Life & Work with Elijah Loving of Independence

Today we’d like to introduce you to Elijah Loving.

Hi Elijah, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I’m happy to say I’m an Illustrator and Comic Artist, and it’s been quite the adventure. I started doing what everyone tells you to do after High School, go to college. At my M.A. Art show, my grandfather came and took one look at my fancy abstract art and said, “These are interesting, but you should do comics.” I thought he was nuts, but as life journeyed on, I realized how the sharing of stories is an important part of our connection to our ancestors. Stories define us. After realizing that my grandfather was right, regardless of the art, I was making, and I was trying to place a story within that art. Sometimes when we’re younger, we don’t want to accept the wisdom of our mentors.

We all face challenges, but looking back, would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
As with most creatives, it has not been a smooth road. Much to the chagrin of my grade school English teachers, I struggled with reading and writing and found that I would instead show the story through images and Art. So you could say all my essays were picture books. It worked out when I was in 6th grade, I was commissioned to create and illustrate a giant book for a kindergarten group, and it was featured in the local newspaper.

However, I admit I struggled through High School, barely graduating with a school counselor telling my parents I wasn’t capable enough for college. Luckily I am blessed with parents who knew better and with my only option at the time to learn more, and I trudged through undergrad. A part of Joseph Campbell’s ‘Hero’s Journey’ that I went through was the painful realization that I had to completely re-learn how to read. It was one of my most difficult journeys but the most ‘worth it’ I embarked on.

I didn’t go to college to be an artist, and I found myself sitting in Accounting Theory Class pouring over meaningless spreadsheets, thinking, “What am I doing here?!” I walked out and declared Art as my major that day. It wasn’t until graduate school, when I fell into teaching extra classes, that I discovered that I loved not just Art but also teaching. In my past, I’ve had both the best and the worst of teachers, as you can imagine, and I wanted to add to the opportunities for all students, no matter their background. My biggest struggle through all of this has been doubting and how I have had to start overtime and again to face this struggle head-on. I’ve since taught at universities and in the professional setting, and am now wrapping up my M.F.A. and have founded my own company: Tikvah inc.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I’m always on the lookout to grow my artist skills personally. As a company, we look to grow with artists – no matter where you are on your journey, how much time you have to work with, and your location. We are always ready to empower artists with workshops and consulting. I’m looking to grow a community that is tearing down the barriers that consistently hold artists/illustrators back from drawing at that next level. I also personally do consults, workshops, comics, and commissioned art when not collaborating with art groups.

We are sitting at a very important and poignant time in history where we are re-thinking and re-shaping everything in our society. So for my company, specifically around education, we’re looking at: What is education? What is mentorship? What is entrepreneurship? —For an Artist.

We are obsessed with doing the ‘impossible,’ providing artists with authentic education and empowerment to give HOPE to artists from aspiring to professionals. This is our mission statement, but another way of saying it is how do we as artists break away from the stigma of ‘the starving artist syndrome? How can we educate ourselves, build communities, and continue in a professional avenue that allows creativity and empowerment? This includes making a business plan as an artist, budgeting our time (ROI, ROT), how we price our product in a competitive market, what contract templates we need, etc.? These are all key educational materials all artists need but are never given or explored within our current educational system.

One of the problems with the university setting is that many of the teachers are bogged down with their school obligations and committees and have very little time to pursue their professional development and experience. As a part of Tikvah inc., this was built to bridge that gap by teaching, consulting, contracting, workshops, and Comicons, but being a professional artist and all aspects of the profession, not just how to ‘make awesome art.’

Comics are where it’s at! I may have started down the comic road with my first foray into illustrating A.B. ‘Banjo’ Patterson’s “Man From Snowy River” (first-ever publishing of this poem as a comic, to my knowledge). Still, I have now created my crowdfunding platform and hosted my first successful crowdfunding project on my website: ElijahLoving.com. My current project is ‘The Last Colony,’ which I’m authoring and publishing since I love the process of putting a story together, from start to finish.

My next project that is to be released is a Roman legend, ‘Teutonic Monsters,’ which will be crowd funded in about a year.

What matters most to you? Why?
Because quality, relevant education is such a passion of mine, I’ve also founded the TikvahMinds Quarterly Magazine (TMQ), where I highlight and showcase professional illustrators and their work. We also publish a podcast with this magazine so readers can enjoy this through multiple avenues. The importance of accessibility from multiple forms of consumption as well as pulling back the curtain to the realm of professional artists and how they operate is a major component of Tikvah inc., with the core focus on 2 things:
1. Everybody – artist/entrepreneur/whoever – needs to have a focused goal: What’s your end goal? What do you envision success to look like? Where are you going?
2. Your purpose – Why is this important to you?

For me, my family is a key factor, and my ultimate purpose is to do the ‘impossible’ and show that regardless of how difficult our ‘Hero’s Journey’ is with whatever difficulties, handi-caps, whatever, we’ll come through this and we can be stronger than before. This is why story-telling is so important because it empowers us to do things that we never thought would be possible. To take risks, we never imagined.

Pricing:

• Comicbook/Commission rates upon request hello@tikvahcreative.com
• TikvahMinds +1 – 396
• TikvahMinds +1 Coaching – $796

Contact Info:

• Website: https://elijahloving.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/elijah_tikvah/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/elijah.s.loving
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/Elijah_Tikvah
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCn-T1tvCS6b5RfFhMqrAANw
• SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/user-677416738

Image Credits
THE LAST COLONY ™ and TEUTONIC MONSTERS ™ Published by Tikvah inc. 1001 Golf Ridge Dr, Lamoni, IA 50140. All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. THE LAST COLONY ™ and TEUTONIC MONSTERS ™ is a trademark of TIKVAH INC. All rights reserved. “Tikvah Comics” and its Logo” are ™ and © 2021 Tikvah inc. All rights reserved. All names, characters events, and locales in this production are entirely fictional. Any resemblance to actual persons (living or dead), events, or places, without satiric intent, is coincidental. No portion of this book may be reproduced by any means (digital or print) without the written permission of Tikvah inc. except for review purposes. Printed in the USA