We recently connected with Katie Fabrick and have shared our conversation below.

Katie, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with 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?

I started drawing before I could write. It was a safe outlet to express myself, which was something I’ve always struggled with. As I grew up, consuming a variety of media — TV, movies, comics, music– my own art started to shift, and I began to tell stories either about myself or characters I had created but still as a hobby and way to coup with these emotions I was struggling with. When I reached eighteen, I was going through a lot of internal struggles, and had just completed my Graphic Design studies, and I hadn’t found what I was looking for there. I was dishearten because I thought, this was the only way to pursue a career in art, and I didn’t get that same amount of joy and fulfillment as when I drew stories and for myself. But one day I found this flyer which advertised a Narrative Art Class nearby, and I thought it couldn’t hurt to pop in and see what was going on with other artists. I hadn’t known a whole lot of people that drew growing up, so when I entered the classroom it was crazy to see that there was a whole group of people that loved drawing and storytelling just as much as I did.
I ended up sticking with the class, going to others that were similar, and making some truly amazing, and inspiring friends. Seeing others that were creating art, and making a career/pursuing one through art with my own eyes instead through a screen was eye-opening. I started asking myself, “Why not you? What’s stopping you from doing the same?” So I finally took some chances, make some really lucky breaks, and am super grateful to everyone and everything that has helped make my dreams come true.

Katie, 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?

My name is Katie Fabrick. And I’m a multimedia artist by day. Hyper-fixating nerd by night. I’ve done character design and covers for webcomics, designed jackets, and supplied 2D animation for the award-winning short: Cat and Moth. I started seriously studying art when I was a young adult, having the privilege of learning from amazing artists and teachers who helped me reach where I am today.
I have the strong belief that stories can change lives. I’m living proof of this, and want to create stories that people connect with. A way to help people know that they aren’t alone, and that there’s hope in the world, and strength inside you, even though it’s sometimes hard to find it. Whether it’s telling my own stories, or helping on a project I always strive to convey that message. For myself, and anyone else who might need to hear it.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

It’s okay to return to the basics. At the start I would learn how to draw something like a face, and then think now I know how to draw faces. So I never have to study that again, surely I can draw whatever face I want to now. Oh, how wrong I was. All my characters’ faces started to all look the same. There was no variety, and because I thought I had learned everything I needed to know about drawing faces, I didn’t know how to fix my problem.
Learning that it’s okay to go back and study more about a subject was hard for me. But once I allowed myself to admit that things like faces, or hands, or whatever I struggled with are too complicated to just get right all the time, and that it’s okay to go back and learn, that was when my art quality really skyrocketed into something I could be happy and proud of.

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

I think that one of the biggest problems artists and creatives are having to fight right now is being respected and treated as equals. Some of the stories artists have shared from this past year and the way these wonderful people are treated is extremely difficult to hear and soul-crushing. As an enjoyer of different types of art myself, I can understand the excitement and love for these films, comics, books, etc. I have so many stories within media that mean the world to me, but when your love for a project starts to warp your views of the creative people behind said stories, and they are treated like content-printing machines… That’s no longer love. That’s an unhealthy obsession. I ask for every fan to lend an ear to these struggling people, and speak out against the mistreatment, and current push to make empty lifeless content just to make a quick buck while walking over the people who make it all possible.
Support and change starts small. And every voice matters.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ktdrawsthings/

Image Credits
All artwork is by Katie Fabrick Illustration KT 2 and Illustration KT 3 include characters created by Ramon Salinas