handlettering and calligraphy 3 years ago, and it was around that time that I had also been getting into musical theatre. I don’t do any form of musical theatre, but had a friend who was and got into shows like Dear Evan Hansen, Waitress, etc, and then my love for theatre grew. Since both of these forms of art popped up in my life around the same time, it made sense for them to go together. I started with trying to figure out what kinds of things I wanted to letter, which turned into broadway lyrics! I then started my instagram, and wasn’t doing the wreaths, but only doing the lettering, and if I’m being honest, the lettering was terrible. I’m surprised anyone followed me haha. I then started to look for people that I wanted to become friends with, or take inspiration from, and I saw an account called @sheela_art. I was amazed first by her lettering ability, and also by the flowers and wreath that she had done around the words. I then immediately went to Pinterest, found some designs, and started doing wreaths with my art, without copying Sheela’s designs, and that’s when my account took off, and I’m also friends with Sheela now!
What was the process of starting BwayDrawings like?
When I first made the account, I was making it as more of a Broadway fan account, as you see all over Instagram. Once I connected lettering and broadway, the account kinda found itself and my voice was out there, if that makes sense. Starting the Instagram account wasn’t difficult, but I think part of what made it as big as it is today was me going to see shows and doing art for the actors, because then they would post the art, and I would get new followers. There was one time when the Anastasia Broadway Instagram account posted my art, and that gave me a much larger audience, so that was really exciting. The process of starting the website was a bit more complicated, because it took awhile for people to actually use it as a source of purchase of art, and sometimes it is a bit hard when I don’t get an order for a long time. I’m glad I’m mostly over the hump of starting it though!
Can you tell me more about the design process of your art?
The design process is pretty simple, but varies between each piece of art. Something that I have vowed to myself is to never make the same piece of art more than once, unless asked. This keeps the design process a bit more exciting for me. The process is different depending on who I am doing the art for:
If it was an order, I usually talk to them a lot so I can figure out their vision, and ask them to send me the specific details they want me to make sure I include. I have one customer who buys art from me pretty regularly, so when they order a piece, they tell me the color scheme they want, the quote, and what kinds of things they want in the wreath. For example, they wanted a Sweeny Todd themed wreath, and told me they wanted it to have a red and black color scheme, with pies and sweeny’s razor on the wreath. Obviously, this is very specific, and quick google searches of the razor guided me through this. Sometimes I’m given a bit less direction, so I ask them for the colors they want, and possibly the color scheme of their room so it will match if they’re planning to put it on a wall. I then do the wreath mostly on my own, and send updates to make sure they’re happy with the piece.
If I’m making a piece specifically for me or my instagram, the process is a bit different. I usually listen to a show, find my favorite songs, and then my fav lyrics from those, and write it down. I map out the different color schemes I can use and if there are any objects, for example, that fit that character that I can put around the wreath. If not, flowers and nature are my go-to. Staying within the theme of the show, whatever that may mean, is really important to me, so something is recognizable based on the wreath, the colors, or the lyrics, or all three. I look up different wreaths on Pinterest sometimes for inspiration, or different kinds of flowers to draw, or I make them up. It usually depends on my motivation that day haha. When doing digital pieces, I usually only do them if I’m planning to turn a piece into a sticker, so it makes my life a bit easier. Coming up with stuff for digital is a lot more challenging for me for some reason.
How do you manage school, BwayDrawings, and everyday life?
Sometimes it can be a bit hard! Especially when I have orders that I know I have to finish and I know that they have a time restraint. I obviously put my homework and schoolwork first, but it can be really difficult to do that when you’re a junior in high school and just want a mental break. There have been some bwaydrawings dry spells because of a lack of motivation on my part, but lately in quarantine I’ve been more inspired to do more art and keep creating to keep my mind going. Especially with the Black Lives Matter Movement, I think art is a great way to express yourself, so I’m trying to be an ally through art and information since I can’t go to the protests. Art is an incredible form of expression, and I’ve gotten a lot of really cool opportunities from bwaydrawings, like doing this interview, so that keeps me motivated to continue with it. Music is also a big constant in my life, I’m always trying to find new shows and new things to listen to, and as an appreciation for music, I express it through art. I think my form of art is a bit different than many other forms of expression, and that makes it special for me to do it. I want to use my art form as a source of connection and expression, and I don’t think it only has to apply to Broadway to still be able to connect people. I kinda went away from the question haha, but seeing the way that art connects people keeps me continuing with it. School can be a hard thing to balance, but I use art during my mental breaks to keep my brain active. It’s hard to think about what “everyday life” really is because of the state of the world while I’m writing this, but the people in my life will always come first for me, so if that means putting off school and art, I will do that.
