Today we’d like to introduce you to Arie Monroe.
Hi Arie, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
I was born and raised in Kansas City MO. Growing up, I loved to draw and when I was 11, I decided I was going to be an artist for a living. My biggest influence at the time was Disney and TMNT. I loved cartoons and I loved drawing cartoons.
In high school, I attended Paseo High school which was a magnet school with a focus on the arts. Then I attended UMKC where I studied studio art and art history. During that time, I spent my summers drawing caricatures for Kaman’s Art shoppes cause I had read it was a great way to improve as an artist.
I later became a part of the CCN (Comic Creators Network) based in Kansas City where I met lots of comic book artists and started attending my first comic book conventions. It was through them that my love for comics and manga began to grow cause I was collecting lots of graphic novels as well as learning how they were created. I then learned about the Joe Kubert school and I wanted to attend so that I could focus on studying comics and animation. There were not a lot of art programs that offered this at the time.
I attended the Joe Kubert school In New Jersey for two years and then got a job at Mada Design. It was my first job as an illustrator in a design firm and it was there that I learned how to work of a client and was able to apply my schooling to what was now real-world experience. While there, I worked on projects for many companies including Nickelodeon, Topps, Dreamworks and Crayola. I drew coloring books and children’s books and designed characters for advertising books and packaging. I really loved it.
Unfortunately, Mada Design is no longer around. From there, I went to live in LA where I studied animation under a mentor and worked for Warner Brothers as a freelance character clean up artist and Universal studios as a caricature artist. I really loved my time there and I learned a lot but my mother was very ill so I moved back to Kansas City to help with her care as she struggled with cancer and I started my own caricature business called Drawlikecrazy Studios where I did parties and events for people as a live artist as well as did freelance illustration at night. I also continued drawing my own self-published comic called Tornado Alley.
After my mother’s passing, I continued to run my business and work on my own stories as well as involve myself in the art community here in Kansas City.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
Of course, it has not been a smooth road. I am often faced with people that doubt my abilities as an artist as well as being told no to jobs I wanted and worked hard to apply for. I struggled with being an African American Woman wanting to be an artist and not looking the part on a regular basis. This is why I decided to start Drawlikecrazy Studios LLC. And see where I could take myself in this world on my own terms. Let’s say I am very happy with my decision.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
One of my biggest struggles as an artist has been my struggle with my own personal self-esteem. Not feeling like I was good enough because of the amount of rejection you may face in this industry. That is why I am very proud of my business and my freelance work. There was a time when I wanted to quit and go work fast food, and now my work is being featured at the Nelson Atkins Museum and I have also had the opportunity to be published in multiple books featuring my own personal work and not just work I did for another company. I think what sets my personal work apart is that I specialize in drawing stories about being an African American woman just trying to live a “normal” happy life and enjoy life to the fullest. There are lots of varieties of comics out there but the most unique ones are those that capture true artistic self-expression and real human stories, in my opinion.
Alright so before we go can you talk to us a bit about how people can work with you, collaborate with you or support you?
If anyone is interested in working with me in any way they can just contact me through my websites. http://www.Drawlikecrazy.net. Or come out and see me at the Planet Comic Con Convention in august and get a picture drawn.
Contact Info:
- Email: [email protected]
- Website: http://www.drawlikecrazy.net
- Instagram: Arie Monroe
- Facebook: drawlikecrazy
- Youtube: Arie Monrow
- Other: http://www.Ariemonroeart.com
