Meet George Kocar

We were lucky to catch up with George Kocar recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi George, we’re so appreciative of you taking the time to share your nuggets of wisdom with our community. One of the topics we think is most important for folks looking to level up their lives is building up their self-confidence and self-esteem. Can you share how you developed your confidence?

My confidence and self-esteem came when I developed my skills that they met professional standards. I started drawing and painting as a young kid. I knew I could do this better then most of my peers, and getting praise from my teachers always helps. After high school, a stint in the Army, I started college, put the nose to the grindstone, earned top grades, and started getting art jobs. After college, I started freelancing for many of Cleveland’s Ad agencies, publications, etc. I developed my style that I am known for while doing this. I went to Syracuse University to gain my MFA, and started getting national jobs from across the country.

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?

At this point in my life, I mainly paint. My paintings are humorous takes on life, society and politics. Recently, I had a solo show at The Artist’s Archives of the Western Reserve in Cleveland, Ohio.

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?

Learn to draw, first most. From that you can develop your own vision. Look at the masters. Go to museums, study what they did. You can learn so much. Never give up. Throughout most artists careers there are rejections. Just keep on going, keep on entering, keep on showing your stuff to whoever will look.

To close, maybe we can chat about your parents and what they did that was particularly impactful for you?

My parents didn’t want me to be an artist, but I kept on drawing and painting, it was mainly my only interest. So, they enrolled me in a correspondence art school. That school taught me so much, especially about the business of commercial art. It helped me immensely when I went out looking for job assignments.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://gkocar.com
• Instagram: gkocar
• Facebook: flying banana studio