We recently connected with Natalie Briscoe and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Natalie , thanks for joining us today. Did you always know you wanted to pursue a creative or artistic career? When did you first know?

Since childhood, I have always wanted to be an artist in some capacity. It’s a cliché, but I have been drawing as early as I could pick up a crayon. I spent my days getting messy at my mom’s kitchen table working on my various art projects. I got really excited when we had to make something physical or a visual aid for school projects. I actually enjoyed putting together booklets and getting to do drawings for posters in school, which I think is where my budding love of visual design began.

I have always had a love of picture books, and it was something I thought would be fun to do, but for a while I didn’t think it would be possible to make a living as an illustrator. I grew up with a love of picture books and my childhood was permeated by the works of artists like Beatrix Potter, Mary Cecily Barker and Ludwig Bemelmans. In highschool, I started following the work of illustrators I admired on social media which started to heavily inspire the work I was making. When I went to Watkins College of Art, my initial plan was to become a graphic designer for a branding or ad agency and maybe try to break into freelance illustration later in life, but it seemed unlikely. It wasn’t until my first college Illustration class, that I started to consider that illustration could be a career path for me. I incorporated my illustrations into almost all my design projects and started experimenting with different styles, mediums, etc. Throughout other illustration classes and spending my breaks from school working on self-driven illustration projects, I found I really gravitated towards playful, light-hearted work that fit well within the children’s market. I also took an art licensing illustration class that also made a big impact on me, and now a lot of the work I make is licensed for the gift industry.

Natalie , 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 am an illustrator based in Franklin, TN and I have been working full time as a freelance illustrator for about 3 years since graduating from Watkins College of Art. I often work in the surface design and children’s publishing industries and my work often depicts joyful, colorful, nature based imagery. My work has appeared as greeting cards, children’s picture and activity books, magazines, packaging, gift wrap, murals and more. I also run my own online shop that mainly consists of stationary products and hand painted ceramics. I’ve gotten to work with clients such as Hallmark, American Greetings, World Market, Scholastic UK, Modern Sprout, FIKA, WHSmith, Sourcebooks, Dayspring, and more!

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

I graduated college right as COVID hit in the spring of 2020. Entering the workforce in its own right can be daunting, so adding a massive pandemic lockdown on top was an anxiety inducing experience for sure. I had signed on with an illustration a few months prior, but work was still slow to start as the world was on hold. I decided to just keep working on my portfolio and make do despite the circumstances. I had an idea for a musical alphabet book I had come up with for a school project and decided I’d use this time to create a book pitch. Illustrating each of the sweet characters was a source of joy and a form of escape during the strange period of time. A year later, the idea got picked up by Sunbird Books, and I debuted my first authored and illustrated book, Musical ABC! This experience taught me about the power of self-initiation and that you don’t need permission to start your own projects. I am continuing to work on my own stories and ideas that I hope will make it out into the world in the near future.

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

I really owe so much of the progress in my career so far to the incredible mentors and peers that have helped me along my creative journey. Reflecting on that, it has instilled a desire for me to pay that forward to my peers and those a few steps behind me in their careers. I have had the chance to teach classes in my local community about illustration and mentor a few young artists as well.

Unfortunately, illustrators are often undervalued and underpaid for hard work that takes years of relentless practice and dedication. In the beginning of my freelance career, I was guilty of taking severely low wages due to having a lack of education on pricing, therefore undervaluing other artists as well. I am so grateful to community members that have been transparent about pricing and shared their own mistakes and successes, leading me to better advocate for myself. This can be a lonely career so making meaningful, encouraging relationships is such an important part of a creative’s journey. Being a source of support for artists lifts the community as a whole.

Contact Info:

• Website: nataliebriscoe.com
• Instagram: @nataliebriscoeillustration