We recently connected with Gretchen Pickering and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Gretchen, thanks for joining us today. Did you always know you wanted to pursue a creative or artistic career? When did you first know?

I had a relatively simple path to becoming an artist. My mom is an artist so I grew up in an environment where creativity was highly encouraged. I was always drawing and painting, no empty surface was safe from me. In school, my favorite subject was art and the older I got the more I realized that the joy I got out of creating was something I wanted to (and could) do professionally. Obviously my parents were thrilled that I decided to be an artist and not a lawyer, but no matter what I studied they were always there to support me.

I attended the University of Minnesota where I earned my Bachelor’s degree in fine art but after a year of struggling to find work I decided to pursue my Masters in illustration. Illustration was an industry that allowed me to draw, paint, and design with purpose, as a way to visually problem solve.

Gretchen, 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?

My work focuses mainly on the children’s entertainment industry. I do children’s book illustration, visual development, and themed entertainment design. The main purpose of my work is to provide forms of visual storytelling, whether that is through pictures books, movies and shows, or even immersive spaces. In the last two years of my graduate program I have had the opportunity to really dive into all of these methods of storytelling. I have designed props, characters, and environments to be used in animated films. I have designed theme park elements like ride gates and cars, and I have also written and illustrated children’s books. As I near the end of my MFA program I have been working on my thesis project which culminates all of my market interests. I am writing and illustrating a children’s book as well as illustrating and designing components of an immersive walk-through experience so that young readers can experience the book in real life. In the process of this project I have designed books spreads, thumbnailed, 3D modeled, and tried my hand at interior design as I work to bring this idea to life. I am hugely passionate about creating a space that encourages young readers while also creating a memorable physical experience, especially when so much of the world can now be found on a screen. I am incredibly proud of all the creative boundaries I have forced myself to push as I step into this new world of art-making and I’m incredibly excited for all the possibilities the illustration industry has for me.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

The hardest habit for me to break when I became an illustrator was thinking my first idea was the best one. In the process of illustration EVERY project starts with ideation, meaning lists, bubble maps, mood boards, and countless thumbnail sketches. One of my professors taught me very early on that for any project you should have at least 20 or 30 thumbnails, and if by the time you reach that last thumbnail you still don’t have 3 ideas that solve the problem, then it’s time to do 30 more thumbnails. In my fine art background there was never a clear problem to be solved, just ideas to be shown on canvas, and so there was never a strict process of figuring out the best solution. I would start painting and whatever showed up, I would find a reasoning for it. This is why I fell in love with illustration, I have a problem to solve and it must be solved visually (to me it was what math class should have been).

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

I absolutely loving being able to express myself visually. To be told that I have a unique artistic style is still one of the biggest compliments I have ever received, because before becoming an illustrator, I struggled to find a visual voice that I could express to people, especially in a way that allowed me to support myself without sacrificing the joy of creating. When I tell my friends and colleagues about my project ideas, then show them the illustrations I have done and they say “that is exactly how I imagined it!” it’s so energizing because that really is what my purpose is, to bring stories to life with visuals everyone can connect to. Overall, I am thrilled to be in industry where I genuinely get to do what I love everyday, which makes all of the obstacles well worth it.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://gretchenpickeringillustration.myportfolio.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gretchen.illustration
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gretchenpickering/