Featured Illustrator

We are absolutely thrilled to feature Matt Schu as this month's Featured Illustrator! His creativity, energy, and unique blend of traditional and digital illustration shine through in every piece.

1. How did you get started in Illustration? 

I always enjoyed drawing, and when I was a teenager I made illustrations for the school paper. That’s probably the first stuff I did that I would consider “illustration.” Then I did more of that sort of thing in college for the school paper and a few campus magazines as I got more serious about drawing professionally. After college I started working as a graphic designer, doing illustration work on the side, but soon figured out I’d rather put all my energy into drawing. At the same time I rediscovered picture books, and decided that was the kind of work I wanted to make. 

2. What is your background? 

I grew up in Portland, and have lots of family here in the Pacific Northwest. I was always into comics and cartoons, so those were a big influence on what I liked to draw. And my uncle Mike Brophy is an oil painter, so because I grew up seeing his art and talking to him I know he’s had a significant effect on me too. I didn’t grow up planning to make art professionally, but he gave me an example of how a person could do it. I think it’s important to meet people doing things related to what you’d like to do. It fills me with a lot of energy talking people who are really good at art. 

3. What have you learned along the way? What tips can you share? 

That’s hard for me to summarize, I feel like I’m still learning a lot myself. One tip I can offer is that the surface you draw or paint on is probably the most important factor in how good the final work is. Using the right surface (good paper, good canvas, etc.) makes a huge difference. But otherwise I think my best general advice is that you need to learn on the job. Doing the thing you want to do is what helps you to learn how to do it. I love to research, learning about artists and techniques. But sooner or later I need to make myself just do something and stop wasting my energy on hypotheticals. 

4. What is your preferred medium and method of working? 

What I like the best is ink and watercolor on paper. If I had my way that’s all I’d do. But in the interest of flexibility for client work, sometimes it just isn’t practical for me. So I often use a mix of traditional and digital art. For example, I’ll make part of the piece with ink on paper before scanning it to add color and finish it on the computer. That gives me the ability to edit more easily and make a series of drawings all match in terms of aesthetics. But if I’m free to just find a drawing as I go along and fully embrace accidents, I always prefer to make work on paper. Having said that, I do also like working in that traditional/digital hybrid method. When I go back and forth I really appreciate the strengths of both. 

5. How did your style and technique develop? 

Ink on paper was the starting point, but I’ve had to make plenty of adjustments to my technique over the years. Sometimes a way of working is great when I’m just making something for myself, and other times that same method isn’t the best for going back and forth with a client. This isn’t to say it’s a negative thing, because those limitations make me find new ways of working that are way better than what I was doing before and that’s very exciting. This is also related to learning on the job. When the work is “for real” you’re forced to figure something out. 

6. What do you do when you get stuck or lose motivation to get back to what you’re working on? 

Personally, I just set the project aside for a little while and work on something else. In any long project, there’s always a point where I lose motivation. It’s inevitable. I think an important thing is not to stop making things entirely just because you think you “should” finish the thing you’re working on. The key though is to be ready to get back to work when you find yourself having new ideas again. Knowing what’s important to finish and what can be set aside helps me finish the projects that are important because I know their value. But of course, when you’re on a deadline you have to work whether you’re inspired or not. That situation has shown me that you can find inspiration as you work.

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