We recently connected with Elize Mckelvey and have shared our conversation below.

Elize, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Can you open up about a risk you’ve taken – what it was like taking that risk, why you took the risk and how it turned out?

Making a living in the art world means taking risks. You see, I grew up in an artistic family…my grandpa was an artist, and both my aunts and my mom were also artists. Even then, I remember saying that I wanted to go to art school but not to the one that my whole family went to an hour away…I wanted to go to a place 13 hours away…why? Well, I felt I was to shy and that being so close to home I wouldn’t grow…and apprently I could run college cross country and go to art school. (turns out I was the first artist they had on their team!) That was a risk, I was losing out on the connections of the local place and trying something new.

In art school I eventually took a class my junior year called “The history of Illustration”, and in that class, the topic of “combat art” came up. WAIT, hold up…you mean to tell me that artists go to the front lines to document what’s going on? I was instantly hooked on this idea and over the next year, I decided that even though not many people have done this (and I just spend way more money than I’d like to admit on paying for art school through loans), that I was going to join the military,…the Marine Corps to be more specific. To top it off I was going to enlist with a college art degree….most people that graduate college go the officer route because it’s safer and you make more money. Not me, I was going to risk it so that I could properly share the stories of Marines from the lowest level, and to do that I needed to experience it myself.

Looking back, all these risky decisions have led me to where I am today. I could have never imagined that these decisions would lead me to where I am today. I’ve gained amazing art mentors through the Marine Corps Combat Art Program, gained an audience that has allowed me to share meaningful stories through my art, and am more confident in running my own art business because of the structure and leadership experience I gained from serving in the Marines.

So, go create that painting even if its the “wrong technique” you just might figure out something new, Or maybe send that email or message to an artist that you look up to, and even more send them some of your work even if it’s scary., what if it turns into a mentorship opportunity….you won’t know until you risk it. :)

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 have always loved art, I grew up mainly drawing horses, and though my whole family is fairly artistic didnt really have any art training (besides a hardly mentionable art class in high school) until I left for art school in 2008. While there my path changed to me learning about the history of combat art and how it was still a way for stories to be shared even in the modern world of photography and videography. Fast forward to October of 2012, a day after graduating art school I left for Marine Corps boot camp. That decision took me to 8.5 years of active duty service and a heap full of advertures through my artwork…some good and some bad. My passion has become to shares these stories through art and though I am no longer active duty I still serve as a civlian artist for the Marine Corps combat art program.

Besides that I now freelance fulltime which has spaned from animation work (well, my intperetation of illustration and animation) for productions which I am proud to say reflect in an official IMDB profile, to storyboarding to my main work which is portrait illustration and art adventures. Most recently I’ve converted my little SUV into a mobile studio/home where I will be traveling around and sharing my adventures through illustrations. All of these can be seen online through my user name “inkstickart”. I love going live on platforms like tiktok and instagram to share my processes and stories with my audience, its awesome being able to be connected with people in this way!

As far as technques, I love to experiment and dabble in almost everything so there is never a dull moment! Every day is a new opportunity to grow as an artist and even if its a bad art drawing its still a building block for future successes. As long as I am creating and connecting with people I’m pretty happy. So if you like a a concoction of weird, creative experimentation, art stories, art lessons and artventures than i’m your gal!

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

One of my favorite parts about being an artist is bringing stories to life through my drawings or to help someone remember a person such as a memorial portrait, or recreating an event that maybe didn’t have any visual aids prior to my imagination and research. Honestly, being able to mold a situation through our art tools is freaking powerful!

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

Oh man, isn’t this a question! So I started going by the name “inkstickart” all the way back in 2010. If you look at my analysis like Instagram for instance I have posted the equivalent of 5 years of content not including the huge amount that I’ve deleted over the years. Due to this when I joined tiktok a few years ago I was able to build off that experience of posting (with hardly any engagement) and quickly build an audience of over 250k. I am not saying this to gloat by any means even though I am totally proud of myself. I am saying this because I think people expect magic to happen the minute they start posting and they are even quicker to get discouraged and quit. If I can give you a piece of advice right here it consistently outweighs a lot. Consistency in creating your artwork even if just 5 minutes a day and consistency in posting to build an audience of loyal appreciators.

Lastly, I just want to say that it’s okay to draw and not share. It’s also okay to make bad work. Too many times people only show their good stuff and newer creatives think that there was no struggle. I’m here to tell you their way…trust me! it takes 50 “bad drawings” for a good one and you should appreciate the bad work just as much as the good work. Sometimes I look back at a drawing I thought was super awful and think…hmm, that actually wasn’t so bad afterall! Get out of your headspace a bit, make bad art and have fun. :)

Contact Info:

• Website: beacons.ai/inkstickart
• Instagram: instagram/com/inkstickart
• Facebook: facebook.com/inkstickart
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/inkstickart/
• Youtube: youtube.com/inkstickart
• Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@inkstickart