Today we’d like to introduce you to Erin Thompson.
Erin, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I’ve been drawing for as long as I can remember, but I don’t think I ever considered it a viable career until I was in my last year of high school. At the same time, I didn’t really consider anything else? Art is just something I’ve always done and it made sense to keep pursuing it. I’m extremely lucky that my parents were supportive. We couldn’t afford a private art school like CalArts, so I looked to public colleges. CSU Long Beach had a really good BFA program and it was the perfect distance away from the hometown, so I applied. I got in and have been in Long Beach ever since, barring needing to move back due to current circumstances.
Really, I don’t really think I did anything special besides just deciding to pursue something I loved to do, even though I knew things would be uncertain. I’m taking a chance and seeing where it goes and so far, it’s been going pretty well.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Like I said in the previous section, things have been going pretty well. I struggle a lot with depression and that, of course, has made things rocky. I still have a hard time having enough energy to do things for myself most days. I’ve just been focusing on school and taking things a day at a time, or I’ll get overwhelmed. I think whether or not the road remains smooth depends on a mixture of luck and my attitude.
We’d love to hear more about your work and what you are currently focused on. What else should we know?
I draw and paint both digitally and traditionally. If pressed to describe my art, people usually mention expressive linework, bold shading, and an emphasis on texture. I’d consider my specialty to figure drawing and facial expressions. I like to design characters as well, usually for story ideas that I haven’t done anything with yet. I would love to write and draw a comic someday. Hopefully, someday soon, haha.
I don’t really like to think of myself as offering anything particularly unique besides just being myself, y’know? I draw what I’m interested in and I try to have fun while doing it and I think that’s really what matters. People take notice of that.
If you had to go back in time and start over, would you have done anything differently?
G-d, I would probably have worked so much harder on my fundamentals back when I was younger – give myself a headstart. I would also have drawn so much more. Honestly, I should’ve made an actual plan about where I wanted to be in the future. It’s the future now and I still don’t know!
So yeah, more practice, more planning, more effort. The good thing is that it’s never too late to start on any of those.
For a less serious answer, I should’ve listened to My Chemical Romance way earlier than I did.
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