Today we’d like to introduce you to Warren Kennedy.
Hi Warren, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I was never quite a normal kid. I didn’t talk till I was 2 years old and always loved reciting movies and cartoons out loud. I never had an easy time growing up either, going from home, to private, to public school and being culture shocked every time. It wasn’t until college where it finally occurred to me that I might have ADHD. That changed my whole perspective and allowed me to give myself some much-needed grace and explained so much of myself. See all my life I loved art. I drew for my middle school newspaper, I designed posters for my local high school theatre, and I have boxes upon boxes of filled and half-filled sketchbooks.
There was a time when I wanted more than anything to make that my career, just drawing all the time. So, I fought through my mental obstacles (albeit with help) and graduated with an Associates in Graphic Design. I was the first of my immediate family to graduate college and it was one of the most difficult things I ever achieved.
And then I realized I didn’t ever think about what came after. See that’s the thing with folks like me, we focus so much on the present and what’s in front of us that we can lose perspective on seemingly obvious things. I tried my best to make use of my degree and applied for numbers of entry-level design jobs and internships, but the best I got was a crummy tee-shirt sales job, and even then, I barely got to design anything for anyone. There was a reality to my situation that I was slowly but surely coming to accept: either go back to college for another, no doubt grueling, two years, or look at getting a different career.
I chose the latter. See the more I stared Graphic Design in the face, the less I felt it was meant for me. I didn’t want to design and format text or put together ads, I wanted to draw stuff I liked, to draw wild and strange things that didn’t exist. And it only took me achieving that degree, many depressive and anxiety-fueled episodes and suffering through years of jobs I hated to realize that.
So, I decided to look at other career options. But I never gave up on that dream of doing art for a living, even if it had to stay a hobby for a while. I started opening up for commission work online and became a freelance illustrator! I very much enjoy the agency it gives me and I love the work I get to do. I even sell my own stickers online too. As for my career nowadays, I work as a school bus driver as a day job, and it’s by far the best I’ve ever had. I love chatting with the kids and helping them learn fun things.
Recently my family has taken a heavy hit as last year, my brother Matthew barely survived a cardiac arrest. My family moved heaven and earth to get him the care he needed and bring him back to Texas. I’m living with them now to help look after him while still working at my job and my art. We’re in a good place right now and my brother is healing, both mentally and physically, but it hasn’t been easy for any of us, and there’s still challenges to come.
But time marches on as it does. I holding myself together the best I can, we all are. And all I hope for is that we all find that moment where we realize “this is how I want my life to go for the foreseeable future”. It’s not easy for all of us, and for some of us it’s entirely impossible and that’s a terrible situation to be in. Which is why I feel unimaginably lucky to have as understanding a caring family as I got. I cannot imagine where my life would be right now if it weren’t for the closest people in my life. My art will always be accredited to my family for helping me become the person I am and for who I eventually will be.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
As I said before, I have ADHD and that’s an entire genre of lifetime complications. I never quite got a grip on myself or how I thought till I was in college. I’ve also dealt depression and anxiety for a good while now. It’s a mental battle many people fight, but I’m lucky to have the kind of people in my life that I do. I love the support I’ve received and now I have better tools as to how to reorient myself.
As for my art and my career, realizing how I wanted to live as an artist made me strive to find ways to get my art out there and make money while at the same time making the art I wanted. It took years of promoting myself online and many trials of self-doubt. If I could give one piece of advice to any aspiring creators out there, it’s that comparing yourself to other will kill your drive and creativity. I don’t care if it’s been said a million times, it’s no less true.
Finally, my past jobs are without a doubt some of the biggest trials I’ve experienced. I’ve had some of my darkest moments hunched over a metal sink of dirty dishes. When I found out how much I liked driving jobs I chased those careers but it was still a rough road. I was terrified the day before my first trip as a school bus driver. Two years later and now it’s as easy as breathing. Granted it still isn’t without its trials, but I can manage myself now. It took a lot of dark moments, self-adjusting, and help to get to where I am today.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I have a variety of outlets I use my art for! My main gig is commission work for folks online. I love the art I get to do for them! I specialize in character design and illustration, so most of my works involve characters people want drawn in my art style (it’s mostly Dungeons & Dragons characters). However, I’ve gotten to work on many unique projects, like logo designs, mascot design, and posters! I even have a logo I design up as a sign on one of the buildings in South Austin.
I also have an online storefront where I sell stickers I’ve designed. It’s not quite booming but it always brightens my day when I see someone’s purchased one of my works. I hope to eventually expand into prints.
As for all my other art, I typically enjoy my fair share of sketching and keeping my skills sharp. My favorite things to draw are faerie creatures (gnomes, goblins, trolls, etc.) or any fantasy genre/subject in general. It’s part of the reason why I got into tabletop games.
What I would say sets me apart is tricky. I can’t say for certain that it’s exclusive to me, but I was always proud of the fact that I knew what I wanted to draw and I did what I had to do to make it so that’s what I got to do. Granted I don’t always get to draw what I want but I am more than satisfied with being able to have an identity as an artist. I always held onto the belief that if you keep making what you want to make, eventually an audience will find you.
What sort of changes are you expecting over the next 5-10 years?
This is a very discussed matter in the art world right now. Well, if I’m going to talk about the future or any big shifts in the artistic career field in the next decade I feel as though I must address something first.
As I’m certain a great many people are aware, the rise of AI Art has garnered a significant amount of attention, but basically, it is a way for a computer/AI to generate artworks based on images it collects. Not all these images are necessarily taken with permission, and some of the artworks generated by these AI are directly copied from well-known artists on the internet. It has also been monetized in multiple ways, again, using other artists works to generate something else. Often these artworks LOOK spectacular until you begin to notice small things that are off (e.g., an extra finger on a hand, or a shape in the background that makes no sense.)
Now while I acknowledge AI is a powerful tool and should certainly be implemented responsibly, the attitude shown by those who so religiously praise its capabilities and the decisions various studios and companies have made to use AI-generated images rather than actual artists it harrowing to someone like me. There is a bizarre callousness and contempt shown by people who fiercely defend AI art (I have experienced it firsthand) and it is slowly but surely laying the groundwork for an entire generation of young artists to be discouraged from even trying to enter the field. I have no doubt there will always be artists in the world, but art as a career may very well receive a terminal diagnosis in the decades to come.
So where do I see my industry going over the next 5-10 years? Well, most artists I’ve seen online and offline unanimously admonish the current state of AI art, I’ve seen great success in the endeavors of my fellow artists, and people seem to know the value of something that has taken true skill and training. So, I’d say the industry is looking alright for now. Thought the future is uncertain, for now, all I can do is keep drawing.
Pricing:
- $3-3.50 for Stickers!
- *commission pricing and details can be found on my Twitter*
Contact Info:
- Website: https://warrenmightbeagnome.bigcartel.com/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/_anchorsarecool
- Other: https://www.tumblr.com/blog/warrenbutgnome
Image Credits
Warren Kennedy
