Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Robyn Phelps. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Robyn, we are so deeply grateful to you for opening up about your journey with mental health in the hops that it can help someone who might be going through something similar. Can you talk to us about your mental health journey and how you overcame or persisted despite any issues? For readers, please note this is not medical advice, we are not doctors, you should always consult professionals for advice and that this is merely one person sharing their story and experience.
I wasn’t super conscious of my mental health issues, or really able to understand that I even had any issues, until I was in late high school. It took MANY years, and a lot of steps forward and steps backwards, but I can genuinely say now that I feel the most mentally well I ever have in my life. One major factor of that was finally seeking help from a psychiatrist to confirm my ADHD diagnosis a few years ago.
I had suspected I may have ADHD for about two years before I finally made the appointment to be assessed. Which I always think is at least a little bit funny, considering the barrier to executive function that ADHD presents, that the one thing you need to do to be diagnosed is to get yourself together enough to make an appointment. Several of my close friends had been diagnosed over the years, and after having many conversations with them about what exactly they were feeling, I found myself relating to many of those experiences. Once I started to really think about it and learned the actual symptoms of ADHD, there was almost no aspect of my life that I didn’t see affected by it.
I was also diagnosed with depression at the same time, which honestly came as a surprise to me at the time. I had never even considered for a second that the way I felt was anything other than normal. I knew I felt things extremely deeply, I knew I could go into very dark spells, but I also had so much joy and laughter in my life. I often say that I “didn’t even know that it was an option” to have anything. After some self reflection, I found so many points in my life where I realized that what I was feeling and going through wasn’t “normal”, wasn’t neurotypical.
This diagnosis took a huge weight off of my shoulders. Though of course I am still responsible for my actions, my behavior, and the amount of effort I put into projects and school and life. To be told that the reason I had to work so much harder than it seemed like others did, that it wasn’t a personal failing of my own strength or willpower, and that I wasn’t stupid, was both validating and upsetting.
It felt incredible to finally understand why it took me so much effort to start a project, why I would wait until the last minute to do homework and then hyper-focus to complete it, and why I felt like I was always having a thousand different thoughts bouncing around my head all at once.
However, there also was a grieving period for me. As someone who was diagnosed as an adult, I was 24 or 25 at the time, I felt like there were so many occasions and opportunities that would have been different for me had I been diagnosed sooner. Luckily I have an incredible community of friends and loved ones who have had similar experiences, which was also extremely validating. One of my best friends of 20 years, who also has ADHD, always jokes that she “would be a homeowner by now” if she had been diagnosed earlier.
Now that I understand my own mind so much more, and that I’m fortunate enough to have a medication that works for me, I feel happier and more stable than my younger self could have possibly imagined. I’ve noticed myself feeling much more creative as well. I hate the stereotype that artists need to be depressed or tortured to make good work. Of course, expressing what you feel is at the core of being an artist, and people who express their struggles through their work are incredible and equally as valid. I just don’t think that we need to drag ourselves through hell, or to neglect caring for our mental health, to make good art. Once our basic needs are met and our mental health is more stable, your mind is so much more free to create.
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 an editorial illustrator by trade!
Editorial illustrators receive assignments from newspapers, magazines, and publications of all sorts to create artwork for specific articles, for covers, and more. If you’ve ever looked at a cover of the New Yorker and loved the art, that’s the work of an editorial illustrator. I would honestly encourage anyone to start looking at the byline under the image when you see art in a publication that you like!
I majored in Illustration in college and knew that I had a deep love for visual storytelling, but wasn’t really sure where that could take me in a career. After taking an editorial illustration class in my senior year, everything clicked for me. I was able to use the skills I feel strongest in, my creative problem solving, love for visual storytelling and narrative, and my love of a challenge/puzzle to solve. Receiving a brief from an art director was always a thrill, and getting to concept about different topics every single time was an amazing opportunity for my (then undiagnosed) ADHD brain.
After my first editorial job with the Boston Globe in my senior year of college, everything felt like confirmation to me that this is what I was meant to be doing, and this is what I love to do. I did a lot of jobs that weren’t that first, and a lot of them while I was actively freelancing as an editorial illustrator. Working as a freelancer in any field is tough, but I have a huge amount of awe and respect for editorial illustrators who are full time freelance.
