Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Violet Tobacco. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Violet, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Can you open up about a risk you’ve taken – what it was like taking that risk, why you took the risk and how it turned out?

It can feel like a gamble trusting yourself to have the skill, willpower, and timing to follow a career in the arts. Even if you have a good support system, there is doubt from all sides. Friends and families being cheerleaders but also giving words of wisdom if things don’t work out. You’ve seen yourself grow so you want to step out of that humility that used to say this was just a hobby. Advocating for your right to create and searching for the approval of others is a challenging balance. My career was sprouted from a sense of urgency that if I did not do it now, then it may never happen.

I started in the work force as in educator, and then entertainer, at Georgia Aquarium while I was also studying acting in college. I was coming to the end of my time at college and I had fallen out of love with theatre. I was facing the terror that I had wasted all of my time to end up in a future that was devoid of passion and growth. I was abandoning what I thought was my purpose, staring down the barrel of a career path paved by the first person willing to hire me.

After 6 years of working the same grind at the aquarium, I hopped across the park to work at the Center for Civil and Human Rights. Seeing that there was a lot of down time at the museum, I would doodle at my stations. After a few kind words from people looking over my shoulder and the encouragement from instagram posts, I started to see my childhood hobby as something I had potential in. After my first client, I was hooked and was convinced that digital art was where I needed to tell stories. When the museum could no longer support a living, I moved on to a desk job.

It was a strange jump for me. I had never worked a traditional cubical job before but I was finally full-time. Suddenly, I had gone from all the time in the world to draw to being too exhausted after work to even doodle. With reality setting in, life was pulling me into many directions, telling me I needed to choose. My skills were finally sharpening and I was finally impressed with myself. Having no time or energy to draw, I saw myself dimming into stagnation. I was only at that job for one week when I turned in my two weeks notice. My boss, a stubborn and proud guy who did not want me to quit, offered to double my pay. That changed everything. I told my family looking for advice and they were torn. Mostly they just wanted the security of a well paying, full-time job. I did not have any prospects saying I was even going to make it as an illustrator, I just knew that this was my only time to be messy. So I went to my boss and while he tried to sway me, I told a somewhat fib. I said that I had gotten an offer to work on a book and I need to take it. In hopes that he could convince me with more money, he asked me how much they were offering and I made up the number $10k. Begrudgingly, he accepted that I need to move on.

Leaving, I felt the panic set in that I just left a good job on the base of a lie and a dream. Wanting to make an honest artist out of myself, I tirelessly built my portfolio. Simultaneously, applying for a masters in illustration and a well-known agency. What I had told that boss was not a lie but merely a prediction that I felt I needed to promise myself. Within a week of each other, I made it into the arts program and got the call that I would be accepted into the agency. Since the agency was the pinnacle of where I saw myself, I passed on school and went straight into becoming a full-time working illustrator. My first job was a book where the offer was… $10k.

My love of illustrating has never wavered but that is not to say it has not come with its own tribulations and sacrifices. Learning that my work is not my worth has been holding a mirror up to myself to reflect I am more than what I make. But I know that life is a constant struggle, a hydra of problems that once you solve one two more sprout. The risk I took was not if I could make it as an artist, but rather, the risk was can I find happiness and peace with the struggles being an artist will bring. Despite the burnout, the occasional financial instability, and the imposter syndrome… it has been worth the risk.

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 am an illustrator based in Atlanta. I have an affinity for storytelling, whimsy, and a well-delivered moral. I have had the great fortune to work with Scholastic, Macmillan, Harper Collins, Disney, and many more because of my representation with the Bright Agency. Recent publications include Miss Rita, Mystery Reader, My Maddy, Small Town Pride, Double Life of Danny Day, Ravenous Things, RWBY: Fairytales of Remnant, and Calling All Witches.

I have always loved to tell a good, entertaining, and powerful story. It was just a matter of how I wanted to tell that story. Initially, I thought that theatre was that means, but as I rediscovered a childhood passion, illustration slowly made its way back into my life. We were allowed to pick anything that would progress our career outside of school for my senior project. I chose to write a children’s book based on a fairytale I performed earlier in the year. I bought a Wacom Cintiq, taught myself photoshop, and got to work. I studied art books, YouTube, Instagram artists, and my favorite animated movies. I was determined to be a sponge to all media that inspired me. After turning in the project and being well-received by my peers and graded well by my professor, I felt my vigor for storytelling return.

I applied for a master’s in illustration, but I dove straight into being a full-time artist when my agency accepted me. When joining my agency, my agents and I agreed that my style would work best for middle-grade literature. Although, that didn’t stop other genres of art from coming into my workload. It was just a matter of diversifying my portfolio to show how much I could stretch my style. I became an artist known for my style and for being able to mimic other artists’ styles. This came in handy for publishers looking for an artist to pick up on a series if the previous artist backed out.

I am most proud of the relationships I have made. The art directors, publishers, my agents, and other illustrators have all been uplifting and welcoming. It has been the greatest reward knowing that I can make a friend who wants to work with me again after a project is complete.

Advice is hard to give to any aspiring artist because how we each get to our success is so different. No “invest, work hard, network, blah, blah, blah” will get you any closer. Always do what works for you and look for opportunities that fit you. Make art that makes you proud. Get involved in a community, not to exploit for work, but to build genuine connections. The only advice I feel comfortable giving is never to push yourself too hard, burnout is all too real, and your dreams will happen. Everything takes time and a little bit of luck.

I am an artist that wants to tell as many stories as I can. Stories that make us feel less alone and bring a little more whimsy into the world so we can better understand ourselves.

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

Currently, I illustrate for other storytellers. I bring their narratives to life. I love this aspect of my job, but I hope to bridge that gap and be the author of my own story with my art. I am currently working on a children’s book with my agency that I am passionate about completing for the pitch. In my own time, I work on writing fiction and graphic novels, and I hope to show them to the world one day. I’m still so precious with my original work, but I am hungry to share and see how an audience receives it. In all of this, my goal is to create at least one story that makes an impact.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

I had to unlearn saying ‘yes’ to everything. I eventually found myself spread way too thin, and I lost all passion for what I was doing. I was taking jobs I didn’t care for and making art I was not proud of. I didn’t know why I was doing art for a career for a few months. That is until I finally started turning down a few jobs, and I saw more space for myself between each job I took.

We were told never to turn down a job in theatre, even if you weren’t qualified or precisely suitable for the role, that any work is work worth taking. They may never ask you to play a role again if you say no. The world of theatre is fast and will leave you behind.

It took me too long to realize the rest of the art world doesn’t function that way. I can say no, and I can still get hired in the future by them. I can say no and take more time on the art and jobs I’m already working on. Do not do art for work you hate, for it will show in the work itself.

Contact Info:

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

Image Credits
Violet Tobacco