We recently connected with CHAD MAUPIN and have shared our conversation below.

CHAD, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We love asking folks what they would do differently if they were starting today – how they would speed up the process, etc. We’d love to hear how you would set everything up if you were to start from step 1 today.

If I could start over, knowing what I know now, I would have listened to my instincts about myself more fully sooner. I’ve always had a good vision for who I am creatively and what works with illustration and design but I didn’t trust myself or commit the way I should have.

A big component to this was the environments I lived in. Growing up in rural Arkansas and small towns in the south felt very isolating as an artist. It wasn’t until I moved to Northwest Arkansas and was in a creatively vigorous environment that I started finding my people and began to trust myself more fully.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I’ve been drawing my entire life. When I was 5 I told my Dad I’d be an artist when I grew up and specifically “a cartoonist, animator or illustrator”. For whatever reason “I KNEW” I’d be an artist someday. No one was pressing this on me and I wasn’t in a household of artists. It was innate.

As I grew up my interest in comics, illustration and ephemera was obsessive. In hindsight I was almost training myself to be a graphic designer in the way I examined and replicated type I found and the principals of design I was drawn to.

I had an unusual upbringing and was virtually an independent adult by 16. I gave college a shot but with my limited resources ended up dropping out. I assumed I’d get into comics at some point even though I had no idea how this would happen living in rural Arkansas in the early 1990’s.

I ended up getting an entry level graphic design job at a small screen printer and before long realized I was good at graphic design and loved the tee shirt business.

After 15 years I’d managed to create a good career for myself but was increasingly frustrated with my lack of any real, personal relationship with art. All of my creative energy was being spent on work that meant nothing to me outside of a professional obligation.

My wife and I moved our family to Northwest Arkansas in the hopes that I might have a creative environment and community in which I could reengage with art in a personal way.

Moving to Northwest Arkansas and starting my design studio, Big Bot Design, was a transformative part of my creative journey.

As I found a supportive creative community I became more affirmed in who I was creatively and began integrating personal artwork into my business. This attracted clients who responded to my personal work and wanted that same approach brought to their businesses.

Through Big Bot Design I have a creative identity and relationship to a creative community I’m extremely thankful for and proud of.

Working for myself gave me the ability to follow creative instincts unfettered and to find unique ways to engage my business with my creative passions.

In 2016 I created the Cattywampus Co-Op as an outlet for NWA makers and as a way for me to feel more integrated into my creative community. Being able to serve other artists in this way was incredibly rewarding and sparked my interest in creating a more specific art show.

After Cattywampus I created the Death Ray Illustration & Print Expo to spotlight the incredible community of illustrators that reside in NWA and to expose the public to that talent and the power of illustration and visual design.

I celebrated 30 years in Illustration and Graphic Design last year and am incredibly thankful for where I’ve been able to take my career, the relationships I’ve made along the way and that I never gave up on myself.

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

I never had any adult who supported me outside of the very bare minimum. I knew from the beginning of adolescence that the only way I’d ever become an artist is by doing it completely on my own.

I spent my teenage years virtually taking care of myself but trying to find adults who might offer a bit of help,

I once asked my 9th grade art teacher a question about perspective in drawing and she told me “You know more than I do! Do whatever you want in class!”. My friends thought this was cool but I was really discouraged. The one class I actually cared about was essentially pointless.

My High School Guidance counselor laughed and told me “you’ll have to move out of Arkansas!” when I tried to get help finding a college that could help me follow my path.

I grew up in poverty with a lot of neglect. I’m extremely proud that I never neglected my dreams and never gave up on myself.

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

I have always been obsessed with drawing and comics.

Drawing is a fundamental part of my creative life and something I need to engage with daily.

I’ve begun working on a series of memoir comics and am very anxious to stop having comics show up as an influence in my work but to actually BE MY WORK.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.big-bot.com
• Instagram: @bigbotdesign
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/bigbotdesign
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chad-maupin-93694b25/

Image Credits
Kat Wilson (for the picture of me at my drawing table) The other pictures are mine.