We were lucky to catch up with Louie Martin recently and have shared our conversation below.

Louie, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Did you always know you wanted to pursue a creative or artistic career? When did you first know?

I had always been creative growing up. I can remember stapling together printer paper to make mini storybooks or making clay figures or paintings. My Grandmother definitely planted the seed for my passion for art. She put a paintbrush in my hand from the second I could hold one and some of my fondest memories growing up are doing paintings in her kitchen. When I think back to where I started to love art, it begins with her. Later on, I learned that she had been accepted into a really good art school when she was younger, but didn’t tell anyone because she was about to get married and figured she should focus on having a family instead. She seemed fine with that decision and I trust her judgement, but I think it made me want to go to art school in honor of the hard work she put into getting accepted herself, alongside my own ambitions. I didn’t make that decision and start taking it seriously until my junior year of high school, but I always knew whatever I did as a career, it needed to involve me creating things with my hands.

Louie, 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?

I’m a queer illustrator and comic artist originally from Springfield, Missouri. I’ve always been into storytelling, whether it was just writing on paper or conveying it through images. A lot of my stories include in-depth world-building and themes of coming of age. Early 2000s childhood nostalgia inspires me a lot, but on the flip side, I’m also a big fan of the horror genre and all things odd and witchy. I find these topics actually merge quite well together in my works. I love working with an array of mediums, such as gouache paints, clay, and digital platforms. I finished my education at the School of Visual Arts in New York City in 2023 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree and moved to Germany with my now husband. My favorite part of having been at SVA was hands down getting to meet other creatives and collaborate with them. There’s nothing that gets me more excited to make art than being surrounded by people who are as passionate as I am.

Currently, I’m a freelancer creating illustrations and gifs, starting up a YouTube channel, drafting a graphic novel, and running an online art shop. When I was first trying to decide which artistic avenue to go down, it was very daunting. So I didn’t choose. I just began doing bits of everything and it’s been really rewarding to see all the things I’ve dreamt of doing starting to come to fruition.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

My K-12 school didn’t have a very big art program, so a lot of my illustration skills were initially self-taught from the Internet. This may sound like a minor thing, but for some reason, there’s this stigma that using references for your art (especially for people who grew up on tumblr) is cheating. The message seemed to be, “If it’s not a hundred percent from your head, it’s cheating.” It sounds ridiculous to me now as an adult, but when you’re first learning how to draw and are impressionable, something like that is really hard to unlearn after doing it for so long. Of course, directly copying or tracing someone’s art and claiming it as your own is never okay, but I’d be lying if I said I never traced anything for the sake of learning, especially with something like anatomy or perspective. You have to start somewhere and there’s nothing wrong with practicing. (Just don’t steal!) I used to follow all the ‘Here’s How to Draw a Body/Face’ tutorials from manga art books, but that didn’t teach me to draw from observation. I was limiting myself by not looking at other artists’ works to broaden my horizons and not learning how to draw from life. The moral of the story: USE REFERENCE. And look at fellow creatives’ art. You may learn something new, and you’ll save yourself so much time and improve upon your artistic abilities.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

The most rewarding part of being an artist for me is community. There are so many different ways nowadays to share and connect with artists of all kinds of different backgrounds and mediums. One of the things I value most is that we can never stop learning new things from each other if we allow ourselves to be open. It’s so gratifying to share your art with someone and see the impact or joy it brings them and vice versa. Surround yourself with people who will celebrate your victories and the things you’re passionate about. It’s such a genuine and lovely feeling to find a support system like that amongst other artists.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.thelouiemartin.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/louie__mars
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/louie-martin-72916926b/
• Youtube: Louie-Mars
• Other: sludge-circus.storenvy.com