We recently connected with Grody Brody and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Grody thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Can you talk to us about a project that’s meant a lot to you?
I’m currently working on a personal project to redesign DVD cases for movies that I remember from my childhood, but aren’t award-winning. Oftentimes these movies are lackluster and are released with mediocre packaging. Redesigning the packaging and creating unique illustrations elevates the impact the films had on me. This project has allowed me to spend time self-reflecting on childhood memories that give insight into my broader taste decisions as an artist.
Grody, 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?
I am a freelance illustrator, designer, and painter that works in both traditional and digital mediums. Grody Brody is a name I would teasingly hear as a kid, it felt like a fun jokingly return to my roots to use it. My illustrations focus on wacky colorful characters usually in narrative scenes. I work both digital and traditionally, often crossing paths at some point in the middle of any given project. I decided to take a freelance path as a way to keep a flexible schedule for myself. It allows me time to help my partner with meals or chores around the apartment while he is in grad school. It was challenging at first to set a schedule for myself, but it has improved my discipline.
As a kid, I spent many hours consuming animated cartoons, reading comic books, playing video games, and drawing. I was drawing all the time, mostly to keep up with my older brother who was much better than me for many years. It wasn’t until high school that I was encouraged by my art teacher to pursue an education in fine arts. I spent two years in community college, and four at the University of Kansas studying illustration and design. I’ve worked on illustrations for music albums, picture books, and my own wacky personal projects.
I also paint! I picked up physical painting during the pandemic and have not looked backed. I work with oil paints now but I started with acrylic paints in the beginning. I like to paint old fast food toys, scenes from video games, and cartoon characters and other subjects of my own nostalgia. Skateboards are probably my favorite surface to paint on. I never had the opportunity to skateboard as a kid, so as an adult I feel like this is a great way to experience skateboarding without breaking bones.
I’m still pretty fresh on the scene, but people like to come to me for my weird whimsical characters. Characters that not only look fun and weird but enhance the storytelling of my customers’ project. Sometimes I get to pepper an illustration with lots of small gags and details. It’s the gritty, Grody, details that really bring life into my work. It can be super rewarding to collaborate with local groups like businesses and musicians to hype up an event.
We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.
In college I thought my resilience was my ability to stay up late to work on a project that was due the next day. But, it wasn’t until two weeks before my graduation, before all my final projects and tests were due, my father died unexpectedly. Having to return home, process hard emotions, bury my father, that was a test of my resilience. I knew then that I couldn’t allow myself to be burdened by it at the moment. I knew that if I were to pull through this terrible terrible thing it would prepare me to overcome challenges in the future. After the funeral I returned to school, finished my last semester, and graduated successfully, with my family at my side. Afterward I cried a lot, which was also helpful. Juggling the emotional boulder of my dad’s death with the culmination of six years in school was not easy. I wouldn’t wish it on the worst of people to have to manage. But I feel like a stronger person having gone through it.
How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?
When you start anything new and creative, you will be bad at it, and that is perfectly ok. I get approached by everyday people when I’m out sketching in public and the one thing I hear all the time is “I couldn’t do that.” or “I have no talent, I can only draw stick figures.” Well, you have to start somewhere, so why not start with stick figures. There has been a toxic mindset among everyday people that to be creative you have to be born with talent, and that is totally wrong. I want regular people to feel more confident expressing their creative ideas visually. If I have any talent it’s that I’m a little insane and will keep persisting through the good and the bad drawings. To better support artists society needs to understand that everyone has creative abilities in some capacity that need to be nurtured and trained.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.grodybrody.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/grodybrody_art/