Anonymous asked: your work is amazing. i love how it makes me feel. i cant describe it, i just know i love your art. my question for you is: wht was the first real job you had as an artist? did you get your start as an intern, were you discovered? or was it through connections you made? i need to know! (j/k i dont NEED to know, im just curious)

Aw, shucks! Shtop shtop shtop, really :) 

I am trying to think of my first real art job… I can’t remember! All during my schooling I would make work for friends, for their bands, for my band, for friend’s venues, and for art galleries. Sometimes it paid, sometimes it didn’t.  Some work was good, and some were failures. I was just constantly wanting to explore and expand my skills and always had myself buried in projects. I did a few internships and got some experiences with that. I would say the biggest project I have ever worked on was during an internship where I made character designs for animations voiced/written by Saturday Night Live cast members. One even played during SNL! So weird. Those internships didn’t really give me any long lasting contacts, but they did give me experiences about how to work in an office—things like conference calls, mood boards, lots of emailing, etc.

I would say the biggest thing is: always keep yourself busy. Always have fun. Make your own projects if they aren’t coming your way, because when you are doing your own thing, and if it is good, people will find out about it and be drawn to you. They will start to notice. I am lucky in that I live in a city that is super supportive of me and I get quite a few jobs that way, but I also have a large number of friends online in the art world that have given me advice, given me contacts, etc. 

I currently have an art job as an in-house designer/illustrator for Whole Foods. It is a little bit different than what I normally do, but still fun and still a great job to learn and expand my skills.