We recently connected with Jerry Cunningham and have shared our conversation below.
Jerry, we’re thrilled to have you on our platform and we think there is so much folks can learn from you and your story. Something that matters deeply to us is living a life and leading a career filled with purpose and so let’s start by chatting about how you found your purpose.
When it came to creating, my original plan was to become a game developer. I enjoy video games to this day despite the stigma that certain people may share about them. However, during my grade school years transitioning into high school, I realized that I longed to tell a story with my art: to build a world for an audience to enjoy. There were times I was close to throwing in the towel, when I reconsidered what I wanted to pursue. That was until I realized I had a group of people who enjoyed my craft, who wanted me to keep going, and would be disappointed if I gave up after all this time.
Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?
My name is Jerry Cunningham, for the past six years I’ve been working exclusively as a digital illustrator. My focus when it comes to this profession are a few things: reaching other creatives like myself, producing art or video content that people enjoy, producing quality commission work for fellow commissioners, and telling a story with a vibrant world and grounded characters. On my social media accounts branded with the username “Crimsott Artistry”- with a crimson-colored otter representing the brand, viewers will see me capture some of their favorite series in my style, as well as my own characters.
The exciting part about creating these illustrations is capturing these worlds and characters in my own way, and interact with fans of each respective franchise or series.
In the upcoming weeks on my YouTube channel, I’ll have a few videos dedicated to the Spiderverse films, the pros and cons of art challenges, and a versus battle between two well-known characters.
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
There’s a plethora of pieces of artistic advice I could relay here, but the interview would turn into a short story. The first and one of the most important things I’ll tell those that are starting their journey is to trust the process. We all start from somewhere, it’s important to know that you will get where you want to be. Whether you’re painting, cosplaying, editing videos: you’ll get there. The second bit of knowledge I’ll share is to not compare yourself to other people. Many fledgling artists fall into this rut, as did I when I first started, and it’s important to know that there will always be someone better or worse than you, just focus on yourself, that’s what matters most.
The final bit of knowledge I’ll share, and with this do not feel ashamed to do this: use references. It’s become a recommended thing lately, though years ago there was some level of condescension when you would tell someone “these are the references I used”. I digress, references are vital to anything you study: anatomy, perspective, color theory, the list goes on.
Some advice I’ll give to the early bloomers to improve on these aspects is as follows: if you find yourself frustrated at your starting process, step away and come back the next day with fresh eyes. Second, we all admire someone creative, however, remind yourself that these creatives were where you are now, use them to inspire yourself, not to envy. Lastly, study one subject, the internet is your best friend, search for your subject of choice, save provided references, and study away.
Do you think it’s better to go all in on our strengths or to try to be more well-rounded by investing effort on improving areas you aren’t as strong in?
Over the course of this year, I’ve assessed that flexibility is ideal in one’s growth- to improve your weak areas and maintain your strengths. When it comes to my skill set, I excel the most at illustrating characters, however, I’m fairly weak in both composition and background illustrations. Backgrounds are a growing pain for loads of artists. Last month during the monthly art challenge, I forced myself to incorporate a background into as many of the illustrations as I could. I will say, though my background art feels “flat” (to me), I noticed subtle improvements between artworks. I will encourage anyone to study these things as much as possible early on, and not wait until your later years to study these subjects.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/crimsottartistry?igshid=OGQ5ZDc2ODk2ZA==
- Twitter: https://x.com/CrimsottArtstry?t=RD70BPLGcon4wInl6ub5hw&s=09
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/@crimsott_arts97?si=Dgd8fswRicJ2XYie
