We were lucky to catch up with Lindsey Bryan recently and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Lindsey thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Did you always know you wanted to pursue a creative or artistic career? When did you first know?

I didn’t know I wanted to be a professional creative until late high school. It didn’t even occur to me that being a working artist was an option until then. Once I figured that out, I wanted it more than anything. However, I felt like I was too far behind other peers in my art classes who had seemed to know since the moment they were born. While I was always inclined to illustration and storytelling, I was told at a fairly young age it wasn’t something I should pursue as a job. I wasn’t naturally gifted by any means. It was something I had to work tirelessly to get better at, and I’m glad I decided to do so despite feeling so far behind. Sometimes you figure out what you want to do a bit later than everyone else and that’s ok.

Lindsey, 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?

My name is Lindsey Bryan and I am a professional artist, illustrator, designer, and frog drawer. I currently live in Cleveland, Ohio with my partner and our rescue pup, Shuggie. I like reading, comics, coffee, collecting, cutting out tiny pieces of paper, picture books, ghosts, stars, and anthropomorphizing the moon.

I got into being an artist because I grew up loving to imagine a more magical world. Fanciful storytelling has been my passion since a young age, especially storytelling through images. I cherished books and fixated on the small pictures above each chapter. I enjoyed movies with monsters that’d have me running home to pull out paper from the printer to doodle on. The cartoon drawings of witches, bats, and ghosts on the Halloween decorations lining the local grocery store aisles always made me giddy with excitement. Even receiving a card for a dance recital with an adorable picture of a ballerina teddy bear would send me over the moon. I was always a sentimental kid and would keep my treasured pictures in a shoebox under my bed, sometimes taking them out to just look at and try to replicate with my favorite number 2 pencil. Illustrations made everyday life feel more magical.

Today, I provide illustration and design services to a wide variety of clients, helping them tell their stories and create the extraordinary things they want to bring to life. I also tell my own original stories in mini comics and picture books. I can often be found drawing many a cute character to decorate spaces and brighten days with.

I problem solve with my clients by dissecting the story they are trying to tell and capture its essence in a singular image. If I can capture the vibe or energy my clients are going for, I know I did a good job – whether it’s a design for someone’s small business, a musician’s song or album artwork, or even a gaming company’s one shot campaign that needs some eye popping visuals to guide and excite its readers.

I take great pride in creating things that people feel drawn to, either to keep for themselves, or to give as a gift to a friend who they know will truly appreciate it. To me art is always about expression and visually showing someone what you’re about as a person. Art makes it easier to find and connect with people that you know will understand you. I think we need to connect with each other now more than ever, and visual art and storytelling is one of the most effective and meaningful ways you can do that.

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

I think pursuing art as a career can be very difficult. Sometimes it feels like the whole world is against you, telling you that being creative isn’t necessary, respectable, or a “real job”. Unfortunately, there are some folks out there who just don’t understand it, and it’s hard to overcome those people’s opinions, especially if you are a sensitive soul (which most artists I know are). It takes a lot of courage to pursue your dreams, and I thank my younger self every day for daring to try and then for keeping at it even in the midst of a lot of failure, fear, and rejection. With the rise of social media, It’s difficult not to constantly compare yourself to other artists and where they’re at in their journey. You can easily psych yourself out. As your taste develops and your eye for design grows, there can sometimes be a painful gap between your knowledge and your skillset. It’s hard not to beat yourself up in those moments, but it just means you’re bound to get better if you keep on trying.

I feel like for as compelled as I am to make art, I’m resilient for not letting the self doubt demons get in the way, and I think anyone who continues to make their art and put it out there is very brave and deserves a little treat.

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

The world needs more artists. I think if society can cultivate a culture of respecting artists and their craft, we would all be better for it. I think people should view artists like any trade profession: The time, skill, passion, and life experience it takes to find your artistic voice should be taken into account. It’s so discouraging to hear discourse around artists being overpriced, when non-creatives typically don’t see the time, research, and personal struggles it can take to get good at communicating ideas. I also think the average joe just does not recognize the value in an art asset- that if I am creating something for you to use and own the copyright for until the end of time, I need to figure that into the cost. If society was more knowledgeable on how valuable these things really are, there might be a lot less irreverence towards creative professionals.

I also think there is such a need to educate people about sharing artwork online nowadays. We need to hold each other accountable and make sure the people making the images we share are not forgotten. I don’t even blame the people sharing the images that much anymore, with how much time we spend on our screens and the barrage of hundreds of images we see now, I don’t think it occurs to some people that there is always someone behind the media you’re consuming. There was someone who dared to dedicate their life to making art, who struggled to find their voice, who persevered through their doubts to make that image that resonated with you. At the very very least, they deserve to be credited. It’s up to us to uphold these views by holding others accountable, and stopping the support of any kind of art theft we come across. There will always be those people who don’t care, but the people who do care and try to get artists the credit they deserve will make a difference.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.lindseybryanart.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lindseybryanart/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LindseyBryanArt
• Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@lindseybryanart

Image Credits
Photos provided taken by Alex Madej, all artwork © Lindsey Bryan Art