What has been your favorite memory (or two if you can’t just pick one!) since starting your account?
Wow, I have a lot of incredible memories since starting this account. I remember that before I went to see Aladdin on tour for my 16th birthday I had been talking to Clinton Greenspan, who was playing Aladdin on tour at the time, and is now on Broadway, for a few days before. He had asked me if I could so a portrait of him, and I did and gave it to him at stagedoor. When he realized it was me, he gave me the biggest hug I’ve ever received at a stagedoor and had the best response to meeting me. It was almost like he was more excited to meet me than I was to meet him! That was a really special moment for me, and I have it on video so I’ll never forget it. Another great one was about a week ago when I posted a piece on my blog about my personal mental health story and my battle with depression and anxiety and my personal coping strategies, and although it wasn’t broadway related, I got a lot of positive responses from it and it was really great for me. One last great experience was just recently, when my friend Kaitlin and I got to host a zoom Q&A with Jennifer Elizabeth Smith and Zack Zaromitidis from the Bandstand National Tour. Bandstand has been a big part of my life for about 2 years now, and seeing it on tour was an absolute dream. Kaitlin and I reached out to Jenn and Zack asking if they would do this Q&A with us, and within about 5 minutes they both responded saying that they were on board. We had about 30-35 people on the call, and it was about 2 hours where people were just asking them questions. This was a really rewarding moment for me and I will never forget how well it went, as well as the kindness shown by Jenn and Zack on that day, as well as always. This account has helped me make so many great friends worldwide that would not be in life without bwaydrawings, and I can’t imagine my life without them, nor do I want to. That has also been the most rewarding thing for me, making new friends and meeting new people who have made me a better person.
What advice do you have for someone wanting to not only start learning to draw but also start a business?
Hmmm… it feels weird giving advice as a 17 year old haha. Starting a business is a really hard thing to do, so I would make sure you love the craft and you know this is something you want to do for a long time, and don’t be disappointed if you don’t find your target audience for awhile. If it takes awhile to get even 1 sale, that doesn’t mean your craft isn’t something people want, it just means that you haven’t found the right audience yet, and that’s ok! It took me months before I had my first sale on my website, and even now I still get so excited when I get sales! It just takes time, like most things do. Art wise, I think it’s important to find the craft you love most. I never would’ve considered myself an artist, as I can’t really draw or paint. But art has a very broad range of things that fall under it other than the conventional styles, so finding what you like is important. Practice is also something that is really important or else no progress is made. It can be hard when you’re younger to want to continue with a craft that takes a long time to be good at, but I look at my lettering 3 years ago and I truly see how my practice has paid off. I also think not forcing yourself to like something is important too. You can tell yourself that you’re gonna be an incredible painter, and if you aren’t, that’s okay! Everyone has different strengths and I think that is what makes you unique and makes this world really special.
What do you see for the future of BwayDrawings?
I’m not totally sure. I have been trying to figure that out haha. I want to continue doing what I have been doing, and also continue with branching out from not only drawings but interviews and takeovers and things like that. I think once Broadway is back I will know a bit more about where I want it to go, but I’m continually trying to expand my audience and reach and make an impact on as many people as I can.
Who is a woman that you look up too in the theatre community and why? (You can have more than one answer!)
There are so many women I look up to in the theatre community. Jennifer Elizabeth Smith is probably one of my biggest inspirations in the theatre community. I’ve talked to her a lot lately and I think me and her have become good friends which is just crazy to say. She is one of the kindest people I’ve ever met and had the honor of talking to. I feel like she is there for me even though I’ve only met her once and I don’t really know her. She is also in my favorite show Bandstand in the National tour, and seeing her as Julia Trojan made me cry and brought me so many emotions. If I am ever as lucky to be where Jenn is, I hope to be as kind as her in that position.
Another woman I look up to in theatre is Christy Altomare. Christy Altomare is so kind to every single person she meets and her position, she doesn’t have to be. I’ve met her three times and saw her in Anastasia once, and each time she was just so sweet and I walked away from those interactions with the biggest smile on my face. She is one of the hardest workers on Broadway and I have a lot of respect for that.
Lastly, I look up to Celia Rose Gooding. I just recently started listening to Jagged Little Pill, where she plays Frankie Healy. She has done so much to help educate people on the Black Lives Matter Movement and much of what she has said I have been using to educate myself and educate others.
Thank you Anna for such a lovely interview! You can find Anna on Instagram here and Anna’s online store here. Be sure to go check her out!
Until Next Time,
Marisa
Comments