We recently connected with Stephen Kissel and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Stephen, thanks for joining us today. We’d love to hear about the things you feel your parents did right and how those things have impacted your career and life.

Oh man. I feel like I’ve been really lucky in that my family has always been supportive of me pursuing art even at a young age. There was never really any sort of hesitation on their part about letting me go that route for a career. I certainly wasn’t the only person in my family that had creative outlets, but I think I was the first to try to follow that career path.

I know my parents had to deal with me being the weird kid that would feel the weight and texture of pages to find what was ‘just right’ and my obsession with certain pencils and whatnot. They always made sure that I had the tools to make things, whatever I happened to be interested in at the time. I can’t really thank them enough for always keeping me going (even when I wasn’t sure) and how much they still do it!

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

Sure! My name is Stephen Kissel and I’m an illustrator and cartoonist based in Lynchburg, VA. I grew up drawing and creating things all the time and that had me interested in making art somehow as a career. Initially, I went to school for graphic design and incorporated a lot of illustration into my projects while there. So this led me into a job later on with a local gift company focusing more on product design and a little bit of marketing, but still gave me a chance to incorporate illustration into what I was doing. At the same time, I was working on building up a portfolio some of my own freelance/ personal projects. I certainly gained a ton of experience through my time there, but eventually ended up being part of a round layoffs and had to move on. This kinda unexpectedly brought me into the non-profit world and that’s where I’ve been since! Now my day job at another local arts non-profit where I manage a program that brings arts education out into our local community — especially areas that access might be harder for folks.

I also still do plenty of other work outside of that involving a lot of playful illustrations or comics, and often selling those at shows and other events along with prints, pins, etc. There’s also a bit of work for clients which can be anything from small spots in magazines to occasionally larger murals.

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

I think for me, it’s been the chance to collaborate with others. I’ve had the opportunity so far to work with friends on different projects and also make new connections that have really been awesome to work with. I know this isn’t always the case, but I’ve always really enjoyed being able to share work I’ve made and being able to fill a need for someone else at the same time, whatever that may be, is always a rewarding feeling.

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

The most important thing, I think, is to make sure artists are getting paid for their work. There are WAY too many instances of artists either not getting paid a fair amount for what they do or having to fight like hell to actually get paid at all. It was often pointed out to us in school that creatives touch so many things in our society that the average person doesn’t even think about and often take for granted. It shouldn’t be so hard for artists to just scrape by and barely make a living or not even able to afford healthcare, when it’s just as legitimate as any other job.

So absolutely… buy things from real, living artists! If that’s not feasible though, support them how you can in the meantime. It could be as easy as going to to art openings, share what artists make to others (with proper credit, of course), and make sure that your kids have the arts in their schools or have access to it somewhere else at least. There are plenty of ways can help support us, which I really hope will improve.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.stephenkissel.com
• Instagram: @stephenkissel

Image Credits
SKissel_Headshot.jpeg — Image Credit: James Ford | Downtown Lynchburg Association