Today we’d like to introduce you to Delaney Gibbons

Hi Delaney, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.

I grew up just outside Philadelphia, then moved to New York City for college where I earned a dual degree—a BFA in illustration from Parsons School of Design, and a BA in Creative Writing from Eugene Lang College, with a poetry focus. I spent the next decade working primarily as a graphic designer while developing my creative voice and style through side projects. I am now based in Ames, Iowa, working on freelance and personal projects, with a focus on autobiographical comics and picture books.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?

Making student loan payments and covering rent were the biggest struggles from the beginning. An entry level designer salary in New York didn’t go very far, but I had to make it work. Saving anywhere I could and working my way up to a promotion or better paying job as quickly as I could was my primary focus in my twenties. It wasn’t ideal, but the side projects helped fill the creative void in me left by the full time hustle.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?

I’ve only recently started storytelling through comics, thanks to a continuing education class I took online through the School of Visual Arts. It was a class on making poetry comics. I had majored in poetry in college and kept up my writing practice afterwards, managing to get a couple pieces accepted in literary journals. I also majored in illustration, and images have always felt like my brain’s primary way of making sense of things. I hadn’t heard of poetry comics until I stumbled across the class (instructed by artist and writer Susanne Reece). Over the course of the semester, it began to feel serendipitous. I fell in love with the challenge of combining the three things I knew best: words, images, and design. Since then, I’ve been focusing heavily on visual narrative work, and the response has been really encouraging.

Do you have any advice for those just starting out?

Learn as much as you can for free, and always keep a sketchbook. There are a lot of generous creators out there who share their years of technical knowledge and real world experience for free. Find the ones you connect with and put what you learn from them into practice. That’s how you’ll find out what you like and what works for you.

Pricing:

• If you’re starting out, you’re most likely pricing your artwork too low!
• Check out Jessica Hische’s “The Dark Art of Pricing”
• Get the book “Freelance, and Business, and Stuff” from Hoodzpah Design
• Avoid working for free. Never work “for exposure.”

Contact Info:

• Website: https://delaneygibbons.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/delaneygib/
• Other: https://delaneygibbons.substack.com/

Image Credits
Delaney Gibbons