We were lucky to catch up with Jacob Gong recently and have shared our conversation below.
Jacob, 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?
As an illustrator, a major creative habit for me is observation. Often, when I am in a car or train, I can stare out the window for hours watching scenery, people, and buildings pass by. Or, I can be walking down the street, look up, and suddenly feel inspired by whatever I see in front of me then pull out my phone to take a picture. I have collected so many photos of random subjects, whether it be street signs, shopfronts, or tree stumps covered in mushrooms, and when I get to my drawing tablet I usually find that I already have an arsenal of inspiration and references I just happened to collect over time.
Though my inspiration primarily comes from observation, my illustration work is very imaginative. An experience that really impacted me was an assignment I had in school called “Wondrous Strange”. We were challenged to create an illustration that makes the viewer ask questions. It can be of anything, as long as the entire narrative is condensed into one single image. I truly feel that this project completely changed my trajectory and approach to illustration. I never thought it about it this way, but so much of the illustration we see is “Wondrous Strange”. Book jackets, movie posters, album covers, all seek to peak the audience’s curiosity and excitement by making them ask questions. I remember my solution to this prompt was illustrating a locker room scene, with a single hand sticking out of one door to open another (majorly inspired by Tim Jacobus and his Goosebumps covers, I’m a huge fan). This project set the tone for a lot of my future works. The building blocks for these scenes come from my day-to-day observation, and I will add one fantastical twist to reshape the visual narrative. For example, a really fun childhood memory I had was pretending with my friends this grassy mound in our apartment complex in China was a buried dinosaur fossil. So I drew this imagination into reality. Another time, I was walking around at night, at what must have been 9 p.m., and this ice cream truck drove by with blinding headlights. That moment felt so unreal that I had to capture it, so I illustrated a night scene of a truck with ice cream men that are ghostly apparitions. A lot of my pieces fit in this category mood-wise: surreal, heartwarming, sometimes with an unsettling edge.
Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?
I am an illustrator, book designer, and visual development artist for animation. My work has been recognized by 3×3 magazine, Society of Illustrators LA, and iJungle. Earlier this year I participated in two illustration mentorships, with Scholastic and The Association of Illustrators. Both were fantastic experiences that I learned a lot from, and connected me with other illustrators and designers from across the world (Shoutout to my mentors Maeve Norton and Kingsley Nebechi!). I mostly work on freelance editorial and book projects, and have also contributed concept and background art for various indie animation productions.
For the past few months, I had the privilege to work as a Design Intern at Barefoot Books in Concord, Massachusetts. They are an independent publisher working on picture books for children, covering a great variety of formats and topics with an emphasis on education. I assisted during the production of an exciting soon-to-be published interactive nonfiction book, working alongside and learning from an amazingly talented team of designers and editors. As someone who grew up reading endless nonfiction books about math, science, and history, I am beyond grateful for the chance to help create what I once loved so much. I am also interested in illustrating and designing book jackets for middle grade novels, and have dabbled in creating my own picture books as well!
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?
1. As vague as it sounds, “understanding my brain”. As someone who has not yet been diagnosed with ADHD but exhibits all the associated traits, this was crucial in helping me sort out my creative (and personal) life. I found that understanding what workflow fits the best for me, knowing how to structure my time and when to step back, made it much easier get things done. Though my process is still not perfect and I still struggle from time to time, I have made significant progress and will continue to in the future. 2. Related to the previous topic, being self-aware about my artistic interests. I remember learning that “style in illustration is what you can’t help but do”. This feel very true in my case. Every illustration I make, there will always be some stylistic element that somehow ends up on the page just because it’s my hand that’s doing the drawing. I found that noticing these quirks and pushing them is very worthwhile in the long run. The same applies with the subject matters I illustrate, as parts of my identity, history, or just weird obsessions, make it into my work. I find that being able to balance this process with client needs in a project usually creates the best outcome for both parties, and invites more projects that excite me in the future.
3. Being willing to push things. I will often take an initial concept that seems boring and take it six steps further. I will have a knee jerk reaction about an idea, and then add one unexpected element to it and see what happens. If that doesn’t work, I throw other things at it until it feels interesting enough. My sketchbooks are filled with brain-maps, scribbled keyword lists, and boxes and boxes of thumbnail sketches. I truly believe that something more exciting is always around the corner, and the hours spent exploring will be worth it in the end. Beyond ideation, I also find that pushing an illustration to the maximum level of finish I feel like it needs (when there’s no deadlines breathing down my neck, of course) always invites me to develop new skills and techniques for the future.
In terms of advice, I feel that a growth mindset is very important in a creative life. It doesn’t have to take the form of some extra ambitious self-improvement journey, but is more about believing that you can improve, even if you won’t be perfect. Don’t sink into learned helplessness about flaws or obstacles, and know that whatever it is, it can be worked on. I am not trying to be overly idealistic and say that anyone can change anything if they just put their mind to it (especially given the world’s current circumstances), but I do believe that it is worth it to try to take at least one step forward. It’s funny because I think a lot of my friends perceive me as a hardcore realist with a pessimistic side, so reading this might surprise them. But, to me there is nothing unrealistic about believing in your own capacity to grow.
Okay, so before we go we always love to ask if you are looking for folks to partner or collaborate with?
Absolutely! Right now, my main projects of focus are freelance book cover illustrations for middle grade and YA novels, but I’m open to editorial and animation concept design projects as well. I am also working on creating more sequential work, ranging from picture books and comics, as that is a field I am interested in exploring next. Some topics I love to illustrate include childhood, nostalgia, magic, surrealism, a mix of cute & scary, and dogs (all kinds). If you are interested, please check out my website, then shoot me a DM or an email!
Contact Info:
- Website: jacobgongart.com
- Instagram: @jacobgong0907
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jacob-gong-0728261b9/?skipRedirect=true
