How do you get jobs?

My path started as a graphic designer, working the office grind. Having multiple office jobs helped tremendously with experience and contacts that I utilized for my freelance career. I worked as a graphic designer, art director, web designer, photography art director.... for about 3.5ish years, working after work to get enough of a base to go freelance.

When you are self-promoting, be as visible as possible: post, send out promos, email, visit design offices, magazines, animation studios... Make stuff on your own that would appeal to the people you wanna work for and put it in their faces. Often! Also put what you wanna do OUT THERE - email people you know about specific jobs you're looking for and put it on their radar. If zines or comics are your thing, make them! Go to festivals and promote your ass off. If that’s not your thing, find the festival, conference, etc that IS your thing and attend with awesome promos in hand.

I was 27 when I graduated from ACAD, with connections from a few office office jobs. I wouldn't be where I am today without those experiences.

There's no one way to get to where you need to go! I'm figuring it out as I go along and learning from my mistakes. If you’re inflexible about your path, you’re probably going to be disappointed. I didn’t think my path would be my path and I took the opportunities when they came up. The best advice I ever got was to promote yourself ALL the time, have a very clear and accessible portfolio and keep a sketchbook going.

How did you first get people outside of peers to notice your work? How did you get your early freelance job at Swerve magazine?

I received my first professional illustration job after Ryerson and before ACAD: a large lettering project for a defunct beauty brand called Murale. It was through word of mouth: the designers who made my first website knew the AD at the agency who was handling the Murale account. They remembered my work and recommended me.

My first editorial job was with Swerve Magazine and it came directly from the ACAD 3rd year portfolio show, where students prepare a small portfolio for creatives to check out. Shelly Youngblut, the then EIC of Swerve, liked the way I drew women so she built a cover story for us around an essay she wrote about women at different stages of life. If I had chickened out of that portfolio show or not spent time presenting my best work, I would have never gotten that job!

Did you use postcard mailers when you started out, and would you recommend them to someone just starting out now?

When I graduated, I made postcards from my school work, but they quickly became obsolete - I didn’t want to send school projects to promote myself for professional jobs. I think its a fine thing to send out hard copy promos (some ADs like it, some don’t) but remember to send images that correlate to the places you’re sending it to! There’s no magic way of getting work when you’re starting out (or 5 years in, or 25 years in…), but getting your work in front of people’s eyes is very important, and if a promo (either postcards or email) is a part of that, cool!

How did you get started on your career path?

After high school, I applied to X University for Fashion Design. I didn’t get in. I went to Toronto anyway and I went to OCAD for a foundation year. I reapplied to X University and completed a 4 year undergraduate in Fashion Design. I always knew the fashion industry wasn't right for me and went back to school less than a year after finishing my degree. I went back to my hometown of Calgary, Alberta and attended ACAD (now AUArts) for a degree in Visual Communications. Back then VC was a pretty even split between graphic design and illustration.

After ACAD, I applied for three jobs: one in Calgary (at Chocolaterie Bernard Callebaut as a designer), one in Toronto at an agency (also for a design job) and at Bumble and bumble (also as a designer). When I graduated, I visited ACAD alum in NY to talk portfolios/life/etc. I wasn’t exactly looking for a job, but I knew I needed a good book for when the opportunity came up. Incredible ACAD alum Lionel Capriano remembered that his friend, who worked at Bumble and bumble, was looking for a junior designer who could also draw. 

After working as a graphic designer/illustrator/art director at Bumble and bumble, I moved to an agency called Arch & Loop and worked as a graphic designer/web designer. I had never worked in web design before, but the CD liked my way of thinking (and the fact I could draw… see a pattern?). After Arch & Loop shut down, I worked as a photography art director for at Kate Spade Saturday (a beautiful but discontinued brand). I came by all of these jobs through word of mouth.

My path to illustration started in graphic design. I wouldn't have the contacts and momentum to freelance if I didn't work my ass off in these office jobs first. I worked after work to get enough of a base to go freelance, which was tough and I don’t necessarily recommend it. ACAD also prepared me for the professional world by having real deadlines and high standards.

I’ve been working as a full-time illustrator since April 2015. When Kate Spade Saturday shut down, I needed to hustle to get my O1 visa, as the US won’t allow you to stay longer than 10 days after your work visa has elapsed. I had to go back to Canada for a few months to figure it all out. 

Do you have visa advice for Canadians looking to work in the USA?

Outside of the jobs before and during ACAD, I’ve only worked professionally in New York. This has required me to have a work visa and I’ve had 6 (I’ve lived in the US since Dec 2011). When I worked only for big companies, I had to get an H1-B visa, which the companies filed for and paid for. I had to get a new H1-B for every company I worked for. It has since changed and it works more on a lottery system now (but it doesn’t hurt to ask the company you want to work for if they will sponsor you for this). Canadians can get TN visas, which I hear are easier to get.

When I wanted to work with multiple clients, I had to get an O1 visa. I’ve had 3 so far. They can last up to 3 years, but you have to prove you have enough work to stay here, which requires letters from clients and prospective clients as proof. In an O1 application, you also need multiple letters of reference (the more big names and big companies, the better), proof of awards and speaking engagements. I personally photocopied all my published work because my lawyer said they like to see that sort of thing. Phwar. It is a TON OF WORK.

