We recently connected with Nicole Anderson and have shared our conversation below.

Nicole, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today We’d love to hear about when you first realized that you wanted to pursue a creative path professionally.

Like a lot of kids, I started making art as a kid. Through school my notebooks were filled with doodles, and I always spent recess drawing. When I got to the end of middle school, I realized that there was an arts focused high school I could apply to. I joined a program at Studio Arts Dallas very, very late in the program timeline that helped me create an actual portfolio and practice for the various auditions. This was the first place I learned the depth that it takes to learn skills and create actual finished pieces. It honestly was the hardest I had ever worked in my life, creating multiple pieces each week in class and as homework, and taking extra classes to make up for the entire beginning of the program I missed. Though it took a lot of time, it made me realize that I actually could make real art. During my years at Booker T Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts, It cemented my love for making art and my motivation to pursue it as a career.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I’m currently a student at Savannah College of Art and Design pursuing a BFA in illustration and a minor in graphic design. I have been immersed in the world of art creation since middle school. My focus is publication design, and I am interested in editorial and advertising illustration. I also do painting commissions of pet portraits and landscapes. I like to think that I approach my illustrations from a design standpoint, having knowledge of typography, layout, and how it would look close up and far away for print. I like to implement an aspect of surrealism in my work as I find it communicates abstract concepts successfully. After I graduate I hope to be able to do freelance editorial work and branding for commercial clients.

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

I had to learn to “get rid of the box”. What that means is that Through my last 8 years of learning how to make art, the first step is always to draw thumbnails. Just recently I learned you need to free sketch for a long, long time before moving your work into a box. A thumbnail box is quite literally limiting as it’s a tiny boundary for your drawings. I had to learn to map out my thoughts and ideas freely before putting anything into a frame.

Are there any books, videos, essays or other resources that have significantly impacted your management and entrepreneurial thinking and philosophy?

An inspiration I have is the musician Ben Folds. You might think it’s strange that I draw inspiration from a musician but his book “A Dream About Lightning Bugs” was eye opening for my creative process. He goes into detail about his creation of lyrics and melodies and explains it in a way that is applicable to all art. He also emphasizes that your background and training can be important, but the main thing that matters is your commitment to your work. You need to feel excited, passionate, and motivated about your art. That’s how you get the best, most creative, and groundbreaking results.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://nandersonillustrat.wixsite.com/nicole-anderson-illu
• Instagram: @art.nicole.art
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicole-anderson-218b842b1

Image Credits

Nicole Anderson