We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Nicole Goux. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Nicole below.

Nicole, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Learning the craft is often a unique journey from every creative – we’d love to hear about your journey and if knowing what you know now, you would have done anything differently to speed up the learning process.

I’ve always made art since I was a little kid. My parents put me in classes at a young age, I took AP art and extracurricular classes, majored in illustration in college. The art part was never hard for me, it’s the business part that was a real challenge. Art school doesn’t really prepare you for the real world of finding your way as an artist. I’m still learning that every day. I mostly went about it by starting with the creation of work and a portfolio and putting myself out there. Comics are nice because there are a lot of festivals and conventions that if you have a little bit of work, you can start attending and making connections and becoming part of the industry eco system. That along with a lot of experimentation and googling of how to navigate logistics has really helped me evolve as a creative professional. I’ve used the connections I made at shows, both to get jobs and garner work, but also to make friends and peers that I can ask for advice and compare notes with. Having a community of other creators around my level going through the same things is an incredible resource.

Nicole, 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?

So I am a cartoonist and illustrator which means that I make everything from comics, to book covers, to spot illustration work for advertising and product.

I’ve made several books including the Eisner nominated Everyone is Tulip for Dark Horse Comics, Forest Hills Bootleg Society with Simon and Schuster, F*ck Off Squad at Silver Sprocket Bicycle Club, DC’s YA novel Shadow of the Batgirl, and my newest book coming out this month from Avery Hill called Pet Peeves. Mostly I draw, but I also write my own stories and collaborate on plot with writers.

I love doing book covers and editorial illustration and am currently beefing up my portfolio with some very cool work in that sector as well as some behind the scenes work for ad agencies including story boarding commercials.

I work a lot in the Young Adult space and have a style that suits a younger audience very well, but I love to experiment and make work for all ages.

How’d you meet your business partner?

Most of the books I’ve made are with the writer Dave Baker. We collaborate very closely and run our convention business together. We met about 9 years ago at a gallery opening that some mutual friends were attending. Afterwards we went to a karaoke bar and played drawing games, obviously bonding us for life. Soon after he asked me if I wanted to make comics together, I was initially hesitant as I was only pursuing illustration work at the time and hadn’t made many comics. After making a few short stories together and printing them to sell and zine fests, I completely fell in love with the medium and we’ve been working together ever since.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

After college I struggled a bit to create a portfolio and start making connections in the art world. I had a few jobs doing graphic design or illustration for a toy company, but I wanted to branch more into editorial and wasn’t having much luck cold emailing art directors. When I started making comics attending conventions and zine fests I found my way into networking in a very natural and fun way. I still do editorial illustration, but it wasn’t until I pivoted to comics that I really started to build a career and find a community.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.nicolegoux.com
• Instagram: @ngoux
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ngoux/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicolegouxillustration/
• Twitter: @nicolegoux