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

Hi Alyse, thanks for joining us today. We’d love to hear about when you first realized that you wanted to pursue a creative path professionally.

I’ve always been creative, but I didn’t consider illustration as a profession until high school. I was in an art class, learning anatomy, and one of the resources available to me was a children’s book — “Snow White,” illustrated by Trina Schart Hyman. Up until that point, I’d focused on hyper-realism (pencil & charcoal), but seeing the whimsy, beauty, and color in Hyman’s work made me fall in love with the idea of telling stories through art. It also helped my mindset shift from taking my art too seriously to realizing that art can (and should) be fun. I copied Hyman’s illustrations meticulously throughout high school, and fell back in love with fairytales in the process. However, when I went to college, my creativity slowed considerably. I studied psychology because that seemed like a reasonable thing to do — I loved art, but knew I wasn’t competitive or fast enough to thrive in a creative environment (e.g., animation, comic books, game design, etc.). In a sense, I fell out of love with art because I had a stubborn perspective of what an “artist” was, and knew I didn’t fit that bill. Only in the past few months have I began to truly consider myself an artist again, and pick up that old dream of illustrating. It has been a slow, winding journey, but I’m finally confident in the direction that I’m going … and I’ve collected all the Trina Schart Hyman books I can along the way.

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

Even though I’ve been an artist for a couple decades, I’m just now beginning my professional journey. At this point, I’m focusing on developing my personal style, building a portfolio, and writing stories. Although I don’t have any services to offer (yet), I hope my persistence encourages you in your own creative journey.

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

Something big I’ve had to unlearn is what it means to be an artist. I’ve always struggled with the idea of creative identity, and have kicked myself for not being at certain level. Throughout high school and college, I’d always thought of artists as people who monetize their work — they’ve got an online store, gallery exhibition, or maybe a career in animation / storyboarding. Either way, there’s money being made, and lots of exposure. Art as a hobby is nice, but professional art is what makes you a “real” artist. That’s what I thought, anyway. You’d think I would’ve realized this sooner, but if you make art, you’re an artist. Even if you’re the only one who ever sees it, or opportunities fall through, or your stickers and tote bags don’t sell, or the only people who like your work are you and your mom. Being an artist isn’t a degree or a certain level of income — it’s something much deeper than that, something that’s harder to pin down. Do I want a career in art? Sure I do. But deconstructing what it means to be an artist has given me permission to make the art I want to make, and to take things as slow as I need. After all, what good is a creative career if I don’t enjoy the ride?

Any resources you can share with us that might be helpful to other creatives?

More than anything, I wish I’d known about the educational resources available online. Certificate programs are great, if you have the funds. A more cost-effective option is Skillshare, which has lots of classes geared toward creatives. However, I’d argue that Youtube is going to be your biggest friend. It’s free, and has thousands of art lessons to choose from, whatever your medium or skill-level. A word of advice, though … it goes without saying, but don’t take everything you see online as gospel truth. Art is subjective, but people are going to have a lot of “objective” opinions. As with anything on the internet, it’s important to filter.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @alyse.verone