Today we’re joined by Celine Chin, who also goes by Rururinchan. Celine is a phenomenal fanartist from Singapore. She loves to draw her favorite characters and write fics as well. Celine also creates YouTube videos. She also does a bit of original work on the side. Her work is beautiful, brimming with emotion and detail. It’s clear she’s a passionate and dedicated artist, as you’ll soon read. My thanks to her for taking the time to participate in this interview.
WORK
Please, tell us about your art.
My art primarily focuses on things that spark emotion in both myself and others. I am a fan-artist most of the time, and I love just drawing my favourite characters, putting them into stories in fanfiction, and making videos to express how much I love the shows/books/movies etc. I also use art/writing especially to express myself, often during the more stressful times as it helps me get through those times a little easier.
What inspires you?
Inspiration and I have a weird relationship. I tend to get random bursts of inspiration at any given time, sometimes for ideas that are simple enough, and sometimes the ideas are just so ridiculous and wild it’s hard to figure out what to do with them. I write most of it down as soon as I can though, and these little lists I keep are what I would go to first if I need an idea for content. If not, I like to go on YouTube, and pick videos and music to watch/listen to based on my artistic mood of the day. Music tends to give me more inspirational vibes though.
What got you interested in your field? Have you always wanted to be an artist?
Art has been a hobby to me for literally all my life. My parents tell me that I learned to draw in colourful crayons before I could speak. I remember being a child and drawing whatever made me happy or sad, and I was always so proud of them even though my art was not of average kid-quality back then. I was proud of the fact that I created something myself, and it never went away, only growing more and more over the years.
Drawing was my primary art form as a kid, then when I got to my teens, I started trying out more creative art forms, like sewing, baking, singing and dancing, etc. The one that stuck was writing, as book had become a major part of my life around then too. Again, that pride of being able to create something with my own hands was no less than a wonderful feeling. Also, it was the first time I was creating full stories. It was amazing.
I took media and animation studies in polytechnic after secondary school, and there my love for video work and photography took off. Now, I could put my art and my stories to good use in video format. It’s ridiculously tedious half the time, but the satisfaction at literally watching all your hard work pay off at the end? It’s the best.
So yes, I’ve always wanted to be in artist, but really, I’ve been one all along haven’t I? Career or not, art is what brings the most joy to my life, aside from those close to me of course!
Do you have any kind of special or unique signature, symbol, or feature you include in your work that you’d be willing to reveal?
Not at the moment. I’m working on my name as an artist, and would love to create my own signature symbol but I’m a little stumped on that for now as I’m still figuring out what defining feature I would like to highlight about myself.
What advice would you give young aspiring artists?
The best advice I can give is: Please never try to hold yourself back by making your own expectations too high. I’ve seen many, many people give up on creativity despite loving it simply because they felt like their content was never “good enough”, and it’s only harder when they compare themselves to people around them.
On that note, I’d also like to say that you should never assume art is something that strictly requires “talent”. Would having a natural affinity for being creative and good with your hands be useful as an artist? No doubt it would, I can’t deny that. However, once you firmly decide that “talent” is a strict requirement and that you may not have that “talent”, it’s over for you, because once you get into this mindset, everything you do will never feel “good enough” to you, as you’ll keep feeling that you simply don’t have the “talent”. It harms your creative self more than you may think, I knew someone who hated their own art and gave up because they taught they were the only one in their family without the “natural born artistic talent”, and despite being fairly decent at their craft, they ultimately gave up because they resigned themself to believing that they would never do as well as they didn’t have the “talent”. Also, by believing “talent” is necessary, you undermine all the hard work artists put into their work. Many spend years and years and years working on their craft, and trust me when I say that most of them still think their work isn’t as good as they would’ve liked. But they post it anyway, because it’s at least “good enough”.
Don’t weigh yourself down with invisible chains. Let yourself be “okay” instead of “perfect”. You’re only human, let your art reflect that. Study the art form you want to learn, look up references and helpful tips, practice and practice.
All artists will hate their art sometimes. Even I stopped for a while during some darker times in my life, but if you feel that art is truly something you love, never give up on it, even if nothing BIG ever comes out of it. If you love it, if it makes you happy in any way, it’s already doing it’s job for you right.
ASEXUALITY
Where on the spectrum do you identify?
I’m asexual! Still working on the romantic side, but it’s somewhere on the aro-spectrum. I do find girls at least aesthetically attractive a lot, so I overall identify as a a sapphic aro-ace person.
Have you encountered any kind of ace prejudice or ignorance in your field? If so, how do you handle it?
Unfortunately yes. I live in Singapore, where anyone that isn’t gay/lesbian/trans is considered a “weird normal person” (“normal” as in cishet, it sucks). I’ve tried to include asexuality in my works in school, and have often received comments about how it was childish, misinformation, or simply something that didn’t exist. Explanations don’t work when people don’t want to listen. I’m not free from the prejudice online either. Sometime ago on Tumblr, I made asexual headcanons for characters that were popularly seen as gay and pan respectively within the fandom (but were not confirmed in canon) and got quite a bit of anon hate for it, the comments ranging from how I was homophobic or how I shouldn’t be “forcing a ace headcanon on young teens since they aren’t sexual anyway”.
It’s hard to handle, that’s for sure, but in the end it’s not my job to educate the ignorant. I will support those who do and help to bring up fellow aces in my community when I can, but the bigoted don’t deserve my attention as far as I’m concerned. I block them when I can, and move right on to making more asexual headcanon posts out of spite. As far as I’m concerned, I’m just here to live my life and exist as a person, not be an informant for people who refuse to take in any information they’re given anyway.
What’s the most common misconception about asexuality that you’ve encountered?
Definitely the misconception that we hate sex. I myself am a sex-repulsed ace with a very low sex drive, but it irks me when people assume we’re all exactly like that. Let asexuals who are open to sex be sexual without calling them fake aces. Like damn.
What advice would you give to any asexual individuals out there who might be struggling with their orientation?
You might hate it sometimes at first, especially if you’re younger and/or on the aro-spectrum. With how our society focuses so much on romance and sex as a requirement of love and happiness, it’s sometimes easy to fall into a trap that no one will ever love you and that you won’t ever be happy. Even after you get more comfortable with your sexuality, you still might feel like that every now and again, even if you’re an allo-romantic ace who’s fine with sexual intimacy. Just remember that who you’re attracted to, or lack thereof, doesn’t define who you are. There’s nothing “broken” or “unnatural” about you for being ace, and I want you to know you’re valid and you and your sexuality deserve to be respected. There are so many types of love out there, not just romantic and sexual. Keep those you see as your family close and treasure them, and don’t let go of your passions and things that bring you joy. Don’t forget that self-love is important too. If you’re like me, who took a long time figuring out how to love myself, don’t try to force things, but also give yourself chances to be proud of the things you’ve done. If you’re an artist like I am, take pride in your artwork (within reason), and let yourself be confident in your skills in yourself. You’ll get there. 🙂
Finally, where can people find out more about your work?
Tumblr: http://rururincreative.tumblr.com/ (Art Blog)
AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rururinchan
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCE_pHKt0IeMJVwbjdWtvA0A
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rururinchan/
Thank you, Celine, for participating in this interview and this project. It’s very much appreciated.
Asexual Artists 