We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Julie Olson. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Julie below.

Julie, appreciate you joining us today. How did you learn to do what you do? Knowing what you know now, what could you have done to speed up your learning process? What skills do you think were most essential? What obstacles stood in the way of learning more?

As a child, I loved to draw. I drew on walls, big paper pads, the backs of church programs, and in the margins of school notebooks. This love drove me to seek out ways to become better, so I could be better at translating the images in my head to paper. Since it this was before the internet age, I went to the library and checked out “How to Draw” books and started setting my home VCR to record painting shows on PBS with artists like Bob Ross and Brenda Harris. Even though I loved art, I also became involved in a lot of other pursuits during my teenage years. However, by the time college came around, I decided to focus on becoming a children’s book illustrator. I applied to the illustration program at the university I attended and was initially rejected. But I worked on my portfolio and applied again, receiving admittance after that second attempt. A few years later, I graduated with a BFA in illustration and felt ready to take on the task of getting my first picture book illustration job. Little did I know how hard that would be. But I persisted. I made appointments with art directors and editors at publishing houses in New York City, traveled across the country, and met with a few each day for 4 days. I also paid to attend an international conference for children’s book writers and illustrators put on by SCBWI there in NYC in an attempt to learn more about the craft and the business, as well as begin networking in the industry. The responses from the publishers drove me to improve my portfolio and also garnered one small illustration job. At home, I continued to send out quarterly postcards to publishers with an image on one side and my contact info on the other in an effort to get noticed and get my work out there. Jobs trickled in from various children’s magazines, educational publishers, and a few national market publishers. After about eight years of pushing my own work, I decided to acquire an Art Rep to handle the job finding and contracts. I signed with an agency called Shannon and Associates and worked with them for several years. Finally, I decided to focus more on writing my own books as well and switched to a Literary Agent under Folio Jr. Agency, who I am still with today.
Over the past five years, my interests have expanded to other areas beyond children’s books, including graphic design and teaching at the university level. I completed a Masters Degree in Graphic Design and Studio Arts in 2022 and have been working as an adjunct professor and a part-time designer ever since, along with doing other illustration projects.
I think improving your craft and making connections in the industry is the most essential thing to focus on in your efforts to become a working artist in any area. If I were to do it over, I would probably attempt to sign with an agent sooner in my career and be more diligent about sketching every day in my sketchbook. But the most important advice I can give is to NEVER GIVE UP, KEEP LEARNING, & KEEP EXPANDING YOUR SKILLS.

Julie, 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 love to illustrate picture books but also consider myself as a bit of an eclectic artist. I also am a professional graphic designer who creates book covers, lays out type, creates calendars, designs fabric patterns, and so much more. In addition, I take on private commissions for hand drawn and painted, stylized group/family portraits. Beyond that, I speak at conferences and workshops, teach illustration classes at a university, and sell illustrated scripture notes online. Because of my varied skills, I feel like I can help nearly any client who needs an artistic job completed.
I pride myself on completing projects on time and being diligent in my efforts to continually improve my craft. Overall, I can confidently say, I never give up on my goals and put 100% into every job I do.

Have you ever had to pivot?

As a children’s book illustrator, I found that styles of art go in and out of style and trends in picture books’ themes and story structure change. Therefore, there came a point about 6 years ago that I wasn’t getting much work as an illustrator. I think my art style and stories weren’t matching the changes in the industry. In addition, the industry began focusing more on authors and illustrators with a diverse cultural/ethnic background, which criteria, as a caucasian woman, I do not meet. Therefore, I had to find artistic work of another kind. While I am still working on improving and updating my children’s book illustration style, I also went back to school and earned a Masters Degree in Graphic Design. This allowed me to expand my career and get a part-time job as a designer. It’s not my first love or my passion, but I have found creative fulfillment in it.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

I knew if I didn’t work hard to make my dream of becoming an illustrator happen, it wouldn’t. So, despite being poor and six months pregnant with our first baby, I took a trip to New York City to try to get a job illustrating a picture book. I walked from one publisher to another from 8-5 every day, showing my portfolio to art directors who had little to say about my work. It was exhausting, a bit demoralizing, and not an encouraging start. However, I decided to make the most of it and learn as much as possible. So, I ignored the judgmental stares at my pregnant belly, tried to appear confident and capable, and asked lots of questions about they thought I could improve my portfolio. Then, instead of giving up, I took their constructive criticism of my work and made it better. Then, I sent out my new work and got illustration jobs. Being a freelance artist always requires resilience. If you do not develop a thick skin and the ability to bounce back from criticism, you will never last in any artistic endeavor.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.julieolsonbooks.com
• Instagram: @julieolsonbooks
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/julieolsonbooks
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/julie-olson-bb45393/
• Twitter: @julieolsonbooks
• Youtube: http://youtube.com/@olsonmovies
• Other: https://julieolson.myportfolio.com/