We recently connected with Maggie Mcconnell and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Maggie, thanks for joining us today. Can you talk to us about how you learned to do what you do?

I was considered an “art kid” all throughout school. Technically, I started learning to draw in kindergarten with crayons and color pencils. But it was something I was hooked on immediately, and continued to pursue from year to year to year. There are art classes in traditional public schools, but they don’t teach much more than elements of design. As helpful as that is to start, I’ve learned so much more beyond that with exploration and experiments.

So much of learning a craft has to do with stepping out of your comfort zone. To read, to practice, to study—it all helps. For instance, I was fascinated with animation in middle school, and took it upon myself to learn how to do so on my own. I asked my mom for a free drawing app on my phone and started to sketch and animate. It was a slow process, but with time I picked it up and now I’m chowing to study it and pursue it in a career.

I think passion is the most essential skill, without it you won’t feel motivated to go very far. It’s very important to take joy in the act of creating and of learning. And that’s what will help you improve and enjoy your craft.

Maggie, 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 Mags and currently a Sequential Arts major at the College of Savannah Art and Design. I hope to work in the animation industry as a storyboard artist and future art director.

I’ve been interested in art from the very beginning, excelling in traditional art classes from elementary to high school. When I found a passion for digital art in middle school, I began to build my work and portfolio using online programs and social medias. What got me into animation in the first place was a book series called Warrior Cats. It had a very large online audience that liked to animate and draw the characters. That grabbed middle school-me’s attention immediately, and from then on it was history.

I’ve been drawing consistently since, and hope to build a career from my passions. I love character design and concept art as well as the fantasy genre. I hope to learn and improve even more in my craft throughout college as I age. I will forever love craft, through all the highs and lows. My brand is built off of my passion, and I’m excited to share that with an audience:

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

Artists are often told that “practice makes perfect,” but that’s not true. For one, nobody is perfect. Though most people already know that. I believe that perfection, however, is not what you should strive for. It’s an unreachable goal, and not being able to reach “perfection” may cause frustration and motivation loss in artists. It’s impossible, instead, artists should focus on improving, and making sure that throughout everything they still enjoy what they do.

In addition to that belief, I also think that ‘practice’ isn’t as simple as it sounds. If you repeat the same thing over and over, for example, only drawing hands. You may improve your skill, but what about everything else? Feet, faces, landscapes? It’s important to step out of your comfort zone to learn new things. Experimentation is what makes improvement.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

Improvement and taking pride in your accomplishments is the most rewarding aspect of being an artist. Being able to track how far you’ve come has brought much joy to me and my work. Art is a journey and a process. It’s not only about the beginning or the end, it’s about how you got there. Watching yourself grow alongside your craft is rewarding.

Contact Info:

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