I would say my style is a more naïve or "low brow" take on things rather than refined and classical. I just find an almost crude, childlike style to be much more interesting than a more academically correct piece. For instance, when I'm drawing perspective, I'm really not concerned about getting it absolutely correct. It's more interesting to me if it's a little screwed up and wonky. Same with my line work...I don't mind little mistakes and errors. I want my drawings to feel effortless and hand crafted even though the final piece may be finished in Photoshop or sometimes Illustrator. Flat color against dark line work is my favorite because it allows the drawing to be the most important element.

When I'm starting a piece, the best thing for me is to somehow lose my conscious mind. I'm much better if I turn the brain off and forget about what I'm trying to accomplish at first. I'll work on my concept sketches in an environment where there are distractions...a busy Starbucks or diner, watching TV or listening to NPR...something like that. Actually, it's really great if I can go to a lecture or some really boring city council meeting and sit in the back. Heaven!

I carry around my sketchbook and draw anything that comes to mind whether it's relevant to the project at hand or not. Whatever comes out will come to good use eventually. Anyway, the best beginnings come from not really forcing it, which I think goes without saying for most artists.

Some little drawing from my sketchbook, or from the back of a random piece of paper that will haunt me for a while. I'll wake up in bed thinking of it or I'll be in the shower and it's there. That's when I know I have to go back to it and finish it. I'm finding that to be the case more and more...I draw so much stuff that there's no way I can finish everything right away, so I've got reams of paper stashed here and there with no finish in sight...yet. Then one day, I'm frantically searching for it so I can paint it. Having said that, the final choice can be based on something as simple as "I like that drawing...it makes me smile" or it can be more motivated from some social or political commentary rattling around in my head that needs to get out.

Sometimes I'll have a really clear image of how I want the finished piece to look and I'll get right to it...painting it up or scanning it and manipulating it in the computer. Other times a sketch will sit around for months with no end until one day I'll pick it up and finish it. Sometimes I wish I had more control over this process, but that would go against what I've found to work for me, right?

I grew up in the rural South, which I hated at the time, but as I developed as an artist all of that background crept out in my art and I'm so grateful for that. All of those hours sulking that "there's nothing to do here" paid off because I spent so many hours drawing or just observing the world around me.   Old barns, farm animals, small town lifestyles, the plight of the working poor...all of that goes into my work whether it's the actual subject matter of the piece or just simmering beneath the surface in my own mind.

I try to stay open to different mediums, but I have to say my very favorite is plain old pen and paper. I can really lose myself in those simple materials. And I like using a pen instead of pencil, because it forces me to make clear choices that I can't go back on. If I make a mistake, so be it. It's now part of the piece! (Well, if it's a big, ugly mistake, I'll start over!)

Having said that, to finish a piece, I'll either scan it and paint it in Photoshop or I'll paint it up in acrylic on some paper. There's this paper I like to use that can take a beating quite well. I'll paint it with acrylic and then sand it down and paint it up again over and over and it still holds up. In fact, after a few layers, the paper takes on this great, leathery quality...almost indestructible. The sanding is my favorite part because I like the unknown quality of which paint layers will come through. I try not to calculate too much when I'm painting and sanding for that reason. Accidents are the best part!

Regular people in everyday life inspire my subject matter, as well as animals. Some are inspired from people I've known or seen before, but I hardly ever have someone model for me. I'll only do that if I'm working on a piece in which I want the pose to be a little less "flat" and more believable and correct. Many times it's just getting out into the day-to-day and seeing people interact with each other and that relationship or maybe the person I saw days and days ago will show up n the page...slightly altered due to my selective memory.   99% are made up in my head.

I work from home, so my two cats inspire me - oh my gosh, I sound like some crazy "cat lady" holed up in her house! And I feel that way sometimes, so it's important to get out and about and observe what's going on around me. That's hard for me at times, because there's always so much to be done in my studio...it's tough for me to remember that going out for an afternoon to sit and sketch is work too!

Other inspirations affect the final pieces: old quilts, folk art, old graphic posters (like the Hatch Show prints, signage (the older the better, the more crudely painted, better), stitched samplers, old ABC flashcards.   My style definitely draws from my love for folk art and objects that are worn, broken or defective. I'm one of those people who cannot pass up an old antique toy gathering rust or missing a limb!

As for inspirational artists....Ben Shahn, Charley Harper, Mark Ulriksen, the Clayton Brothers (Rob and Christian), the artists who pioneered the old Hatch Show prints, Calef Brown, Laura Levine, Souther Salazar, Walton Ford, Mark Todd, Esther Pearl Watson...Oh, the list goes on...

I've drawn for as long as I can remember. Our family would go on these 3 week car/camping excursions and I would just spend the whole time with my head down drawing.   I started as an art major at East Carolina University waaaay back in the mid-80's, right out of high school, but got interested in theatre production about halfway through and changed my major so that I could work with and study under the production designer there. He was (and still is) one of the most talented and inspiring people in my life.

Animation came first for me, but not from an artistic standpoint. I came to Los Angeles in need of a job, so I took a production assistant position at Disney. It was meant to be just a year, but I really enjoyed the commeradarie of working in that environment with some of the best artists in the industry. Plus it was nice to be making decent money in my early 20's.

It led to ten to twelve years of management positions, and I woke up one day really mourning the loss of drawing, painting and making art.    So, I ditched my job, went back to art school, and started over. I felt it was important to go back to school as a way of quickly re-immersing myself in art and having a chance to learn again. I had been away from making art for so long, that I wanted go back to basics and get the foundation first. I wanted to be broken down and built up again. I think that's exactly what happened. There's no way I'd be the artist I am today without having gone back to school. And am still developing! I'm really still very much a rookie at this and still bumping around in the dark, feeling my way.

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All artwork for this article is the property of
Sue Blanchard.