It’s around 3K - 9K (depending on your lawyer) just to apply.

What mediums do you use? How long does it usually take you to make a portrait for, say, The New York Times? How big are your illustrations originally? What brushes do you use?

Mediums: Here’s a shocker - I don’t use watercolour and haven’t since college!

I’ve been on a big FW Ink kick since my wonderful instructors at ACAD introduced me to the stuff. It’s a magical acrylic ink that can be washy or dense—I use it for everything. My other forever love is graphite, specifically Staedtler Mars 2B pencils.

I love watercolour paper and use Fabriano hot and cold press papers (depending on my mood). I’ve been getting into vellum textured drawing paper lately as well! I’m always looking for the perfect paper.

My process varies depending what I’m doing. Sometimes freehand with ink, brushes and crow quill nibs yields the best results and sometimes I rely on a lightbox (Quentin Blake does it, therefore so can I!). I’d say my work is 80% traditional and 20% digital—I often use Photoshop for layering different drawings and cleaning up ink and paper texture.

Experimenting within a sketchbook has also been a game-changer for me. The discoveries you can make with media and style when there’s no pressure is pretty fantastic—I know I’m not the first person to say all this but it’s become a huge part of my process and I can’t shut up about it!

Time: It depends! If I’m doing a simple pencil drawing, they don’t take very long - the most time consuming part is finding the right references. When I’m actually drawing them it can be as quick as 10 minutes to an hour. My mixed media portraits (like Drake or Kanye) take longer, maybe more like 5-8 hours.

Size: Small! People are surprised. I’m trying to work bigger though. I usually don’t work any bigger then, say, 5-7 inches tall for portraits (smaller if I know the portrait will be printed at a spot scale).

Brushes: Any mid-level synthetic watercolor/acrylic brushes, usually round brushes, but having a few shaders in there is helpful. I go from 00 to 16. For the most part I use really small brushes and they get messed up easily, so a good price point is key for me. I have no brand loyalty!

Can you send me art director contacts?

I understand the impulse of this question, but I’m not sure how helpful it is for me to send you AD contacts. Your message to them would end up in their large pile of unsolicited emails!

Illustrators recommend each other to ADs all the time when its relevant. For example, if I can’t do a portrait, I’d pass that AD to other portrait artists that I admire. Because of the pace of the editorial world, this is the best way to recommend someone because that AD has a specific need at a specific time (they are the busiest people I’ve ever met, so unsolicited emails are hard for them to get to).

These days it’s more effective to get their attention yourself through Instagram!

What does your ideation process look like?

Every job starts with research, research, research… still images, video images, listening to an interview if it’s relevant…the amount of time I spend on research really depends on the project. Sometimes its just a glass with a martini in it, but I still look up different glasses, angles, etc. I generally collect a ton of reference from the internet and my own photos before starting a job. I also look at books a lot - Saul Steinberg, Pushpin Studios... anything that will get my in the headspace where I'm excited to create. Generally I collect practical reference and inspirational imagery all the time so I've have a big reservoir to dip into when I need it. 

My general process after research: lots of pencil sketches, sometimes refining the pencil sketch by scanning, messing around with the composition in photoshop, printing and then redrawing on a light table. This is only if the sketch is complicated and needs more attention. Sometimes I block in some colour on a sketch (in PS) but sometimes I like to apply the colour on a final in a more intuitive way (it really depends on the client and how much control they want).

When did you start feeling confident enough to be able to say no to a job?

Still waiting…! I struggle with confidence. Every. Single. Day. It comes in waves, that elusive confidence! When it comes to accepting or rejecting jobs, this question puts it in perspective: what is my time worth? It's not always about money or the publication. I still feel weird saying no to first time prospective clients because I’m afraid they’ll never come back! But if I don’t have the time or the desire, stuff won’t look very nice and then everybody loses. I’m learning to trust my gut as well, which is a lesson only learned through some hard knocks. 

What trends are happening that would be most likely to affect someone just entering the field? 

I’ve noticed the need for ‘stuff that moves’ is increasing, from full-on animations to a subtle movement in an online editorial illustration. Also ‘live drawing’ both in person and in front of a camera is very popular at the moment. I’m very uncomfortable drawing in front of people but I’ve had to get over that. 

Do you have time for personal work, and how does that influence the work you produce for your career? 

My personal work consists entirely of my sketchbook, but I’d like to write more! There is never enough time for this sort of thing and sometimes a week or two can go by without any personal work.

My sketchbook practice has been crucial to my development. When I started my sketchbook Tumblr and included more sketchbook experiments on my website, I got more requests for work in that style. If there are reoccurring themes in my life, one of them is definitely put it out there! 

How do you animate your drawings?

I use ‘timeline’ in Photoshop. It’s very, very basic but they way I animate is very, very basic! More involved animations like this one have 100+ frames, while little ditties like this one have around 5 or 6 frames. I hand draw all the frames and scan them in. I experiment with the length of time frames play for, exporting gifs (‘save for web’) several times to get the feeling right. Generally .5 seconds or shorter.