Meet Jonathan Grimm | Professional Freelance Illustrator

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

Hi Jonathan, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
Freedom and happiness. I’ve always wanted to be an artist, but I also have depression and anxiety issues, which I allowed to stop me from trying for years. Finally one day I had enough and knew I needed to make a change in my life if I was to have a chance at being happy, so I dug my heels in and got started. It’s by far the hardest thing I’ve ever done, but also the best.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I tend to specialize in horror and fantasy art, with a style more reminiscent of the 50s and 70s horror comics artists. Wrightson, Wood, Davies, etc. I work almost exclusively in ink, with brush an pen. Old issues of Creepy and Eerie magazine and classic EC comics are easily my biggest influence, especially the old black and white Warren publishing mags. They would put out a more anthology style magazine, so artists weren’t pushed to complete 22+ pages a month like standard super hero comics, so they could truly create full pages of master level art into each story they told. I got where I am through single minded stubbornness hahaha. I’m naturally obsessive, so I’ve learned to turn that to my advantage with art, sometimes to the detriment of my relationships and health. There are many weeks that will go by where all I do is draw, all day. Not just to meet deadlines or to work on my own projects, but just for the pure joy of improving my craft.
The most important lessons I can pass on to aspiring artists is first, practice. Then practice more. If you’re not trying to get better, there’s really no point to this. Even if you’re already a pro. Second, diversify. If you want to be a comic book artist, that’s great, but the chances of you making a living off just that are slim, especially for the first few years. Find other avenues to make money. When comics are slow, you can do album covers and shirt designs for bands, beer can labels for breweries, skateboard art, RPG book art (or whatever works for you, that’s just what I do) And third, make time for YOUR art. Making things for other people is great, and I love it, but my focus is always what am I doing to further my “brand and IP” I hate those terms, but there’s not a ton of future in making other people money. So I spend as much time as I can on my next tarot deck, my t-shirt shop, coloring books, prints, etc… Things that I own.

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?
Hah, well my best friend is actually an artist as well (GoofGore, make sure to check her stuff out!) and when she visits we tend to grab some pizza (this is Chicago, after all) and spend most of our time watching old horror movies and drawing. Best time ever, in my opinion.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
Oh, I think everyone deserves more credit for this than I do. From the support of my parents and friends, to amazingly kind and generous fans I’ve accumulated over the years. Not to mention all the insanely talented artists I’ve met doing this. Creativity doesn’t happen in a vacuum, so their insight and support means everything.

Website: jonathangrimmart.com

Instagram: @jonathangrimmart

Facebook: facebook.com/jonathangrimmart

Other: shop: ko-fi/jonathangrimmart merch: grimm-5.creator-spring.com