Meet Clay Healy

We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Clay Healy. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Clay below.

Clay, appreciate you making time for us and sharing your wisdom with the community. So many of us go through similar pain points throughout our journeys and so hearing about how others overcame obstacles can be helpful. One of those struggles is keeping creativity alive despite all the stresses, challenges and problems we might be dealing with. How do you keep your creativity alive?

I think a lot of my creativity stems from a place of restriction as a kid. Growing up as a boy, I wasn’t interested in stereotypical boy things, I gravitated towards things like fashion, dolls, mermaids, etc. With the gender norms being more rigid than they are now, I felt I had to mask what I enjoyed to make the people in my life proud of me. The one place I felt I could express those feminine themes was through art and creativity. It was something I could keep to myself and experiment with. I am now 20 years old, and I think one big driving force behind my creativity being so lively is connecting with a side of myself I had to mask a lot as a kid. My artwork now is very flashy and flamboyant, just as my younger self would want it to be.

Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?

I’m a current student at SCAD (Savannah College of Art + Design) majoring in Illustration! When I think about what exactly I want to do with Illustration, my mind juggles around ideas of doing fashion/editorial illustration, comic book covers, and concept work for entertainment. I’m a person who wants to dip my toe into every pond I find interesting, as long as I can project my own art style on what it is I’m developing. I love illustration because it’s a form of world-building and Idealization. I see my work as a kind of peak into my brain, what fascinates me, and how I want to see the world around me. The wild and playful spirit of my art isn’t something I get to experience all day every day, but when I make my art it allows me to enter that world I envision.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

I feel that I’m still in the beginning steps of my journey, but three qualities that have led me to pursue my dream art career are free-thinking, master appreciation, and curiosity.

Free-thinking because if I had taken to heart the things said by people who don’t think like me, who aren’t creative, I’d probably be stuck at a boring school studying a major that doesn’t fulfill my creative needs. I feel that I’ve always had a really good grasp on who I am and what I want to do, and have become very good at blocking out voices who don’t understand my artistic vision or point of view.

I think master appreciation is also so important because it acts as a guideline for illustration techniques and style development. I’ve recently taken a few courses on art history and life drawing, and just from observing old masters’ approaches to things like perspective and anatomy, I saw my own art improve in those aspects. beyond just the old masters, there are contemporary masters whose style and artistic branding have caught my eye as I’ve grown up. Artists like J. Scott Campbell, Sozomaika, and Robert Valley are huge style inspirations to me. They have such a way of capturing the attitude of the characters they illustrate that I strive to achieve.

As for curiosity, I just really love sifting through different media to find artistic inspiration. It’s always been something that fascinates me– doing things like character studies, reading up on old myths and fairytales, studying the sea and marine life, or analyzing the cinematography of my favorite movies and TV shows. There’s so much inspiration I have found from these things that are reflected in my work, and I never want to stop searching for more inspiration like that.

How would you describe your ideal client?

Honestly, an ideal client is just someone who trusts and admires my creative vision. I feel that when people come to me for artwork, they have a good idea of what it is I specialize in. That isn’t to say I am opposed to a broad spread of themes, I think artwork in any form is incredibly therapeutic and a million times better than being stuck at a cubicle typing data into a computer, but what fulfills my creativity most are vibrant illustrations that emphasize fashion, femininity, and fantasy. If a client understands the messages of my work, then I think I’d be over the moon to make pieces for them.

Contact Info:

Image Credits

Personal Photo taken by Tanner Phillips

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