We recently connected with Jack Foster and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Jack, thanks for joining us today. Can you open up about a risk you’ve taken – what it was like taking that risk, why you took the risk and how it turned out?

As a young father of 5 children, I always wanted to be a syndicated cartoonist. I went to night school to learn the art of cartooning and the business end of it. To even get a look from the big syndicate companies, I would have to have 6 months of cartoon strips all ready for publication. After working on my strip for months, I was ready! Or so I thought. I began submitting. The rejection letters began trickling in. I modified my strip and resubmitted and the rejection letters continued. Revise and resubmit, revise and resubmit. This became my routine for 25 years. By this time, I had a file cabinet full of rejections. Now my oldest daughter Jenny had graduated college with a degree in art. One day she asked me if I was still mailing in my cartoons. I answered, “Yes”. She began telling me that everything is going digital. It’s all on computers. Even the newspaper cartoons are being submitted via the web. Many artists are even creating their art digitally. Her suggestion was to go back to school for digital art. My response was… “Um… I don’t think so. I am 49 years old.” But the more I thought about it, the more I knew Jenny was right. The art world was passing me by. So I returned to school and learned the art of digital painting. I never attempted to even use a computer, so before the first class even started, I raised my hand asked if someone could show me how to turn it on! That was a big risk for me, but an even bigger risk was leaving my job as a mailman 11 years later to pursue a career as a children’s book illustrator.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

My name is Jack Foster. I am a children’s book illustrator. I have illustrated over 140 published kid’s books so far and I don’t plan on slowing down any time soon. I took a very unusual path to get to where I am today, as I’m sure many people have. As a child I loved art, especially the newspaper comics and especially the brightly colored Sunday Comics. While the rest of my family spent many an evening watching television, I was at the kitchen table tracing the comics. Then I began drawing my own comics. I knew early on that I wanted to be a comic strip artist “when I grew up.” My heroes were Charles Shultz, Dik Browne, Mort Walker, and a bunch of others. I got married very young, and had children right away. I ended up going to night school for cartooning and business. I had a regular job as a sheet metal shop worker while submitting my cartoons to the newspaper syndicate companies. For years I was met with rejection letter after rejection letter. I pursued other areas of art while continuing to submit my cartoons. I became the political cartoonist for a Chicago suburban newspaper. I designed and painted candles for Marshal Fields in Chicago, I painted murals, I was a caricature artist in Woodfield Mall, I designed brochures for a printing company, and many more freelance projects, all the while submitting my comics and never giving up on my dream. I ended up with a whole file cabinet full of rejection letters. Then at age 33 my world fell apart. My wife divorced me. I was heartbroken but I knew that it was my fault. I began drinking heavily and for the next 10 years I drifted aimlessly through life, even my comic strip artist dream was gone. At age 42, I got sober and I became a follower of Jesus. My passion for art returned and for the next several years I volunteered my time and my art at our church and several other local churches all the while I was revising my comic strip and resubmitting it, only to continue receiving the dreaded rejection letters. At my daughter Jenny’s urging, I went back to school for digital art. This was a little scary for me as I was now 49 years old and never even turned on a computer. But I got out of my comfort zone and did it. Technology was turning the art world upside down and I was being left behind. After I finished school, I knew in my heart that my digital art was very sub-par, so I made a plan. I would create 3 digital pieces of art a day for one year, and then reassess my progress. After a year and over 1000 digital illustrations, and even though my style had changed drastically, I was ready to begin a new chapter in my comic strip career pursuit. I began posting my illustrations online and received some positive attention. Then an artist from Nevada messaged me this life-changing message: “Have you ever thought of illustrating books for children? A publisher friend of mine is looking for someone with your style.” I didn’t know this man at the time, (we are now friends) but I appreciated him taking the time to message me. I never really thought about illustrating children’s books as I was laser-focused on the comic strip thing. I then remembered a short hand-written note at the bottom of a rejection letter that I received years earlier. It said something like, “You’re style is better suited for the children’s market.” I never gave it much thought, but now I was ready to give it a shot. I submitted several illustrations to the publisher and signed a two-book contract immediately. You never know! For over 25 years I received rejection letter after rejection letter. Then I submitted a couple of illustrations and a new career path was forged. I don’t regret the path I took one bit though. I learned so much about rejection, myself, fortitude, patience., and my purpose in life. My faith is the most important thing to me. So I try to find projects that coincide with my beliefs and bring God glory.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

As a child, I was so passionate about art. I would always have a sketchbook with me. I would find a quiet place by a lake or in the woods and draw. Nature was my inspiration. I loved drawing animals and scenes. I love how God instills these passions inside us, and I was so blessed that I knew my passion early. But then as I carried that passion into adulthood, something changed. I had responsibilities. I needed to support my family. I started to see art, not for the beautiful inspirational creative outlet that it was, but as a way to make money. The shift in my perception turned my passion into a vehicle to make a lot of money. Along with my desire to be a comic strip artist, I began to submit cartoons to magazines. I purchased a book called The Artist’s Market. I went through the entire book, highlighted the highest-paying markets, and submitted to them. I’m now embarrassed to admit, but Instead of gearing my art toward what I was passionate about, I would get the magazine submission guidelines and gear my art toward what they wanted, whether it conflicted with my values or not, just because they paid a lot of money. I am so glad that I never got into some of those magazines. I would hate to have that on my resume. I went through a very dark time in my life, but after I emerged from it, I now know, not to let life get in the way of true creative passions, to do what I love regardless of the dollar amount, remember the joy of creating for the love of creating.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

So as a children’s book illustrator, children are my main audience. I love getting a photo of a child reading a book and looking at one of my illustrations with a big smile on their face. It is so rewarding and there is no amount of money that could ever match that. But I also get the privilege to teach children about illustrating. It is so rewarding walking around the room and seeing the children’s art after I explained some basics and gave them a demo. I have a heart for special needs. I have volunteered to teach down-syndrome and autistic children, as well as special needs adults. I am so blessed that through this talent that God has given me, I am able to meet, teach and be inspired by these amazing people.

Contact Info:

• Website: jackfosterart.com
• Instagram: instagram.com/jackfoster1428
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jacktoon
• Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/jack-foster-b72ab115
• Twitter: twitter.com/jack_jacktoon
• Other: mrbiblehead.blogspot.com