We recently connected with Christina Lee and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Christina thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Learning the craft is often a unique journey from every creative – we’d love to hear about your journey and if knowing what you know now, you would have done anything differently to speed up the learning process.

I grew up enamored with illustration. I was an avid reader and drawer all throughout school. Seeking a creative career as a second-generation Korean was always a huge risk, so I went to a research university for my undergraduate degree and stitched together an informal illustration major by studying fine art and communication design. Although I think of my undergraduate years fondly, my favorite period of time was when I formally studied illustration abroad in London at the Camberwell College of Arts. After graduating college, I worked a few years full-time as a designer, but was largely unsatisfied with my work. I started to pick up freelance illustration projects, and those were fundamentally more fulfilling to me than my full-time design career. As a result, after almost a decade after my undergraduate career, I decided to go to graduate school for illustration to enhance my illustration skillset.

Christina, 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?

I am a Korean-American illustrator and designer based in Brooklyn, NY by way of San Jose, CA and Pittsburgh, PA. My work has been recognized by the Society of Illustrators, Comic Arts Brooklyn, Small Press Expo, LA Zine Fest, and Feminist Zine Fair. She is currently pursuing an MFA in Illustration at the Fashion Institute of Technology. I got into the industry by illustrating concert flyers and occasional editorial illustrations while I was in college. I currently work in advertising, publishing, and editorial illustration, while also teaching at the undergraduate level. I solve visual problems for my clients, and my speed, sense of humor, and style sets me a part from other illustrators. I am currently the most proud of my comics, which have been published by Vice, and am actively seeking to expand my editorial client base. Additional select clients include NPR, Teen Vogue, and Penguin Books.

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

I highly recommend “The Death of the Artist: How Creators Are Struggling to Survive in the Age of Billionaires and Big Tech” by William Deresiewicz. It does a great job of contextualizing the modern day creative’s place in our social media-driven day and age, and ways to think of about how to make a living as a creative in our hyperconnected world.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

Being able to set my own schedule and choosing the projects that I want to work on. Also working with people that I actually like!

Contact Info:

• Website: www.xtinalee.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/xxtinalee

Image Credits
Kalie Frisky