Meet Janky Dood | Artist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Janky Dood and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Janky, what led you to pursuing a creative path professionally?
I’ve been creating art (specifically drawing) since I could hold a pencil. It’s always come naturally to me. However, in my late teens I started to fall into the trap of practicality and began ignoring my creativity. Two years into a science major, I realized it was not right for me and I switched into art. Art isn’t something I just want to pursue.. It is a need.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
Janky Dood is a character I’ve created, but she is also me. Most of my drawings are “self-portraits”, and I would say some of the other characters that pop up in my work are also facets of myself.

I’m pretty proud of the fact that I’ve remained authentic in my work. In college (which was well before Janky Dood) I had some professors that didn’t like the cartoon nature of my work. It took me a while, but once I accepted and discovered my personal art style, things slowly started falling into place.

What allowed me to get to where I am today was covid and being out of work. I was living in Australia working at a cafe when covid happened. I lost my job but luckily was able to stay somewhere for free in rural Australia for what turned out to be… 5 months! However, during that time I was able to create tons of drawings and build my website. I stayed until my visa expired and then had to fly home to Chicago. After getting rejected to 100+ jobs, I decided to pack up my car with the few items I owned and $1500 to my name and headed to Los Angeles with no job. I quickly found a part time gig that I did while juggling my art. It was a grind, but eventually I decided to take a risk on my art and I haven’t looked back since.

Some things I continually practice to make this all possible are patience, persistence, and a high tolerance for discomfort. For all the things going right, there are probably things going wrong too. It’s just part of the package, and that’s okay! You just have to keep going.

I’m excited to keep growing Janky Dood and sharing my art with the world. It feels so cool to see others enjoying and connecting with it.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
One of the things I love about LA is that both the mountains and the beach are so close. We would for sure go hiking- one that I’ve frequented a lot is Mountaingate. And then right down the street from Mountaingate is the Getty Museum. The art there is great, but I personally love to go up there to get a coffee and sit in the gardens. Another place we would go is Malibu- specifically Point Dume because my favorite Latin American food place is there. Lily’s has the best burritos and hot sauce! We would of course need to eat our burritos on the beach, so we would then head to Zuma.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
My mom is my biggest supporter. Ironically when I was going to college and chose the more “practical” major of dietetics, my mom was the one suggesting I study art. The path I’ve chosen is quite unconventional, and I’ve gotten several comments asking, “What do your parents think about that…” And to be honest, my parents could not be more supportive in what I’m doing.

Website: https://www.jankydood.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/janky_dood/