We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Julia White a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Julia, thanks for joining us today. When did you first know you wanted to pursue a creative/artistic path professionally?

It is hard to pinpoint an exact moment in my life when I decided I wanted to become an artist because from as far back as I can remember I wanted to create art. I acknowledge I was very fortunate to be surrounded by artists in my family who fostered a supportive environment for creativity. While I can’t remember when I wanted to become an artist, I do recall when I first realized I wanted to become an animator. I was ten years old and I sat next to my dad at the kitchen table, listening to music, surrounded by clay, phone propped up to take photos, creating a claymation. I became enamored by the stop motion and 3D animated movies I watched, and I wanted to learn how they made characters dance across the TV screen. I kept creating art by painting, drawing, creating clay sculptures, taking photos, and being involved in theater. In high school, I was lucky to take a 3D animation class for three years. Through this class, I became hooked on the idea that I could create my own magical 3D worlds like the worlds I had seen in my favorite movies.

Julia, 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?

I am a CG generalist specializing in surfacing and a graphic designer at Audience Media Group. I recently graduated from Texas A&M with a bachelor’s in Visualization which gave me a solid foundation in the realm of 3D art. In my pursuit to be creative daily, I dabble in a lot of different art forms. I really enjoy painting, so I began selling my works in high school at local art events which led me on my journey to creating custom-painted jackets for customers on Etsy. This artistic outlet helps fulfill my desire to communicate directly with others to ensure that I paint their perfect jacket. I believe selling my art on Etsy pushes me to try new things and it keeps me active in painting. Regarding graphic design, I am employed at Audience Media Group where I create logos, posters, websites, and more for incredibly interesting clients. I am so grateful that my job pushes me to stay as creative as possible and I have learned so much about graphic design and how to make art that is appealing and marketable. With CG art, I have a real passion for the industry. The full 3D pipeline excites me but I find that I could create textures all day, any day. My phone has become overcrowded with pictures of interesting textures that I plan on producing. I enjoyed all of the 3D projects I worked on while attending Texas A&M. During the Fall 2021 school semester, six other teammates and I produced a 30-second short called Neptunes. I acted as the project manager, lead lighter, and pipeline liaison. My other responsibilities were to surface the jukebox, model the jukebox needle, and pick up any extra work that was needed at the time. I am very proud of how the project was organized and the stylistic direction that was maintained throughout the animation. This project was an enjoyable, smooth and rewarding experience and I felt honored to work accompanied by talented peers. I was also extremely fortunate to study under industry mentors from Disney and Pixar to create two personal projects. In one of the works, I surfaced and groomed a character that I titled Nadine. The other, I modeled, surfaced, lit, rendered, and composited a still-life scene focusing on a slice of cheesecake. These directed studies were enormously beneficial in getting accustomed to industry-like critiques, environment surfacing, character surfacing, and grooming. I appreciated the format and deadlines that were set up for these classes and the critique given by my mentors and my gifted friends.
Overall, I am determined to create any type of art that makes others and myself happy. Many different art forms inspire me and I want to make sure I pursue what interests me to make sure that I stay creative. Through my artwork, I wish to inspire my audience to experience the world in its overall beauty and mystery.

Are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?

I have used Pinterest for a long time but I never came to appreciate it to its full extent until recently. I have promoted the company so much to others that I should be sponsored by now. I have gotten so many artistic ideas from the resource and I am always impressed at how successful the algorithm is at selecting images that appeal to me. I also wish that earlier in my creative journey I was less scared of asking others to be my mentors. Every mentor experience I have had has been so beneficial. From my experience, most people are willing to help you if they have the time to give, and if they don’t, there’s no harm in asking when done professionally. I recently agreed to be a 3D mentor for a student, which excites me to pay it forward.

How did you build your audience on social media?

It took me a while to build up my customer base on Etsy. When I initially started selling custom-painted jackets, I was selling them to my friends and family and I marketed them through word of mouth. When I decided I wanted to expand my production, I created an Etsy shop. Because it is riskier for a customer to purchase a product from an artist with no reviews and sales, the next work I created for a friend I had them go through Etsy. Once I had a few sales and reviews on my shop, it started to take off. The best piece of advice I have, if you are looking to sell your work, is to make sure your product pictures are as appealing as possible. I take photos of my jackets outside with interesting nature backgrounds. I find that it is crucial to brand yourself and your work and I feel as if this nature-themed branding fits my personality and helps reveal to customers what they can expect from my artwork. Reviews are a huge aspect of selling work online. To get good reviews, I develop professional but friendly interactions with my customers and create sketches that are approved first before I start the actual work.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.juliawhiteportfolio.com/
• Instagram: juliasartnook
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/julia-white-808a97211/
• Other: Etsy: https://www.etsy.com/shop/JuliasArtNook

Image Credits
Nadine Character Model: Aline Monteiro
Neptunes Short Teammates: Evan Balster, Sarah Jecker, Jonathan Guajardo, Kathryn King, Amanda Urrutia, and Charlie Holmes