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Creative Zionsville students cash in on their artistic talents

By Brooklyn Brown, Staff

Rumbaoa Creates Commissioned Art

“I like to draw people,” sophomore

Jada Rum

baoa said. Rumbaoa turned a passion for art into income three years ago when Rumbaoa started to take commissions. “I tend to stick to local commissions.” Rumbaoa said. Customers interested in buying art message Rumbaoa, who prefers gender neutral pronouns, through their Insta

“You will gram, @rumbaoa.art. The customer decides on their preferred meet a lot medium, canvas size, and any of people additional details. “The biggest struggle in selling that will be art would most likely be people unreasonexpecting me to not want them to pay.” Rumbaoa said. able and Rumbaoa once sold a trayou just ditional 12x12 pastel piece of a mountain lion for $110. Their have to cheapest sketch sold for just $20. persevere Even with the price flexibility some people try to get by without through it.” paying. Selling art is “like a part -Jada time job” for Rumbaoa, so they need a steady income .

Rumbaoa, “I always try to assure [custom10 ers] before I start working that I need to be paid.” Rumbaoa said. Selling art isn’t always easy and can take a lot of “time and patience” according to Rumbaoa. When facing demanding clients Rumbaoa thinks it’s important to “stand your ground.” “You will meet a lot of people that will be unreasonable, and you just have to persevere through it,” Rumbaoa said. Even with challenges, Rumbaoa enjoys many parts of their work. They likes making new artist friends online or in person and think “it makes it worth it”. “I have fun whenever I do my projects and I have fun meeting new people,” Rumbaoa said.

“The biggest struggle in selling art would most likely be people expecting me to not want them to pay.” -Jada Rumbaoa, 10

photo and artwork provided by Jada Rumbaoa

Money from Mehndi

Senior Seleena Baig has

been doing henna, also known as mehndi, since 5th grade. She began by practicing with her family and friends. “I started out with just doodling designs on paper and post-it notes, then eventually moved onto actually making henna designs on myself.” Baig said. Now she sells her artistic services for birthdays and other events through her Instagram, @mehndibyseleena. She charges based on the amount of detail client’s want. For smaller, less time consuming designs, she charges $5 to $10, and for more time consuming designs she charges $15 to 20. “The main struggle I face usually is the learning process of new designs.” Baig said. She usually freestyles her designs once she has an idea of what her customer wants. She Senior Ab

bey Price

created her Etsy shop in eighth grade and rebranded last year to Abbo Dabbo Design. “When I first started I didn’t think that anything was going to sell,” Price said. Using Photoshop and illustrator on her iPad Pro, she creates designs for decorative stickers and Apple watch pins. “Then I send them into a manufacturer, and I give them all the details; the colors I want and glitter,” Price said. After her order is placed, it goes into

often finds that it can be challenging creating something the client likes along with what demonstrates her artistic “capability”. “Don’t try to create things that only benefit others, start with yourself,” Baig said. She thinks that art is up for interpretation, and that it’s important for young artists to know that “not everyone is going to like [your work]”. “I would say the first step into selling any type of art that is your own would be to think to yourself, ‘does this represent me?’” Baig

“I would say the first step into selling any type of art that is your own would be to think to yourself, ‘does this represent me?’” -Seleena Baig, 12

Price is on Etsy

said.

production for three weeks before they send her the product. Her interest in creating this type of art was sparked on one of her family’s routine Disney trips. “When I was [at Disney] I noticed these little charms that they had to go on your Apple watch, I thought they were super cute but they didn’t have a lot of designs, ” Price said. She decided to solve that problem and make more designs herself. She utilizes Etsy and other social media platforms to sell her work. “The biggest struggles have been keeping up with a social media following,” Price said. Social media is a big part of her sales so she has a regular posting schedule on her Instagram, @abbodabbodesign. Price thinks it’s important to “have confidence in your work.” . “If you put yourself out there and you take a lot of time to really build your brand then you’ll definitely be successful.” Price said.

photos provided by Abbey Price

“ When I was [at Disney] I noticed these little charms that they had to go on your Apple watch, I thought they were super cute but they didn’t have a lot of designs.” -Abbey Price, 12