We recently connected with Jordan Nelson and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Jordan thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. How did you learn to do what you do? Knowing what you know now, what could you have done to speed up your learning process? What skills do you think were most essential? What obstacles stood in the way of learning more?

My name is Jordan D. Nelson, I also go by JD. I am an illustrator born and raised in Boston, MA. My primary focus is portraiture and I have a special interest in anatomy and character design. My choice of media ranges from traditional to digital. I graduated from Massachusetts College of Art and Design (MassArt), in 2020 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Illustration.
I am currently a Graphic Designer at Artists for Humanity (AFH). My everyday work has given me the opportunity to grow my conceptual, teamwork and leadership skills. I currently work with multiple clients who gives me the opportunity to think outside the box and make new fresh ideas for their logo, business card, thank you card, t-shirt, etc. I’m also a mentor at AFH and I guide 20+ teens who help us, mentors, work on client projects. Working with teens has given me great teamwork skills and the confidence to lead a project from start to finish. I have guided teens through our design process, consisting of multiple design rounds – with each round ending in presenting our ideas to the client. We then come together to discuss the feedback and move forward in the process to get to our final design. This process helps me further solidify my own craft in order to help teens with theirs. I feel like making my foundation good and secure helps me take teens on this journey and give them a foundation to work off of to learn and develop their own craft.

For many years I have worked with different mediums and clients from around Boston. I feel like I get great opportunities to continue learning new ways to create and think when it comes to creating. Additionally, I feel that it allows me to have an open mind, to always allow growth because I am never truly satisfied with a style I have at that moment and always look for way to improve from the last piece i’ve done.

Jordan, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

My name is Jordan D. Nelson, I also go by JD. I am currently 25 years old and my occupation is a Graphic Designer/ Graphic Designer Assistant Mentor at a non-profit organization called Artist for Humanity, I am also an illustrator born and raised in Boston, MA. My primary focus is portraiture and I have a special interest in anatomy and character design. My choice of media ranges from traditional to digital. I graduated from Massachusetts College of Art and Design (MassArt), in 2020 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Illustration.

I try my best to draw portraits or character designs on my off time to keep my skills fresh and to improve them as time goes on. I take knowledge from other artists I know personally or on Instagram and go into.a trail and error phase of my life where I try a new style out and if it goes well that’s great, but if it does’t then even better because I can figure out ways to improve.

While at MassArt there is one thing that I have learned from drawing classes and use to this very day, which is to basically understand what I am looking at, specifically the lighting. I pay attention to my darkest darks and my lightest lights and work a gradient from those two to have a good balance of value, chiaroscuro.

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

The most rewarding aspect of being an artist is the simple act of failing. I don’t do commissions so my time to my craft is trail and error. I spend that time mimicking inspiring artists, Not so much where its a one to one replica but enough where I can learn how to render out a piece to my liking in a new way. While trying to recreate a piece or even learning a new medium to create with, I enjoy the process and potentially failing recreating the piece because I can study where I went wrong and correct that the next attempt.

My favorite failure is when I joined AFH as a teen back in 2012. It was my first time painting and my mentor gave our group a small canvas to do an observational portrait using a mirror. The task was to use two colors, one white and one of our choice. I chose red. My instinct was to pick up some red and then treat it like a pencil. I would lighten the pressure of the paintbrush thinking it would lighten the tone of the red. My mentor looked at me so crazy. He allowed me to actually figure it out and guide me the rest of the way to the end. That moment helped me become a better artist because I then became one of my mentor’s strongest painters. I realized I gained the momentum to become a better artist and push for new heights. Trying to create a piece better than my last.

Are there any books, videos or other content that you feel have meaningfully impacted your thinking?

I am not a big reader but one book that really captured my attention recently is The Creative Act: A Way of Being by Rick Rubin. If you enjoy a sense of zen, peace and abstract ideas while reading then this is the book for you. I essentially dives into the art or creation itself. Rick Rubin talks about how creativity comes in many different forms.

He breaks down how the idea is brought to you, like how it starts to formulate in your head and how that idea lives on in the universe. Then goes on to talk about how you could extract that idea. Additionally, as stated earlier, he talks about multiple ways of creation, from making art with our hands, to how the planets move as one, to how nature plays has a part in life and how it knows when to snow, rain, etc. He brings a new way a thinking, at least for me he did.

I went into the book with no expectations and left with a sense of amazement. It helped me have a better understanding to how the world work and even helped me formulate a series of drawings that highlight different artists I know.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.jdtheartist.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/blvkboy.jd/
• Other: Email: [email protected]