We recently connected with Elliot Lang and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Elliot, thanks for joining us today. What’s been the most meaningful project you’ve worked on?

One of the most meaningful projects I have had the pleasure to work on in the last 2+ years is the show I guest-curate at the A.R. Mitchell Museum in Trinidad, Colorado. I was invited to curate a show by the board president, Cody Kuehl, in 2023. Cody knows my background as an illustrator, and that I have these incredible connections to famous, world-class illustrators. I’m in disbelief that I can call some of these amazing folks my friends! With that in mind, we came up with an illustrator show: ‘Character in Context’. The show features process work from living and working artists, and offers it for sale. When we began I quickly realized that this is truly a singular show, and it is indeed the largest exhibition of original illustration in the Western United States. To have an opportunity to bring together and showcase artists that I know, respect, and admire is a high point in my career and my life.

Elliot, 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 have been working as an illustrator since graduating from college in 2005. I started with editorial illustration for the Wall Street Journal and Westword, and some other small print publications. Since then, I have been involved in so many facets of what illustration is used for: production design in film and music videos, editorial art for magazines and newspapers, concert promotions, advertising, packaging design, gallery art, and tabletop gaming. I have been an art director who has hired illustrators, as well as a senior designer at an ad agency, working with a team of brilliant designers and illustrators to create international ads and packaging.
My focus now is on figurative, narrative artwork —character-based illustration that tells a story —and is eye-catching, whether in tabletop gaming or something larger, like mural artwork. I like to think I problem solve visually for my clients, and help them to engage a new audience or an existing one by offering work in a unique style. I am most proud of the work I create when a client is excited, because I know that their audience will be excited. My fantasy artwork has garnered the most attention in the last year, and the rich worlds of Arthurian legends and classic literature are exciting to explore in paint. I could say the same for the lush landscapes and characters that make up the West, which is another subject I have started to explore in my work.

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

The most rewarding aspect of being an artist is having an outlet for my imagination. Not everything has to be fantastical, and sometimes I simply want to paint a specific color-scheme I dreamed up or saw in a sunrise. Being an artist means seeing the world through your eyes and aiming to show others what you see or want to see. There is nothing more vital than hand-crafted artwork from human beings.

How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?

The big question of how society can support artists and creatives is straightforward in my opinion: buy the work you like! Buy music from the local musician you love, buy the coffee shop painting, it’s such a small yet supportive act. Be the outlier when it comes to decorating your home by purchasing an original painting or sculpture from artists, and chances are, if they don’t have something available, you can commission them. We live in such a well-connected society and world thanks to social media and online stores, but we aren’t using these outlets as art buyers to their fullest potential. Another way to support artists is to share those works you like on your socials, acknowledge them, and get their name out: you might not buy their work, but maybe your friends will. Finally, to better craft a creative ecosystem, stand up for creativity in an age of flat, gray apartment buildings that are starting to pepper our landscapes and cheap Ikea art that people put in their homes. Don’t date the person who has bad taste in art either, without books on their shelves- live a creative life, seek out beauty. In your community, vote for public art projects. There are so many ways to help artists out and its not always monetarily. The act of creating is an invitation for you to create too, and for you to support more of what you love.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://elliotlang.com
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/ellistrator
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/elliot.lang.art
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ellistrator/
• Twitter: https://bsky.app/profile/ellistrator.bsky.social

Image Credits

All Artwork Copyright Elliot Lang