Recently a high school student asked me to answer some questions for them. I’ve had this request a few times, and since I am not a very busy or important person (who likes talking about herself) I don’t mind doing it. But this request came with such interesting and nice questions, that I asked for permission to repurpose their interview for a blog post. If any other future students have a similar assignment, feel free to use this post as your submission. I never know if these students are genuinely fans, or if they just googled me up. Either way, it still feels nice to share my knowledge and hopefully save the future generation of artists some of the growing pains I experienced.

I am considering going to college for art - illustration in particular. Did you go to college for art? Do you have any advice for how I could be better prepared for college-level art classes?

Choosing whether or not to go to art school is a tough decision. I did not go to college for illustration specifically. I went to a program called Arts and Technology, which focused on 3d animation and video games. However, I had some design, digital media, storyboarding, and writing classes, and I took painting on the side. I believe whether or not to go to art school mostly comes down to a person's personality: how best they learn, what their goals are (if they already have them), and what they still need to learn to be successful. For example, a person who is already very driven and disciplined will be able to learn on their own. However other people do very well in a classroom environment and need others to set projects for them while they are learning. The same program could be life-changing for one-person who works for it and a waste of money for another. Either way, college or not, it’s on you to do the work and make it happen.

Although I learned some useful things in college, I learned illustration on my own. I was behind other people my age in draftsmanship and discipline, I couldn’t get into any animation internships. When I finally decided to focus on illustration, I got very serious about practicing and seeking out resources. I learned illustration by doing - making picture books for self-published authors and assigning self-projects. Now there are so many online resources for learning art, I do not doubt that most high schoolers today are way ahead of where I was when I left college. I didn’t even know what illustration was when I graduated high school.

But college did teach me some important skills. It got me used to collaborating and being professional. I was exposed to professors who were professionals in their industry. It taught me to think critically about media, which is important for a writer. And most importantly, it taught me how to finish stuff. The one thing I feel I missed out on by not going to art school was the opportunity to make more connections with my peers. When people tell you to network, shooting up can sometimes be helpful, but what really matters is making lasting connections with people on your level. Those are the folks who will get you jobs and opportunities in the future, and support you on your journey.

Now to answer the second part of your question. Firstly, it can never hurt to study on your own. The sooner that you have a handle on the basics, the sooner you will start finding your voice as an illustrator. Drawing and painting from life help immensely. But I think two other things could give you a leg up in college.

The first is to begin the work of figuring out your taste and collecting influences. To create is just remixing all the things put into your brain into something new. The wider range of stuff you can put in your brain, the more unique work you will make. Also, dissecting artwork that you admire is how you create a style. Pretty much every artist looks at Pinterest and Instagram, so everyone is feeding off of each other and ending up with similar styles. If you get inspiration from more places, then your professors will be able to tell, you’ll be the cream rising to the top of the pack. Look into the past, to nature, and other artistic disciplines like fine art and architecture, and your personal interests. Creative Pep Talk Podcast has a lot of really good episodes about this. Like these https://www.creativepeptalk.com/289-the-5-dynamic-steps-to-finding-your-creative-sensibility/

The second thing is not very sexy. It’s taking care of yourself and learning good work-life balance early. In college, there’s a lot of cram culture, people bragging about pulling all-nighters or procrastinating a project and then doing it all in one weekend. But making art is not a sprint. It’s consistently showing up. And to be able to show up, you need to avoid burnout. Taking a few hours out of your day to get a little exercise, good food, and feed your creative brain will pay dividends. Sometimes you have to cram, but relying on it isn’t sustainable.

For more stuff about Art School advice, I recommend listening to The Draftsman podcast, they have a few episodes about the pros and cons of going and then also advice for formulating your own art school. I also recommend the Three Point Perspective podcast, they have a lot of episodes where they discuss the subject.

How long does it normally take for you to complete a project? I am struggling with setting deadlines for myself and knowing what I can accomplish in a specific amount of time - do you have any advice for tackling that problem?

This one is tough, because the answer is just that it depends. It depends on the project, what the style is, how complex the illustrations are, how my mental state is, how long communication takes, and even what supplies I am using. When doing picture books for clients, it can take anywhere from 3 months to a year plus. A painting typically takes around 10 hours, and that’s just painting, not including planning and drawing.

