We were lucky to catch up with Joshua Leonard recently and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Joshua thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. We’d love to hear about when you first realized that you wanted to pursue a creative path professionally.

I first knew that I wanted to pursue a creative/artistic path professionally around kindergarten. My older brother, Jason Leonard used to show me how to draw little designs and stuff when I was young, and one day he showed me how to draw Garfield. I was drawing Garfield at a young age, and from that moment on, I knew I would do it for the rest of my life. As I got older, I began to play and excel in sports, specifically baseball at the time, but I never stopped drawing. I got introduced to football, track, and basketball as well, but I never stopped drawing. At this point in life, I knew I wanted to be a professional athlete who also owned an animation studio. I received athletic scholarships, but I hyper-extended my knee, so it just verified what I was really supposed to be doing in life.

Joshua , 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?

For those of you who don’t know who I am, my name is Joshua Leonard. I am a character designer, traditional animator, and mostly known for my cartoon, Team Supreme. I got into the industry around 2018 when I graduated from the Art Institute of Atlanta. As a student, I was already doing work for professional athletes like DJ Williams (Dymelyfe), Rashad Butler, and many others. I am also the owner of Leonard Studios, which is a Preproduction company for animation, games, and film. I specialize in character design, storytelling, and world building. When a client or studio comes to me with work, it’s my job create the compelling characters they are looking for. I’m very grateful to have had the opportunity to work for Nickelodeon, Netflix, Baobab Studios, Sony Immersive, The Jim Henson Company, 9 Story Media, Drake, Illumination, Hillman Grad Productions, and Think 450. What sets me apart from other artists, in my opinion, are my use of shapes, lighting, and the diverse/inclusive characters I create. I’m most proud of all the networking I have done over a short period of time, as it pertains to my success in the animation industry. I’m always looking to learn, grow as an artist, and move up in the industry. I would love for new followers and or supporters to know that my brand is exclusive to being Diverse and Inclusive as possible. I’m here to show different characters on screen, rather than the same, cliche type of characters.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

For me, the most rewarding aspect of being an artist or creative is the lives I can change with my art, whether it be through my character designs, or through my ideas of shows, like Team Supreme. My goal is to change how cartoons and film portray being different, along with normalizing it. I created Team Supreme because I wanted to see something different. I have never seen a group of superhero characters who also have a disability, on screen, so I created it. As an African American man, I didn’t see many characters, or people in the industry who looked like me, and there were less than 4% people of color then. I believe I was put here in the animation industry to make a huge difference to show and create what diversity, inclusion, and empathy really look like, while also just creating some dope shows. The best way to do this is to start with the kids. That’s rewarding to me.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

My particular goal and mission driving my creative journey is to be one of the best character designers and creatives to ever do it. Like I mentioned earlier, I’m always looking to grow as an artist and learn as much as I can. I’m also huge on networking and branding myself as I have been doing for years. I believe getting my show, Team Supreme picked up by a network will be my biggest goal because of the impact it will have worldwide.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.joshualeonardart.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/imjoshualeonard/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/joshualeonard83
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joshualeonardart/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/IMJ0SHUALE0NARD

Image Credits
Photography by Alex Rogers