Welcome to my
monthly interview feature! I’m so excited to be interviewing all the fabulous
artists, illustrators and designers I’ve meet over the years (both personally
and virtually!) and sharing their artwork and experiences here on Bird Meets
Worm. Look for a new interview on the first Tuesday of every month.
This month I’m pleased as punch to be chatting it up with the fantastic
Illustrator, Emily Balsley. I’m a big fan of Emily’s graphic style and unique
characters! Emily lives in Madison, Wisconsin with her
sweet, creative daughter and loving, yogi husband. When she’s not drawing or
hanging with the fam, she loves riding her bike, doing DIY house projects,
perusing Instagram and chilling with her friends. You can view more of her artwork here!
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| I totally wanna hang with this hilarious bunch! Don't you?! |
A: Aw,
thanks! I really do have fun coming up with my characters, so I'm glad you like
them! Inspired by mid-century illustration, my characters start with basic
shapes and minimal color palettes. Sometimes, depending on their position, I
add sharp angles and long lines to accentuate certain movements. When it comes
time to add the features and details, I layer my lines and patterns on top,
trying to find a good balance of minimal line work, but with the most visual
impact. I am often inspired by the work of Swiss-American illustrator Roger
Duvoisin—the way he created amazing textures and environments by layering line
over shape—but in a thoughtful way—it blows my mind. I also love geometric
patterns (in design and life in general!), so I tend to incorporate a lot of
stripes and polka dots into my characters' outfits.
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| 10,000 Thrills indeed!!! |
A: Thank
you! For 10,000 Thrills, I wanted to find a theme that wasn't gender-specific,
incorporated animals and bright colors, and would be able to showcase my love
of geometric shapes and patterns. A circus theme seemed like the perfect fit!
Plus, the different acts would offer a lot of opportunity for fun little
vignettes. In fact, I started with those vignettes: I filled pages of my
sketchbook with them - trying different positions and angles. Once I had a
handful I liked, I fleshed them out a bit more. My goal was to incorporate
several different characters performing several different activities. I knew my
hero pattern would include most of them—but thinking ahead to the rest of the
collection, I would have an opportunity to zero in on specific sub-themes. For
example, when sketching, I was really enjoying drawing the performing dog. We
have a dog, who is a silly brown hound mutt, so I loved the idea of making her
the star of my tightrope pattern. Dressing her up in different outfits as she
tip-toed across the tightrope just made me smile. Yet, it still fit with the
circus theme!
Regarding the colors, I've always loved
the combo of pink and red. Pink COULD be seen as feminine, and as I was going
for a non-gender-specific collection, I decided to go with a bolder
"hot" pink as opposed to a bubble gum pink. It seemed to have a
harder edge to it. Plus it would pair well with the white and black that my
color schemes usually include.
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| Circus sketching awesomeness!! |
Q: You exhibited for the first time at Surtex 2015
with your art collective Happy Happy. During the year that has followed, how
would you say that that experience has influenced: your artwork? your client
list? your promotional efforts? And are you planning to return again this year?
Why or why not?
A: Yes,
after walking the Surtex 2014 show, I thought exhibiting in 2015 would be a
great experience and a good way to gain more exposure. And that it was!
Creating work and collections to show at Surtex was a first for me, as I hadn't
ever licensed my work. It was interesting building a portfolio of work that
wasn't for a specific customer. I created work that made me happy and hope that
it stuck. I had some success at the show, but generally speaking, I learned
that licensing probably isn't for me—at least at this point of my career! I
really like to work with clients closely to create work that best represents
their brand. On the other hand, though, I met some amazing people and made some
fantastic contacts. It was so nice being able to talk to people in person and
show them my work and ask them about their needs and start developing
relationships. My client list has definitely grown since showing at Surtex—as
has my confidence. The experience allowed me to build an extensive portfolio of
new art which has gotten a lot of positive feedback and the validation that I
can do this. All the work and stress and sleepless nights over the last few
years is paying off! That said, I will not be returning to Surtex this year. I
have been busy busy with lots of new work (including working with dream
clients!) and just don't have the time!
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| "Take me out to the ball game! Buy me some peanuts and crackerjacks..." |
Q:
Dish with us about your MOST favorite illustration projects: one from the past
& one from the present.
A: Ooo—that's a
tough one! I have to say, I love my job so much and I put my heart and soul
into each and every project, so it is REALLY hard to narrow it down. I can tell
you why each project is so special to me. Ugh!
...Okay—I just looked through my entire
site, and I responded the best to my "Women in Baseball"
illustration. I created it for Wisconsin Storytime,
a 2014 collaboration for Project Wisconsin. My assignment focused on the
inception of the All-American Girls Baseball League. As a former softball
player, I have very fond memories of throwing the ball around with my dad as a
kid. In preparation for this project, I re-watched A League of Their Own, and
fell in love with the movie and story all over again. I had a blast doing
research, poring through old photos of these female baseball players and then
drawing them was even better! This piece was one of the first times I started
incorporating my new shading texture technique and the color palette is so
"Emily". All of it—the nostalgia, the female empowerment, the drawing
process—made (and makes!) me so happy. I feel it really exemplifies who I am as
a person and artist.
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| How awesome is Emily's mural?! Fantastic!!! |
Q:
What do you know now that when you first began your design & illustration
career you wish you’d known about: art licensing? business? self-promotion?
A: Gosh, I feel
like I'm learning something new every day! In a broader sense, way back when I
first started freelancing, I wish I knew more about the business side of my
art, specifically talking about money. Like I said earlier, I love what I do. I
still can't believe that I get to make art every day. But this means that
because I love something so much, I often de-value my art. It was hard for me
to charge what it was worth because I found so much joy in creating it. And
then common sense started kicking in and I realized that my love and joy in
creating my art wasn't paying the bills. So I had to figure out how to charge
more and have those money conversations with clients that made me feel so
uncomfortable. Today, I see that it goes hand-in-hand. I know what I'm worth
and I can talk about it. It's not always easy, but it is a necessity.
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| So cute! So charming! So fun! |
Q: Describe your most perfect day.
A: My
perfect day would start with sleeping in to about 7:30am. I would have
breakfast with my family and then go for a long walk with the dog and Stella on
her bike. Then I would want to make some art! Drawing on the front porch while
my family hangs out sounds awesome. We would then grab our bikes and ride
downtown for lunch by the lake and play a couple games of UNO. In the afternoon
I would work on my computer for a few hours, followed up by a grill out on the
back deck. After dinner we'd veg out a bit on the couch while I work on a
weaving project. After everyone is in bed I'd head out for a drink with my
friends and toast my amazing day!
Thank
you SO much, Emily! We had a hoot chatting with you here at Bird Meets Worm and
can’t wait to see what you create next!