I used to struggle with finishing projects as well. What finally helped me was when I was forced to figure it out. I had capstone projects in college that spanned a whole semester, about five months. Figuring out what was actually possible in that amount of time was very hard when I hadn’t done it before. Now that I’ve done it a few times, I feel I’m pretty good at project managing myself.

Unfortunately, you don’t know how long something takes until you do it, but there are ways to make it easier. First, I break the project down into small, actionable steps. Example: For picture books, I have a “pipeline” I go through. Preproduction, which includes developmental sketches, character designs, character design revisions, the dummy book/storyboard, color keys, and revisions. Then production is the final drawing, painting, scanning, and editing. The smaller the steps the better. I’ve tried many different ways of tracking a project, from physical planners to spreadsheets. You have to experiment and figure out what works for you.

If I have a deadline, I can work backward to make a schedule. Example: say I have 24 illustrations for a book that needs to be done in 4 months. 24 paintings divided by 12 weeks is 2 paintings per week. I know from experience that timeline is doable for me, so I have my schedule. Alternatively, you can start with how long you would like to complete one step, and extrapolate from there. I often have a “realistic” deadline and a “it would be nice if” bonus deadline. “It’s possible, and it would be nice if I had this done by Wednesday, but it’s alright if it takes all week.” This keeps me from feeling bad about myself, and manages expectations.

There are a few techniques you can try. If you’re the type to keep fiddling with something and not calling it “done”, or you find it hard to start things, then something like the Pomodoro method or setting timers can help. For example, setting a one-hour timer and just saying whatever sketch I get done in this time is what I’m going with. I don’t do very well with self-imposed deadlines either (if I’m only letting myself down, it doesn’t really matter. But if someone else sets a deadline, I’ll work my butt off to meet it.) So having accountability partners helps when there isn’t a client to make happy. For me, that’s a critique group that meets every two weeks. One idea might be to get a friend and decide on a project you will both do, like a small zine or something, and meet up each week to check on your progress. The key to getting the ball rolling is to show up every day, and work a little bit. Even if you can only manage 5 minutes. Once you complete one project, it gets easier each time, I promise.

I notice that you seem to use a variety of art materials. What is your process like? Do you usually start with a pencil sketch? Do you ever work digitally? Do you have a favorite art supply or material?

I always start with ideas and planning in my sketchbook. I’ll do thumbnail sketches, work out poses, and figure out values. So when I start a painting, I have a little tiny version to reference. Sometimes, for personal pieces, I’ll go straight to drawing on my painting surface. But if a piece is more complex, or I need to get approval from a client first, I’ll take it onto my iPad to draw.

Then I can either use my iPad as a light box to trace onto my paper, or print it out and use my actual light box. For clients, I often make value thumbnails digitally as well, because it’s easier to share. Having the values is very important.

I use cotton watercolor or mixed media paper. Sometimes, I mount the paper onto hardboard with matte medium or rubber cement. My usual supplies for my mixed-media paintings are gouache, colored pencils, and pastels. Colored pencils are great for highlights, adding texture, adjusting color temperature, and adding small details. Chalk pastels are for soft edges on shadows or other lighting effects. But I also love graphite and watercolor. For my middle-grade comic pages, I “ink” with graphite, tone with watercolor, and then scan and colorize digitally. My favorite supply right now is the Mitsu-bishi Hi-Uni graphite pencils.

When I do a gouache painting, after the drawing is on the painting surface, I usually start by toning the paper with one or more colors. Typically, it’s with a complimentary color to whatever the overall colors of the piece will be. With this one, I went with an orange base to pop against the blues and purples.

Then, I will do a value underpainting.

Next, I begin painting the local colors, starting with a big brush, and blending any large gradients while the paint is wet. This is the most fun part.

Rendering, details, tightening up. This is when I might bring in my colored pencils.

The last step is photographing for social media. I also scan and edit the piece for my portfolio or as the final deliverable for a client. I use an epson v600 scanner, and Affinity Photo for editing (I ditched adobe subscription).

My process is always changing and evolving. Testing out new techniques is one of the funniest parts of making art! I always try to remember that there isn’t a right or wrong way to do things.

