We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Brianna Davis a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Brianna, 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?

After I wrote my books, I thought my job was done, and I intended to hire an illustrator. I knew exactly how I wanted the illustrations to look from distinct colors to form, and after a long search looking for an artist who could fulfill my style, I realized the look I desired would take more time to dictate to an artist and perfect than to do it myself. That’s when the realization came, if I wanted to be 100% satisfied and get things done to my definition of perfection in my lifetime, I would have to be the one to bring the art to life.

I pondered many mediums, and experimented designing the art on a computer, but it felt very hands-off. I wanted to better connect with the things I was designing.

Much like my preceding work-life, my college-life was just as scattered. I was on a medical track in college, and knew it wasn’t right for me when I only looked forward to the English and Art classes. Looking back at what I did in my spare time as a kid, I was always writing, rhyming, drawing, coloring, making collages, and redecorating my room. The greatest advice for anyone searching for what to “do” in life, is to find the thing that doesn’t feel like work, the endeavor you get lost in, the activity you stay up at night doing because it fulfills you, and brings you joy.

I finally chose the right schooling for myself when I chose to major in Interior Design. For the first time in my life, I loved school. I took drafting classes, AutoCAD, Fundamentals of Design, Color Theory, and drank them all in. One of my favorite classes was taught by a paper artist named Mary Gabert Sievert. She was a very harsh critic of our work, and always gave us her unabashed opinion and feedback. Looking back on my college projects, I can see that my ability to take an object that exists in the world, and translate it into the world of paper originated from those classes. One of my favorite artists, Wayne Thiebaud, said: “Learning to draw is just learning to see more clearly.” To me, learning to see more clearly means learning to see and replicate shapes. Pretty much everything is made up of basic shapes and lines, and when looking at the world through that lens, everything becomes more clear.

The nature of Interior Design and Architecture is precise and calculated, which is the process in which I make my art. Much like the process of making a film (which is another big part of my creative life), I storyboard all the details, such as the setting, object, colors, wardrobe, accessories, and then really strip the objects down to shape and form. I study real-life examples to make sure my depictions are accurate. Each detail brings the piece closer to life, and it is exciting to see the art emerge, each piece with a personality of their own!

The art pieces I made for my books are around 8.5” x 8.5”. I wanted them to be book-sized, and in a way, “kid-sized”. My favorite creating tools are scissors, tweezers, and razor blades. I can get very fine, precise cuts by holding paper with tweezers and shaping it using a plethora of cutting tools. Everything I’ve done has been self-taught, trial and error, and “just doing it” out of necessity. I always had my eye on the prize, so much so, that in between creating the book art, I created a series that are literally an eye in the middle of a target. These hang in my office as a reminder to stay on track and keep pushing ahead.

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

I entered into the children’s book market due to a new life circumstance, and subsequently filling a void I found existed. I had recently quit an industry that wasn’t serving me, and as I was preparing to welcome my daughter Persia into the world, I went on a mission to find some children’s books for her with two mandatory qualities: rhyming and incredible visuals. What I found was disappointment, only finding books with one of those items done well. After the realization that kids and parents deserve both clever rhyming and amazing visuals in the same book, I embarked on the creative mission to create the books I wanted to see in the marketplace.

Visuals are important, because exposing children to colors develops their visual perception, which is the ability of the brain to correctly interpret what the eyes see. From my point of view, “The world seems right when the colors are bright.”

Rhyming is powerful, because it wakes up your ears and brain, making listening more fun, pronunciation clearer, and learning to read easier. I am a firm believer that: “Rhyming teaches timing, pronunciation, and variation. Rhyming develops the ear, prompting kids to speak clear. Rhyming takes away the mystery, leading to reading and writing victory!” Extensive studies from the 1980’s prove this.

While I chose colors based on my preferred color palate, I have recently learned that, according to Jody LeVos, PhD, childhood development expert and Chief Learning Officer at the education company BEGiN, “A toy with a bold black-and-white pattern (which has high contrast) will likely be more interesting for baby.” POP ART BOOKS are books my one-year-old son will beeline to and page through above all other books. I have also noticed that my books are easier to read to my kids at night in low light, due to the stark black and white contrast of the black text and white frame. These are just a couple “Happy accidents,” as Bob Ross would say, that I, and other readers have noticed since the books were published.

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

I set out to make reading easier, and books more fun! “Fuel for bookmaking” is the name of the folder I keep the feedback, photos, and videos I have received from happy children, parents, grandparents, and teachers in. Mark Twain once remarked, “I can live for two months on a good compliment.” Each happy face and kind remark makes me want to press on.

The books make learning easy from what I have personally seen and experienced. POP ART 123’s taught my daughter at 1.5 years old to count to ten and understand what counting is. Parents and teachers have written to me about the wonders they have experienced with their learners as well. I received this note early on from a teacher:

“I am so excited about using your beautiful books for my first grade class. I have many students who are English language learners and others with reading disabilities and they love your books!! Love love the clever rhymes and the pop art graphics!”

I’d say that’s a mission-accomplished statement which checks all the boxes I was after when I was shopping for children’s books all those years ago!

How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?

If you have some spare change, buy our products. If you like us/our products, but are in between having spare change, share us with your friends/colleagues/family, leave reviews on our products, social media, send us love, good vibes, encouragement, or a funny meme! I think it’s smart for artists to have many different price-points and offerings, so people at all monetary levels can support. For instance, I have a line of over 400 notebooks on Amazon that retail for $6.99, my children’s books retail between $11.97-$19.99, and then my original art at an undesignated, Banksy-sized price I desire to fund a beach house and my humanitarian goals. Diversifying in price-point is wise, because it might be your lowest-priced item that gives you the biggest gains and that beach house. Artists belong in beach houses and in nature, I believe. There’s nothing more inspiring or educational than what nature has to offer.    

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.popartbooks.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/slcbri/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BriSLC
• Linkedin: http://www.linkedin.com/in/slcbri
• Other: http://amazon.com/author/briannadavis

Image Credits
Sohrab Mirmont