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

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

The first time I knew occurred very early in my life. I started drawing when I was in elementary school. It started off as a hobby until I received a lot of praise from my friends, teachers, and family members. This was one of the first things that motivated me to keep making art. My teachers told my parents that I had a talent for art and should be encouraged to pursue a career as a professional artist. When I found out, I accepted and had no problem with choosing this path. I knew I wanted to be an artist and I was happy to start learning early.

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’ve been making art since childhood and was encouraged to pursue a career as a professional artist. At first, I was interested in fine arts. While I was in high school, I was convinced to pursue illustration because I enjoyed telling stories through my art. Since then, I’ve stuck with illustration and I haven’t looked back. I studied illustration in college. After graduation, I became a freelance illustrator and painter.

The subject matters I mostly work with are portraits, character designs, concept art, sequential art, food, and book illustration. I use multiple mediums such as pencil, watercolor, acrylic, and oil paint. I also use digital mediums such as Procreate, Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, and InDesign. These mediums and subject matters are what I used in school. I currently use them when working with clients and other artists.

My work as a freelance artist so far involves portraits, book cover illustrations, tattoo designs, logo designs, and background paintings for an independent film. When I’m working on these projects, I put effort into making them. My goal is to make and present work that focuses on what I love and discuss issues that matter to me. I also want my art to make a positive impact on people’s lives. I accomplished that when I started working as a freelance artist and I wish to continue doing that now.

How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?

Society can support artists and other creatives by checking out their work and sharing them with others. Sharing their work online (websites and social media posts) and/or attending openings and exhibits are good ways of doing that. When an artist’s work is shared, they’re more likely to receive feedback on them and meet other artists and potential clients.

Other ways they can support artists are offering emotional support to them along with buying their art. This can also motivate and encourage them to keep making art and getting their work out to others. This kind of support can make a bigger impact if it’s coming from other artists, friends, family members, and people they admire.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

There are two aspects of being an artist. One of them is that I get to make work I love with plenty of freedom. While I do make work that has requirements for the final products, I’m still allowed to have creative freedom. I’m also allowed to have a say in making them too. The other aspect is having my work make a positive impact on others’ lives. It makes me happy to see people admire my work. It gives me the motivation to make more art and share them with others.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://persisjohnson.wixsite.com/persisjohnson
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/persiswashere/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/persis-johnson-942388a3/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/persiswashere
• Other: https://www.behance.net/persiswashere

Image Credits
(Breonna Taylor Painting) – https://abcnews.go.com/US/timeline-inside-investigation-breonna-taylors-killing-aftermath/story?id=71217247 (Baby (Dylan) in Gremlin Costume) – https://www.tiktok.com/@snackbandits/video/7001187213757205766?is_copy_url=1&is_from_webapp=v1&lang=en