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

Christian, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. What’s been the most meaningful project you’ve worked on?

The most meaningful project, for now, I have completed in my career would have to be the self-publication of my book, called The Teeming Universe: An Extraterrestrial Field Guide. In all honesty, the beginning decision to make a book period was kind of a fluke. For a lot of my life I always wanted to make my own book professionally, but never knew that you could actually self publish with the help of sites such as Amazon KDP.

After randomly stumbling upon a video about the basics of self-publishing I really got interested in exploring it, and spent months researching how it works and how to do it the best I can without much in the way of budget. A lot of it involved a lot of pre-planning and close attention to directions, because in the world of book publishing it is so anal that you have to be really decisive with formatting, text, the like. It was pretty difficult at first, especially, however once I figured out the ins and outs it became much more streamlined.

Why it is especially meaningful to me is that for nearly all my life I had wanted to be an author. I love writing about my artwork, and since I was 7 years old I had aspirations of making a book about alien worlds and creatures, something I was inspired to do by looking at the publications of authors like Wayne Barlowe and Dougal Dixon. Being able to do that and know that I am an inspiration for many kids and adults across the world is what makes it especially worth it.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers

Absolutely. My name is Christian Cline, and I am BFA Illustration graduate from the Savannah College of Art and Design, working as a science fiction author and illustrator. What I am most known for is designing scientifically plausible alien life forms and worlds, mainly focusing on aspects such as creature anatomy, environmental worldbuilding and evolution based on environmental pressures. In September 2021, I at the age of 21 self-published my first book “The Teeming Universe” using Amazon’s print-on-demand service called Kindle Direct Publishing. I am for the most part a digital painter, using modern tools like Google Sketchup and Adobe Photoshop to realize my ideas, and I’ve been using Photoshop specifically for just over three years, and Sketchup for about half a year.

I got into the world of publishing long after I began learning the craft of illustration, having began work on my first book in late 2019. As mentioned previously I began my career as an author simply by scrolling online and stumbling across videos about self-publishing services, something I had not known to even be possible until them. It was after that where I began the journey to learning about self-publishing on my own, and it would of course culminate with the completion of my book The Teeming Universe.

As mentioned earlier, the primary content of work in my field involves creature design. As a creature designer, my job is to provide solutions to both aesthetic and practical/functional issues, such as how a creature looks when it has evolved in a certain environment, how it moves, finds food, etc. It’s a pretty complicated job, as it requires not only a creative eye but also a lot of foreknowledge and research into real world creatures and how they behave in nature, taking elements of that and implementing it in a new way. This description fits to the term “speculative biology,” which is the sub-genre within science-fiction I actively am a part of. While creature design has been in stories for nearly as long as stories have existed, speculative biology itself is fairly recent in the grand scheme of most genres, with many people agreeing its origin to be H.G. Wells’ The Time Machine published in 1895. For me, creating somewhat realistic/plausible creatures which are as possible as they are alien, is the name of my game, and that’s my line of work!

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

While I could talk about my journey to authorhood again, which did absolutely take resilience if there is a story that better demonstrates my resilience it would I think have to be a lesson I learned about my outlook on myself as an artist in comparison to other artists. I, like I am sure many artists across the world, had some level of insecurity about myself in comparison to my peers, and this was something that I for sure would feel in my sophomore year in college. I had never been a very insecure person in terms of who I was and what I was capable of, but in being at a campus where the best artists in the world would be taught right next to you, it was hard not to feel small at first.

In terms of unlearning it, it was a story I really will never forget. It took place on the late evening of one of my classes a few years ago, in my sophomore year, and it was right after my last class for the day. I do not remember why, but I had that day felt especially down about my skills, after getting a fairly mild critique on some classwork. At that time I had been very new to using digital art, so it was something I was not very comfortable in at all and was a little anxious to get the hang of. Following that class, I walked with my best friend Minh to their car, and in my state I aired out how I felt and looked for some advice from my peer, who had a few years up on me as they were a masters’ student and an art director for an independent company.

Some of the best advice I had ever received came that night, where they told me that it’s ok not to be good at something at the moment, and that at that moment I was among the best and I was holding my own, even if I didn’t feel very good about it. They told me that it’s not about comparing yourself to other people near you or such, but it is instead about comparing yourself today from yourself from the past. In that moment I had an almost enlightening, groundbreaking epiphany that inspired me to keep learning new skills and allowed me to be comfortable with who I am. That lesson I take with me every day, and it has improved my not only self-confidence, but also my motivation to learn new skills, and being ok with not being the best at them. When you mix that with humility and a willingness and openness to learn and take feedback, while at the same time listening to your own voice and being alright with failures as well as accomplishments, you realize that your potential really is unlimited.

Physical competition exists of course, but for artists like myself in many cases the biggest obstacle to tackle is the voice within. When you take it for what it is, look at the big picture, and truly absorb the lessons I learned, it really changes your outlook on who you are, and demonstrates true resilience.

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

Admittedly my story to building a social media audience is a little underwhelming. I remember in my later years back in high school I only used my Instagram to post images of clouds, but after catching on to the idea of making a page for your art I began to do it for myself around 2018. It took a very long time to get to the audience I have now, over four years, but it is absolutely attainable, and if I can do it anyone can with enough time.

Some good advice I would give to anyone is such. Post consistently and on somewhat of a consistent schedule, because it always is a chance for you to put yourself out there in such a way that people can more easily find you, and the people who have already found you will anticipate you when you post on certain days. For me it’s normally days like Monday and Friday, and sometimes Wednesday.

For creatives like myself I also highly encourage showing material like WIP’s (works in progress) and sketches, as people actually really like to see that as well as completed pieces. If you could show process through video formats such as reels, which are becoming increasingly popular, that’s even more of an avenue to increase social relevance.

Lastly advice that I would most encourage would pertain to mental health in the context of social media. It’s a hard thing to keep in mind but the number of followers has very little, if anything, to do with self-worth, and it isn’t a qualitative measurement as much as it is a quantitative one. Follower counts are just numbers at the end of the day, and it’s important to remember that you are who you are with or without whatever number you may or may not have. Lastly it is also important to remember to take breaks! I just recently took a social media break and it’s important to do it and unplug every so often. As fun as social media is, that isn’t where you enjoy life at the end of the day; you find that when you go outside, when you take care of your mind and body, when you talk to friends or family, it’s always important to focus on the big picture!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.christianscreations.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/christian_cline/
• Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/christian-cline-a48323177
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-uuuZ3EKQ3sc8ong1TkueQ
• Other: The Teeming Universe on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09FCCCDRN/ref=mp_s_a_1_5?dchild=1&keywords=the%20teeming%20universe&qid=1630938058&sr=8-5 DeviantArt: https://www.deviantart.com/christian-cline/gallery/all