I went on to work as an Editorial Art Fellow with Business Insider for 6 months, which was another incredible learning experience, and my first foray into working full time at a publication. Now I work as an in-house designer and editorial illustrator in advertising, which isn’t where I expected to be, but I get to do what I love and also have the stability of a full-time gig, which is something that has been truly transformative for me. Because I didn’t know I had ADHD, freelancing felt so incredibly unattainable for me, despite the fact that I had a good amount of freelancing jobs. It made me feel like I wasn’t meant to be an illustrator at all, but finding out there was another option to be full-time, which is extremely rare and I’m extremely fortunate, really made everything fall back into place.
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
– I think my ability to problem-solve and iterate on ideas and concepts for illustrations is one of my strongest qualities. A lot of editorial illustration is about being able to communicate very dense or complex topics in a single image, most of the time that people are viewing for only a few seconds before they decide whether or not to read the story. Visual metaphor is extremely useful in achieving this, and that’s something I’ve worked hard to exercise and gain skill in. Sometimes I think of idioms that might fit a concept, or just take two elements of a story to mix together in a creative way, and then I’m off to the races. I think this skill truly is achievable for anyone at any stage in their journey, it’s just a matter of exercising that muscle. I used to be an art teacher as well, and I often gave my students mock editorial assignments, and the ideas they would come up with were always so incredible and creative, just because they were taking the time to think about it and practice it.
– My persistence is also something I’m so proud of. Obviously as I said before, it would have been nice to not have to be quite as persistent as I was when I was fighting against mental health issues I wasn’t really aware of, but even considering that, I think that there were many times I could have stopped trying and fell back to a ‘safer’ and more stable career choice. Some of it I think might have been just blind optimism, but I also had so many amazing support systems and mentors who helped give me the strength to continue on this journey.
– I’m also proud of my ability to execute. Again, this is something I can do at speed after letting the adhd take over and hyperfocus. But I’m very proud of the way I have honed my craft to a point where I’m able to concept, iterate, get a sketch approved and execute the final artwork within a few hours. Of course this can vary based on the medium I’m using, I create editorial illustrations both through hand drawing digitally and through digital photo collage. This is also something that I fear really only comes with time and practice. But the wonderful thing about that is that if you really want to get good at it, you can! Just keep at it!
Before we go, maybe you can tell us a bit about your parents and what you feel was the most impactful thing they did for you?
The most impactful thing my parents did for me was to nurture my creativity. I can remember making my own stories and picture books with my dad as a kindergartener, working with both my parents on school projects that were WAY more elaborate than they needed to be, and making insane halloween costumes with my mom. I was a movie theater floor one year.
My mom taught me to sew and knit, my dad taught me how to do blacksmithing, and they both possess such an incredible and insane talent for becoming so skilled in any new craft they pick up. They showed me the value of creativity and following your own pursuits through actually nurturing these things in practice, but also by doing it themselves. I have always so admired their creativity and dedication to doing the things that make them happy outside of work. They work to live, instead of living to work. Or at least they try to, nobody’s perfect, as the saying goes.
They were also so incredibly supportive when I told them I wanted to go to art school for college. I had no idea what I wanted to focus in or where it would take me, and they trusted me to make it happen for myself. They were realistic with me, making sure I understood the possibility that this might not work, it might not be what I actually wanted to do, but supported me so fully in making sure I was able to pursue it. I went to an in-state university with a highly recommended art program, and they trusted me to take it from there. I always knew I had them in my corner no matter what, no questions asked. I’m so so grateful to have the parents I do, and I feel fortunate every day that I was raised by two people who are thoughtful and kind, but also just deeply cool.
I found out a few years ago that my great-great grandfather was also an editorial illustrator for work, which was incredible to find out. I guess it runs in the family!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.robynphelps.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/robyn_makes/?hl=en
- Other: I am one half of the illustration and art studio Look Twice with one of my best friends in the world, and my creative partner, Elise Miguel. Check us out! https://www.instagram.com/looktwiceillo/?hl=en
