Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Jackson Davis. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Jackson, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Did you always know you wanted to pursue a creative or artistic career? When did you first know?

When I was in high school I was as unprepared and unwilling to plan for my future as one could be, I wasn’t particularly talented at anything or invested in any of my subjects and had adopted my unofficial title of class clown by ensuring every class was an opportunity to perform.
Being in a large school and being considered a funny person made me feel like everything had to be a joke so it wasn’t on my mind to pursue a career in anything other than what was fun and natural, and to me that was making people laugh. When I would get home from school I would continue riffing with my older brother, usually at the expense of our little brother, it was a riot.

I didn’t have a very natural approach to knowing that I wanted to pursue a creative path, I was more-so feeling around in the dark and holding onto stuff that felt natural.
When things were quiet and I was alone I would doodle cartoon characters and write out comedy sketches just for myself. Without realising it I was trying to refine my humouring into tangible things.

Somewhere around 16 was when I had a conscious thought that I could potentially do something within a creative field as a job, even then I don’t know if I really thought it was something I could do but it was more of a direction to head in to try and find the calling.
I did art as a subject for the first time ever in my final year of high school and it was one of the few classes I took quite seriously. My work was horrendous. I didn’t know anything about fundamentals and that was my first introduction to the Dunning-Kruger effect, I realised I had so much to learn so I decided to enrol in University to pursue a career in this newfound calling of mine.

Jackson, 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 Jackson Davis, I go by DacksonJavis online because I managed to claim that username almost everywhere, plus there’s a player in the NBA called Trayce Jackson-Davis that comes up when you google me so I gotta embody this username as my new legal name. I only really got into the industry through posting my art during covid, I did do a degree but it was life that gave me greater lessons. I mainly do animation but I’ve dabbled in almost everything at this point.

What sets me apart isn’t too much. I think i’m quite approachable and have sensibilities that are fairly grounded, if I can do it anyone can. That being said maybe that’s the very thing that sets me apart, in this world of AI and fake social media personas who can you really trust? Maybe being authentic is one of the rarer things to come by. I’m not selling you a course. I’m barely selling myself! That’s gotta be worth something.

I’ve always been inspired by The Simpsons – the golden age seasons, I have been watching it since I was 5 and it’s an inifinte resource of inspiration. I also am inspired by my Instagram algorithm, it knows me better than I know myself my algorithm shows me so many talented animators I find it hard to keep up. I’m inspired by Joe Bennett of Scavengers Reign and Common Side Effects fame, he actually follows me on Instagram because of an animation I made a few years ago that his style inspired me to do. I am actually just waiting for him to realise he’s still following me and unfollow but hasn’t happened yet. Felippe De Poi, Sam Lanier and the whole Simple Town sketch group are big inspirations, Joe Cappa, Wabievee, Alex Grigg, Beetlemoses, Jocelyn Charles, Newt Milton, Charlie Faulks, Tawai Team from Te Whanganui a Tara. Everyone in the 2D animation world is just so cool and talented.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

Right now I’m studying to become a teacher, it’s no lie AI is here and things aren’t what they used to be. Until those suits realise their magic money maker can’t replace human storytelling I plan on helping future artists get the right tools to equip them for life.

What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?

More grants, less questions. Give me 20k for my idea… no you can’t know about it, it’s under wraps. Just pay up and you’ll see it soon, trust me.

Society i.e. the government needs to pay artists an “artists grant”, a weekly wage that ensures freelancers can have their basic necessities met when a contract doesn’t go through or don’t make enough one week. I’ve wanted to “go pro” for many years and just quit my job and pour my heart into a project but it’s not feasible in small markets like New Zealand, I could draw some food but I can’t eat it, I can draw money but I can’t spend it.

Protection against AI plagiarism is a biggie too, we need regulations around that or to have public access to trained models to see what they know so you can reverse image search your images and get them removed. I don’t know the answers I just know somethings broken no one has the repairman’s number.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://Dacksonjavis.com
• Instagram: https://Instagram.com/dacksonjavis