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

Grace, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Do you wish you had waited to pursue your creative career or do you wish you had started sooner?

It can be tempting to look back on my life, specifically my 20s, and wish that I had made different decisions regarding my creative journey. When I started taking my first college art courses, I had all of the enthusiasm, and none of the maturity or endurance to complete a formal art degree. During that time, I was struggling pretty heavily with depression, anxiety, and alcohol abuse, and I ended up withdrawing from more classes than I completed. I often wonder where I would be today if I had stuck to a more traditional path, but so much of my work draws from experiences and challenges I faced during this time of my life. In that sense, there could be no “sooner” as all of it becomes part of the creative journey, even if my road looks a bit curvier than others.

Grace, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

Though I produce work in many different mediums, I consider myself an illustrator, first and foremost, in that I use visual art to tell a story or communicate an idea. In my personal work, these stories are often related to mental health, trauma, and addiction recovery. However, this year I’ve also had the privilege to create work that benefits causes I care deeply about. I produced posters to benefit both the Missouri Abortion Fund and the Last Prisoners Project, and am eager to take on more projects like this. Looking ahead at my artistic career, I’m taking time to build a stronger portfolio for commercial and children’s book illustration, in hopes that I may lean even deeper into visual storytelling.

Are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?

Absolutely! As a mostly self taught artist, I’ve spent countless hours figuring out a lot of techniques through trial and error. As I’ve previously stated, traditional art school just wasn’t the right fit for me, but recently I’ve been taking advantage of the numerous low to no cost artist resources on the internet. Skillshare, Domestika, and various professional illustrators’ channels on YouTube have provided me with endless tutorials I can consume on my own schedule and rewatch any time I need a refresher. At the end of the day, I think success in the art world comes down to persistent self motivation and perspective, and individuals don’t always have to complete a 4 year degree plus a Master’s to get there.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

I feel like I’m consistently unlearning society’s timelines for success. Those persistent ideas can be hard to escape, but everyone’s path looks different, and it’s really never too late to change your life for the better. I’ve also let go of a lot of strict suggestions from the art world regarding growth. I’ve often heard the suggestion that the only way to get better is to practice drawing for a couple hours every day. If you’re anything like me, you struggle a lot with routines, and wind up in cycles of attempting, and failing, and then berating yourself for said failure, which only makes you even less likely to pick up the habit again. The trick for me has just been consistency in any form. Maybe today I can only draw for 5 minutes; that’s still a success. Maybe tomorrow I can only take notes about a new piece I’d like to work on; that’s enough. Reframing my mindset in this way, and consciously striving to only compare myself to my former self, has helped me see that I really have come a long way, and that’s something worth celebrating.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.gracemcginnisart.com
• Instagram: @grace.mcginnis.art