We were lucky to catch up with Jax Hnat recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Jax, thanks for joining us today. Do you wish you had started sooner?

I actually talked with a friend about this very recently. I’ve always been an anxious person, and I think that limited me a lot as a kid when it came to creative pursuits. I remember signing up for my first elective in high school, and I chose Studio Art. I had been told by an art teacher in elementary school that I should keep a portfolio, and while I never seriously considered doing it, I was an obsessive doodler and kept sketch books that I never intended to share. I made it maybe two days in that class before I dropped it. I was so scared of showing people my work, and being vulnerable in that way, and I just couldn’t overcome it. I remember not eating or sleeping for those two days just absolutely sick with nerves. I didn’t draw much after that until I picked it back up in my 20’s and started taking it seriously. I think back on that time a lot, and wonder if I would be a much better/more skilled artist if I’d stuck it out or if my parent’s had pushed me harder, but ultimately I think everything happens the way that it’s supposed to. I simultaneously wish I had had those years to improve, and pursue this work, but I’m not sure I would have ended up wanting to do illustrative work for a living if I had forced it, and not gone at my own pace! I’ve always played things safe career-wise, and choosing to quit my stable job at 29, and draw full-time was the first time I ever felt like the risk was worth the fear.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

My name is Jax, and I’m a freelance illustrator! I started drawing after my extended break just as a hobby, and didn’t have much interest in making it my full-time job. I’m a lesbian, and really just wanted to draw fanart of sapphic pairings for my friends, but over time I just kept at it, and eventually started selling prints and doing occasional commissions. I was working as a massage therapist at the time, which had been my job for a decade. It got to the point where I was turning down a lot of freelance work because I was tired, or just busy from my day job, and I just decided to take a risk and try it out! I also wanted to work conventions and I knew that I couldn’t fit them into my schedule if I was working weekends at a spa. Luckily the jump into freelancing went smoothly!
I’m proud of the lesbian focus of most of my work, and that I’ve built my community around that aspect of myself. It’s something I never thought that I would have, and I just feel very grateful!

How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?

This is so hard to answer concisely since we’re living through a time where artists, and humans in general are so undervalued. There’s the normalization of AI in basically every aspect of life, combined with the fact that wages for artists haven’t really changed along with our economic situation. It puts an incredible amount of pressure on artists to take as much work as they can to stay afloat, and often times that still isn’t enough. On top of that you’re simultaneously watching your friends and relatives and millions of others use a “tool” that harms our environment, and steals from creatives. It feels bleak! So I suppose the most basic thing you can do is not use AI. Subscribe to creators, and pay them well for their work. Plenty of creatives even have free resources for you to take advantage of if you just take the time to look. Art is truly what makes life worth living, and if you let a machine do your dreaming for you you’re really selling yourself, and your neighbors short.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

I really love the sense of community that I’ve been able to build through creative work. I think art is obviously meant to be shared and connected over so being able to do that with other people in the field, and also just people who enjoy your work is so fulfilling and sweet. Especially since my art tends to veer towards a lesbian focus I’ve been able to connect with other people within the LGBTQIA+ community, and I’m grateful for that every day!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://gildedruin.bigcartel.com/
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/gildedruin
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/gildedruin
• Other: https://gildedruin.bsky.social

Image Credits

n/a All my work and the photo of me was taken by my wife!