Do you work better/prefer to work individually or as a team? I see that you have worked with authors to illustrate their story. What is it like to make someone else's idea come to life? Is there ever conflict in ideas between you and the author?

Nowadays, even when I am working on a personal project I still get a lot of feedback from others. My critique group, friends, my agent, someone usually has a hand in it. I definitely enjoy being the boss, haha. But there is something really special about working with someone who shares the same wavelength with you, on a project that you are all excited about. It’s rare, but so magical. I hope to work with a team on something cool one day, like a show or game.

Also, working on a book I didn’t write or illustrating a brief is fun in a different way. It feels satisfying to problem solve, and to discover how my illustrations can add to the story in unexpected ways. When the client is good, it can be easier than writing and illustrating for myself. Sometimes you get a brief that just clicks, and you instantly see the vision. Executing that vision is very satisfying, and it’s extra gratifying to have the validation of a happy client.

When the client is bad, it can be hell. The most common conflict is miscommunications or the client not having the right expectations (like asking for continuous revisions). I don’t feel precious about my ideas, but I have a hard time letting go of things I think better serve the story. I tend to over-explain myself, which often makes it worse. I also had to learn to not get defensive, or take criticism personally. The hardest part is that they can’t see what I imagine. If they have an idea for a page, but I have a better more interesting idea, I will do thumbnails/sketches/mockups for both and 9 times out of 10 they will pick my better idea. Sometimes clients are stubborn, and I have to just go with what they want.

Is this your full time job or just something you enjoy doing on the side?

For about two years, freelancing was my full time job, though I had some support from my partner who I live with. This past year has been a transitionary period. I’ve been working towards getting traditional publishing contracts for my own books, and stepped back from freelancing. So I haven’t done any paid gigs in the past six months, but I’ve been working very hard on book pitches. I recently accepted an offer from a publisher, and will be working on my own series in the new year! I am not sure what the schedule and workload will look like, but I am considering getting a part time non-art job. I would rather save all my creative brain juice for my own work, and I want to transition away from working with self-publishing clients. Doing freelance was really important to my development, and it was amazing to prove that I could make money with my skills. Now I have slightly different goals. Making money is validating, but it can be a burden on ones art.

I feel pretty confident with my illustration skills and value/shading, but less confident when it comes to adding color to my pieces. Do you have any advice on working with color?

I have so many thoughts about learning color. My first advice is to study color theory, especially the concepts of relative color and color temperature. Read about it, watch videos about it, watch lots of people do painting demos, and learn about your chosen medium. The literal chemical pigments of paint or the technical aspects of a program affect your output. Knowledge is power.

My second piece of advice is to use a limited palette and study from life. For me, using physical paint was key to learning color theory. In this context, when I say a limited palette I mean having 3 - 5 tubes of paint to mix all your values. If you literally only have three paints to mix all your colors, your piece will naturally look cohesive. Studying from life is the best thing you can do if you want to illustrate in an *imaginative realism-*type style, where subjects have form affected by lighting. To make stuff up that looks authentic you have to understand how reality works. Plein air painting taught me lighting and urban sketching taught me perspective way more effectively than any classroom exercise. Using references doesn’t mean finding a pose to copy one-for-one. It means studying references until you understand them. Nature plays a major role in my work. I don’t copy a specific tree for a painting, but I’ve copied so many trees that I can make one up to suit. Same goes for lighting and color.

Even when you aren’t painting or drawing, observing the world around you is powerful. Does the light hitting that house look more yellow or pink? Is that shadow cool or warm? How would I mix it?

I will give one actionable tip. One technique to keep a piece cohesive is to choose an anchor color. That color will be the most saturated, colors closest to it on the color wheel will be almost as saturated and colors opposite on the color wheel will be desaturated. For example, I often use cadmium yellow as an anchor. So all my warm colors are fairly saturated, but my blues and purples are more gray. Values and contrast are more important than colors, if your values look realistic then you can do pretty much what ever you want with the colors. Studying film stills can also be helpful.

Required reading for learning color: Color and Light by James Gurney. He also has a wonderful youtube channel.

I also recommend Marco Bucci on youtube, his color videos were critical for me.

A bonus is The Color Nerd on tiktok/youtube. He’s a bit more scientific and technical, but very interesting.

Thank you for such interesting questions!

An Interview for a Student