Meet Jennifer Lee

We recently connected with Jennifer Lee and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Jennifer, thank you so much for making time for us today. Let’s jump right into a question so many in our community are looking for answers to – how to overcome creativity blocks, writer’s block, etc. We’d love to hear your thoughts or any advice you might have.

Unfortunately, as an artist, it’s easy to get burnt out and get artist blocks so often, especially when you feel like you have a pressure to create something perfect every time you draw. One way I overcame the feeling of artist blocks is to stop trying to force myself into creating a perfect piece in one go, and to just start with creating something simple. I know it sounds easier said than done, but think of it as a way to stop forcing yourself to come up with a perfect piece on the first try, whether it’s art or writing. The more you just sit and try to force your brain to come up with an idea, the more likely you’ll be stuck all day not creating anything at all. There’s nothing wrong with taking a step back and start with something simple to warm up your creative mind. For example, before I begin a new illustration, I prefer to start drawing simple sketches and loose, gestural shapes with a pen or lasso tool (for digital art) to get a feeling for my process. The loose drawings don’t even have to relate to the illustration you want to create, start warming up by drawing inspiration from what you like and don’t think too hard about getting everything perfect. Draw your favorite character from a show you like, or draw loose blobs and see what you can create out of it.
Having a starting point that you’re proud of is what matters when you want to create a new piece, and then you can carry it on from there and see what happens next. Nothing is made perfect on the first try, be kind to yourself and feel proud that you have at least tried to make something new by the end of your day!

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?

To briefly introduce myself, I am an illustrator that recently graduated from the Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA) in 2024. To answer what I feel is the most exciting part as an illustrator, is the variety of projects I get to create, whether it’s for myself or other people. I find it satisfying when all the pieces come together in the end product!
While I was studying as an illustration major at MICA, I mainly had a focus on concept art, which is the early ideas and exploration arts for video games, films, and other medias. While I am currently looking for a full time illustration job, drawing is something that I genuinely enjoy doing in my free time, so being able to think of ideas for developing projects is a fun and interesting process.
One project that I’ve done recently, (and that I was very excited to launch), was releasing the digital version of my original art book: “Entombment,” which I made for my senior thesis at MICA! A full quality PDF version is currently available for purchase in my Ko-fi store: https://ko-fi.com/jklarts/shop
“Entombment” is an original concept art series for an action horror game where you fight as heroes on an alien planet infested with living statues. I was very excited to work on this project and bringing my world to life through characters, environment designs, and UI design. Eventually I formatted it all into a physical book to print and sell at my senior art show. While it was very challenging to draw and format everything on my own, it was very rewarding seeing it all come together successfully in the end, which is one of the greatest feelings as an artist.

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?

This is a hard one…
To start, I think one of the most important skills that was impactful in my art journey was being to multi-task in an effective way. To be specific, sometimes working on the same project for hours/ all day can eventually become boring to me, and it also becomes exhausting to look at. But, I still want to be productive in some way, so what I do is switch to something else to work on, such as working on another drawing to take a break from the drawing I was already working on. And if I’m tired of drawing or staring at my computer screen in general, then I take a stretch or phone break to reset my mind and body and I can feel refreshed for when I go back to drawing.

The second skill I feel is important to me is my persistence to continue my passions. I think being steady and patient with my passion for art has allowed me to develop my skills further with each piece I create. There’s nothing wrong with being a slow learner as long as you are passionate about what you want to learn.

Lastly, I think having the willingness to try something new is an important quality to have as an artist. Sometimes you want to break from the old and try something new with your art, and that’s good! Experimenting can be exciting, and you can end up learning something new from the experience. It can also show that your are very flexible with your art style and could be eye catching to potential hirers. I love to experiment with new styles and processes for my art because it allows me to broaden my horizons! For example, I either like to draw with line art or no line art, and sometimes I like to draw with realistic colors or more saturated and bright colors. It can all depend on the mood or style of my project! In the end, I think it’s most important for you to have fun with it!

What is the number one obstacle or challenge you are currently facing and what are you doing to try to resolve or overcome this challenge?

Currently, the number one obstacle I’m currently facing is trying to balance my work as a graduate student and my work as an artist. I recently began taking classes so I can get a masters degree, but it’s really been cutting into my drawing time, which has been upsetting me greatly. No matter how much homework I try to get done in a day, by the time I’m done I barely have time to work on any passion projects. It’s been difficult to decide how to balance between school work and art work and what to prioritize over the other. But, I have been slowly but surely trying to draw more whenever I take homework breaks and trying not to cram too much homework and studying into my entire day, otherwise I would never have time for my true passion. I’ve recently been trying to remind myself to keep pursuing what I enjoy doing the most and to not give up my goals, surely all the years I’ve spent developing my drawing skills can not be for nothing.

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Image Credits

Jennifer K Lee

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