Artist Spotlight w/ Joe Anderson
Nov 22, 2022
First, can you tell us a bit about yourself?
I’m an illustrator (and designer, and budding animator) who lives on a small island in the Pacific Northwest. When not harvesting vegetables, navigating off-trail explorations with my lovely wife, or removing sticks from our two very large cats (they love the outdoors, too), I’m making art.
Travel, nature, experimentation, questioning everything, and steering toward harmony, kindness, and mastery are a few guiding themes that illuminate my experience on this rapidly changing globe.
There are a number of prestigious publications I’d like to be in (did you hear that New York Times?), but honestly working with nice people who are really good at what they do are my dream clients, particularly if their efforts are pointing toward making our world a little less dysfunctional.
Can you tell us about your experience and the role you are primarily filling?
My creative pursuits are mostly centered on editorial illustration – stories come in (a surprising diversity of content!), I provide 3-10 sketches, the final sketch gets approved, and on to the final art. I’m used to tight deadlines – I’ve had sketches due in an hour and final art due in four.
When not under deadline, I’m constantly making personal work, partially to further my craft, but more accurately, it’s an itch that needs to be scratched. Recently, I completed an intense After Effects course through School of Motion and my wheels are now turning toward motion design.
If you could speak directly to the resourcing gods and powers that be, what would be your ideal project?
Still waiting for that email to come in from The New York Times. That’s one of the remaining feathers in the cap for me, as far as editorial goes. Other than that, I’d love to branch into new territory, particularly working with animators, if not animating myself. I recently completed a mural for Warby Parker’s new store that opened in my state. I was thrilled to work on such a large-scale project. Oh, and books! I’d love to illustrate for books.
Do you have any dream clients?
There are a number of prestigious publications I’d like to be in (did you hear that New York Times?), but honestly working with nice people who are really good at what they do are my dream clients, particularly if their efforts are pointing toward making our world a little less dysfunctional. Lastly, do you have any memorable stories, life lessons, or tall tales you can share from your adventures as a freelancer?
Lastly, do you have any memorable stories, life lessons, or tall tales you can share from your adventures as a freelancer?
Yeah, copy and pasting promo emails and forgetting to change the name. Don’t do that. I’ve sent a couple of very embarrassing emails addressed to the wrong name - not a good impression.
Oh, and that one-hour/four-hour deadline I mentioned above was for a client in the UK (eight-hour time difference). Sometimes we forego sleep as freelancers, but I don’t recommend that as a sustainable thing – sleep is our superpower!
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