local storiesJune 2, 2023

Meet Samuel Shin

Local Stories

Today we’d like to introduce you to Samuel Shin.

Hi, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?

Everything about me began with my admiration for comic-book superheroes (both Marvel and DC). My interest in art kicked-off from reading comics, watching cartoons and movies. A lot of it had to do with superheroes. I refer it to my “awakening.” From then on it was just non-stop. I would constantly draw characters like Spider-Man, Batman, Superman, X-Men, Green Lantern, Hulk, Fantastic 4, Wonder Woman, Captain America, Iron Man, etc. Basically everyone and anyone in Marvel and DC.

You can pretty much say that I knew from the start I would make a career out of art. While I was not exactly a hermit, I was typically indoors drawing. The older I grew older, I took it more seriously and I could not see myself working in another field. Prior to college I enrolled in after school art classes at Art Center College for the youth to try and stay ahead of the curve. Thankfully I had parents that were supportive of my interests and helped me pursue it.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
It has been a long and difficult road, but I’m extremely fortunate to say I can make a living doing what I enjoy. The unfortunate reality is that not everyone will get a job right out of college, and I certainly didn’t get my foot in the door immediately.

It took a while and I absolutely needed to get a day job in the meantime. I worked retail part-time and took upon some freelance gigs here and there, but I always dedicated an hour or two a night just refining my skills and hunting for a job. One application to another I got picked up by a couple of agencies who helped me find work as a storyboard artist for commercials and films. It was through the agencies I got to break through the barrier that is the art industry.

The workload did picked up, but I still needed to take it upon myself to look for more work as an agency has other artists in their roster, so I wasn’t going to get a job all the time. Due to the nature of the art industry and freelancing you’re always competing with everyone else looking for work so it’s on you to find it. Persistence is key.

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
As mentioned previously I worked as a commercial storyboard artist, and I have worked on commercials for Target, Allstate, a bunch of car brands like I previously mentioned, and many others. When I got started, those were the jobs that came to my plate, but the longer I stuck around I eventually graduated to music videos and film.

I got to work on music videos for country band Little Big Town and Swedish singer Lykke Li. As for film I had the privilege to work on the Ed Helms, Jon Hamm and Jeremy Renner comedy Tag released in 2018. I’ve also had the pleasure of working with Nick Cannon on his independent film She Ball. As huge fan of sharks and the film Jaws, I got to fulfill a checklist by working on a shark film that has not yet been released called Dreadnaught. As a lover comics and superheroes I also got to fulfill another checklist by working on sketch cards for Upper Deck and Marvel.

Currently, I work for the NFL as an illustrator in the social media/marketing department. I’m part of a small team of illustrators and the artwork I produce includes player portraits, plays/highlights, and conceptualized story-telling all done digitally on Photoshop. You may or may not have seen some of my work, as well as my co-workers’ paintings go up on all of NFL’s social media.

Some of my favorite paintings I got to work on involved incorporating some superhero elements involving the players. I had the fortunate task of painting Chiefs head coach Andy Reid as Thanos holding the six infinity stones with player names and jersey numbers on the stones. Another cool superhero related painting I got to produce involved some of the Eagles players such as Jalen Hurts, Jason Kelce, DeVonta Smith and A.J. Brown as Batman. Of course I couldn’t just paint the players actually wearing a Batman suit, but I took inspiration of many different iterations of the Batsuit and put an Eagles themed spin on it. The idea of that painting came from a joke the Eagles made about how their offense only has superheroes and no sidekicks. Jason Kelce in particular would wear a Batman cowl from time to time. Painting Tom Brady was also a treat, and as a fan of Brady I typically got first dibs on Brady artwork.

Can you talk to us a bit about happiness and what makes you happy?
I have two answers to this question, one regarding my profession life and one in my personal life. In my professional life, the biggest satisfaction I get is a simple thank you or some words of appreciation. Of course payment is always great, but if there is genuine expression of appreciation and gratitude, then it makes the effort and time put into a project all the more worth it. In my personal life, it is my wife. She has been through this journey with me since high school. We’ve been together for thirteen years and finally tied the knot in February of this year on our thirteenth anniversary. We both did long distance when I left for art school, and while we both definitely had a few bumps along the way, we made through it all.

Contact Information

Website: https://www.samuelshin.com/
Twitter & Instagram: smlshin
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/smlshin

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