Little did my friend Nic know he would have a full inbox after he left my Art of Illustration class at Drake University last week.
Nic (@NicRothStudio) joined us to speak of his creative process and journey from college student at the Minneapolis College of Art & Design to graphic novelist with agent representation and multiple projects on or near submission. I however was not surprised that many of my students eagerly asked to take him up on his offer to see and critique some of their work.
I’ve known Nic since 2018 when I, fresh from quitting my full-time job as a graphic designer joined the Society for Children’s Book Writers & Illustrators (or SCBWI) of which he is also a member. I’ve long been impressed with and inspired by not only Nic’s artistic talent, but also his energy and his generosity. And seeing him connect with my students by sharing his own story from character doodles in a sketchbook to self-published children’s book inspired me anew.
“Seeing him connect with my students by sharing his own story from character doodles in a notebook to self-published children’s book inspired me anew. ”
Today we are so focused on the outcome of college: landing a job, that we often forget some valuable lessons along the way. Namely to enjoy the journey, but also that most of us are not going to land our dream career (or the career we expect) immediately after we toss our mortar caps in the air.
Nic and I have had different experiences navigating the career of a working (and in my case now, teaching) artists, but one thing we do have in common are the many detours and slight left and right turns we’ve taken on our path to the creative careers we hold now. For Nic, it was a cornucopia of side jobs like washing dishes at a Village Inn to support himself as a freelance artist; for me, it was a job in marketing (the branch of design I swore as a student I would never commit to!).
My college self would never have believed I would become a teacher, let alone teach a class on my passion topic: illustration, at my alma mater. And yet, here I am.
Since becoming a teacher, during the school year my focus is on my students and less so on my own professional development as an artist; in the summer, the reverse. But hearing from Nic reminded me not only that I need to make time for myself, but also that as an artist, our work comes in seasons. There may be a dry spell here and there. That dreaded creative block or a rejected submission, but those are only temporary set-backs. As fickle as spring in Des Moines. Rain and gloom one day, sun and warmth the next. And as I look out the window of my Mainframe Studio into this gorgeous sunny spring day (finally!) I’m excited not for the school year to end, but for a new season of my artistic abundance to begin. And it’s friends and fellow illustrators like Nic that not only help nurture the artist in my students, but in me as well.
