We recently connected with Jack Jackal and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Jack, thanks for joining us today. What did your parents do right and how has that impacted you in your life and career?

Both of my parents have been supportive of me throughout my life. They were both school teachers and got to see a lot of different types of parenting styles as well as the ways that might influence a kid- and the one thing they’ve always tried to instill in me is the idea that I could do whatever I want with my life. So I took that idea and decided to be a weird little freak pretty much full time.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I am Jack Jackal, steward of Castle Jackal and all the secrets therein. I work as a designer, screen printer, and creative consultant. Most of my work comes from album cover and apparel design, but I also find myself animating, editing, and scoring video – as well as editing and writing short stories. I curate a quarterly print magazine, Castle Jackal Magazine. It focuses on art and writing mostly in the horror, fantasy, and science fiction genres. I started the magazine because I was tired of scrolling past all my friends’ work on social media apps – I wanted something tangible to flip through, to take home, to collect. There is a consistent open call for creatives to send in their work, and it is accepted if it fits the rest of the vibe for the issue. Over the past few years I’ve been lucky to make new friends with contributors to the magazine and I’ve seen contributors become friends with each other, which really makes me happy. The magazine is definitely a labor of love and I’m proud of what it’s become.

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

I’ve taken on a countless creative projects since I was a kid and I can honestly say that whenever I finish a project, I’m almost immediately annoyed with it for some reason. A line may not be in the right place, the strum of a chord might not land just right, etc. But throughout my time spent doing what I love, there’s always other people out there going through a similar process – working out the kinks, trying on new hats, constantly moving forward and putting in work for themselves, and I think the most rewarding part of all this is having been fortunate enough to make friends with and learn from those people. They may not look at everything the same way that I do, but that helps us expand our horizons and grow as people.

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative?

I’ve definitely met people who don’t understand that I’d still be doing what I’m doing regardless of any support or validation from the outside world. I was doing this stuff alone in my room when I was a kid, locked away from everything, doing it all for me and my own little world. I’m lucky that I have people in my life who support me and what I do, but that’s not what motivates me as much as it is just something internal constantly trying to get out.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://Castlejackal.com
• Instagram: @castle.jackal
• Twitter: @castlejackal
• Youtube: DungeonCrawlerVideo

Image Credits

Cam Damage