Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to BRADLEY PETERSON. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

BRADLEY, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Can you share a story about the kindest thing someone has done for you and why it mattered so much or was so meaningful to you?

For years I worked as a bartender in NYC while trying to get a record deal with my band after graduating from art school. For a long time I worried that I’d be slinging drinks into my old age if my music career never managed to take off, (and I was keenly aware that this was a more than likely scenario).

Then, a guardian angel in the form of a regular at my bar swooped in and saved me. She was an art director in the garment district at the time. After seeing my work in the sketchbook I kept at the bar she began pestering me and asking if I’d be interested in trying out apparel design for her sometime. I explained that the only program I had any experience with was Photoshop, after which she assured me that she’d tutor me in Illustrator in my off hours. Before long she brought me on part-time at her company, while I still bartended a few nights a week. One evening after work she invited me out for a drink and asked if I’d like to quit at the bar and come to work for her full-time. I could’t believe it! I was going to be able to quit the service industry and use my art to make a living, finally. I still work for her to this day, though now she’s out in LA and I’m in Boston. I tell her all the time that she saved my life with her patience, generosity, and willingness to give me a chance.

BRADLEY, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I’m a freelance illustrator living in Boston, MA, originally from Michigan. I do mainly character based illustrations, though sometimes I dabble in custom typography and more design-y stuff.

After playing in bands and bartending in NYC for about 10 years, I broke-in to the apparel/accessory industry designing backpacks for a company called Mojo Backpacks (now defunct, I’m sad to say) where I toiled for another 10 years. After my wife and I had our twin daughters in 2017 we moved to Boston to be closer to family and where we could actually afford to buy a house. With the move to Boston I made the leap of faith to go full-time freelance (truth be told, it was also a leap of practicality, as there are much fewer full-time design jobs I was qualified for in Boston as opposed to NY).

The first few years were definitely a challenge, finding my footing, building up a client base, making the mortgage every month. But then, slowly but surely, I started getting more work, until the last few of years are the first years since our move 6 years ago where I’m not freaking-out about the next job coming around the bend. I mean, I still wouldn’t say I feel complete ‘job-security’, as it IS still freelance after all, but it’s definitely a good feeling after so many years of uncertainty.

My client list has included Illumination Studios (I create a LOT of Minions), Warner Bros. Entertainment, Disney, Nickelodeon, and a few smaller, lesser known companies. For the most part, my wheelhouse has been the kid’s licensed character world; Harry Potter, Mickey Mouse, Pooh, etc,…but with Warner Bros I’ve gotten to dip my toe into some cool, more ‘mature’ territory such as Game of Thrones, Ted Lasso, DC Comics.

I’m most proud of a project I was honored to be asked to work on for the first season of House of the Dragon last year where I was tasked with creating around 10 dragons as well as various character graphics for apparel for the Warner Bros Shop. It was especially cool as many of the pieces were timed to release to the site the day after a particular episode aired that featured that character or dragon.

One of my dreams has always been to be a children’s book or middle grade novel illustrator/author. For the last 10 years or so I’ve been putting the finishing touches on an illustrated middle grade novel called, ‘Henry Hudson and The Nethermen’. Who knows if it will ever see the light of day, but a dream is a dream, right?

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

I think for me the most rewarding thing is to just have the opportunity to be able to get cozy, make a pot of coffee, and get lost in a podcast as I draw these silly little beings and monsters. While I’ve never had a ‘desk job’ in the clerical sense, I’ve definitely done the graphic-designer-as-cubicle-jockey thing; slapping style-guide provided graphics on product, (as well as the aforementioned food service industry slog). So I am so grateful for where I am right now; to be paid well to illustrate magical things from someone’s imagination that someone, somewhere will get some joy from. That, to me, is success.

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

I think if I could ‘do it all over again’ I would have gone in the graphic design direction more in college than my ‘BA in Art’ direction, which basically set me up for absolutely no actual career options, haha. I really thought I’d graduate from college with an art degree and some talent and the jobs would just fall out of the sky. If I’d known the direction the industry was going in, or at least, the commercial art industry, I would have taken more digital art classes, as it took me quite awhile to catch up to my peers once I did enter the industry. Of course, I graduated from university in 1996, whereas now there are so many options/programs to utilize on your own creative journey.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.bradleypetersonillustration.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bpetersonillustration/