Meet William Black | Freelance Artist / Professional Draw-Stuff-Guy

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

Hi William, do you disagree with some advice that is more or less universally accepted?
That you have to “earn” your way or “pay your dues.”

Anytime that is mentioned, anything about “paying your dues,” I’ve found it’s just a way to force you to devalue yourself. Ironically the same folks that’ll tell you that you have to grind and pay your dues will paradoxically say “know your worth,” even though those two things are at odds.

You may not know your value yet, you may not know the industry yet, but if you approach any dream that you aren’t worth it already, folks will take advantage. As an artist every opportunity where you are paid in “exposure” or they say they’ll pay you a little now, but more down the road, is a scam. When you do feel like you’ve moved up and deserve more, those same people will ghost you and find a new up-and-comer and convince them it’s all part of “paying their dues.”

Don’t buy into it. If you’re going to dream big, you need at a least a little ego.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
Art is a weird gig, because most folks don’t actually know any full-time artists. I have friends and family in just about every conceivable industry in the world, but outside of folks I’ve met as a professional artist, I’ve never met one just out in the wild.

I lucked into this as a job. After nine years in the Army I was in college. On a whim I bought Photoshop, watched some YouTube videos to figure out how to translate traditional skills to digital, and started a roughly five-year period of trial-and-error, trying to find my own way into making this a full-time profession.

The biggest challenge with illustration as a career, particularly commercial illustration, is that the entire market has a massive gulf between the lowest paying jobs and the highest paying. So if you aren’t consistently working with very large clients then the amount of money you can make is difficult to live off of.

I’ve somehow —and I truly don’t know how— managed to find a rarified middle-ground. I have a bunch of clients I work with regularly, many of whom, like me, are people starting their own businesses (writers who need book covers, game designers, etc), and we’ve built up a level of trust.

If I had to guess what has made me as successful as I am, that being able to survive comfortably as a guy who just draws stuff, it’s that I don’t approach any of this as a brand or business. I am just a guy named Black who will draw stuff for you. And that seems to attract the kind of clients who keep coming back.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Favorite spots in the city…

Okay, and here’s where this endevour falls off the wheels.

I live in Greene County, Indiana. It’s beyond rural. I don’t even live in a town. I’m so far out in the boondocks that Uber and Lyft practically laugh at me when I enter my address.

Local sites I might take someone to see would be the inexplicable cemetery that defies all logic, the creepy manor that was built before America was even a county (kinda odd, considering this is Indiana and not the East Coast), or maybe just a drive through the hollow until they realized it all kinda resembles the opening to a horror film.

Luckily for me, I’m a hermit. I’ve got my dog, a half-decent internet connection, and if I do need to see some semblance of civilization, I’m the friend that visits others and asks about their favorite spots. Because, and I cannot stress this enough, I live in a place bereft of anything one might call a spot.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
There is no way I could shoutout just one person, I’d have to give love to my entire family.

I started being “that kid who draws good” when I was five. And for the next 37 years, no matter what twists and turns my life took, no matter how low I got, not a single member of my family ever said “you should give up and get a REAL job.”

I started being a full-time artist in 2011, a year where I earned barely $10,000. I had to have my brother help me with bills and my folks helped me get a new (well… refurbished) laptop when mine fried out. I’ve gone months with no work, I’ve runs of bad luck with clients stiffing me on payment. At no point did anyone in my entire family tell me to give up. Every last one of them encouraged me and told me to keep going.

From my late grandfather paying to send me to summer art camps to my great-uncle introducing me to a burn-out, hippie oil painter, to my little brother exaggerating (honestly… he straight up lied) about my experience to an acquaintance to get me a job; my family has stuck by me for my whole life pursuing this passion and for the last 13 years building this business.

Website: https://BlackDrawsStuff.com

Instagram: @blackdrawsstuff

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/william-black-18a354197