We recently connected with Danielle Bullock and have shared our conversation below.

Danielle, looking forward to hearing all of your stories 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?

I’ve always done art, from before I can remember. I don’t think it was so much of me “learning the craft” as “learning what I love” in order to take my craft to the next level. I think the turning point in my journey as an artist was when I decided to trust what I love. I stopped listening to all those voices in my head that were telling me I shouldn’t draw what I wanted because the online community was already oversaturated with what I enjoyed. That it wasn’t “art” if it wasn’t philosophical, political, transcendental, or a struggle. But I think learning what you love is also intertwined with learning or knowing who you are. So telling someone to “just do what you love” is a taller order than most people realize, I think. It takes a lot of unlearning of internal voices from stigmas, childhood, friends, family, etc, to learn who you are, and subsequently “learn” the craft.

Danielle, 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?

So I’m currently a full time web designer in order to pay the bills, and I freelance in my free time. It’s not a glamorous artist life but it provides me with financial stability.

I went to art school in the hopes of becoming a medical illustrator but when I discovered that grad school would be an even more hefty loan on top of my current undergrad loan, I didn’t pursue it and continued in the work force as a t-shirt designer. I was in a pretty volatile period of my life where I wasn’t creating at all, when I got an iPad and the program Procreate.

This changed the game for me, and I was soon inspired again to start back creating. I meandered casually with it for a couple years until I created Halo 1 and felt something click. I decided to lean into it and make it a running theme. 2 years later, I have 8 Halo pieces, and I’m working on a 9th.

After a time of posting my series to Instagram, I got contacted by the owner of a music poster business who asked if I’d be interested in creating a venue poster for the Smashing Pumpkins. After that design got posted, I got contacted by another company that does movie posters, and got to do a Galadriel piece for the Lord of the Rings. I’m hoping these projects open more doors like this in the future.

So, this is basically how I “broke in” to the business. I’m nowhere near being able to be a freelancer, but it’s a start, and I’m hopeful. I still have a day job, which is something I think that’s vastly under-discussed in the art world. But it gives me the peace of mind that comes with financial stability.

As for my art, I create art of women wrapped in billowing cloth or hair. As a lifelong fan of fantasy, I try to emulate the ethereal nature of fairies but without the wings. The complexity of folds of cloth and texture of hair is endlessly fascinating to me, and I love visually solving how excess amounts of both would look. I also enjoy the challenge of taking concepts from music or characters from movies and transforming them into my ethereal style as well.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

I grew up creating art, so it basically became my identity, since I wasn’t good at anything else. I was progressing quite quickly up until high school, when my core group of friends dissolved and I became incredibly depressed. Art stopped being fulfilling, and I hated almost everything I made for a period of 15 years. But I didn’t know how to do anything BUT art. So I would churn stuff out, not really feeling like I accomplished anything at all. It was so easy, after so many years, to lose hope that it would ever be the same again. Until one year I just stopped forcing it. I decided that it will come when it comes. And I barely touched pencil or paper or tablet for a whole year and focused on other hobbies, and found out a lot more about myself that I never knew. And that continued until the day I got my iPad and Procreate, which shocked me out of my creative stupor. It took several years of meandering with it to get back to it, but I finally rediscovered the spark and the joy of art making. My projects are fulfilling now, and I am happy. The 15 years it took to get back here were hell but it was worth it.

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

I just get to create things I love. I love being able to see visual details that no one else sees. I love when I see something that I like, and I just stare at it, just enjoying its existence. Or learning from it. I love both the challenge of improving my skill set, and just creating something that’s comfortable and familiar that’s not necessarily focused on growth. I love getting inspired by patterns or textures or music, or something completely random. There’s just something that’s so satisfying about seeing beauty and taking pleasure in small things, and I think that’s what being a creative has granted me.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.danisumm.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/danisummart
• Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/danisumm
• Other: www.etsy.com/shop/danisummart

Image Credits
All photos © Danielle Bullock “Dani Summ Art”