Today we’d like to introduce you to Gray Holloway.
Gray, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
My art story started after college, several months after graduation, I found out that I didn’t have passion for the degree I went to school for. I was a bit lost in what I wanted to do, so just got a job working night shifts at a hotel. While there a friend of mine introduced me to a small media company looking for artists to draw their comic, I had no experience drawing a comic before but I was a fine artist throughout my entire childhood and it has always been my passion. I joined and stayed there for over eight months and made several connections to different artists, writers, photographers, and many other students of their craft. One day we found out about a local comic convention being held in Longwood called ignition. For this event, I was told that the most popular thing to draw was fanart, comicbook characters, anime, cartoons, etc. I never heard of any conventions besides San Diego comic con and I had drawn superheroes before but never to sell. I was always worried about selling my art because I never thought it was good enough. I kept up with a lot of the comic book greats like Jim lee, J.Scott Campbell and Micheal Turner.
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I thought my art was not on their level. But I wanted to try so, days before the convention. I drew a few of my favorite characters, Vegeta, Mewtwo, Venom, Iron Giant, Superman, Ninja Turtles, Samurai Jack, and Wonder Woman. Even after all the work done, I was still doubtful anyone would buy my art. But during the show not just one but several people bought my venom. It was a surreal moment seeing people walk around the convention holding my artwork. My world began to open after that, once I saw what was possible I knew I wanted to pursue it. Several months later, I began my first art show solo, it was the first time I had gone to a show as just myself. All that I had for my display were two frame stands with one print per stand and a portfolio with less than ten different prints inside. With the lowest of expectations, I assumed that I would walk away with no sales, I was wrong. I didn’t walk away with a lot but it wasn’t zero, and I made several connections with other artists who were so friendly and wanted to help me. After that first show, I was invited to a weekly artist meet called sketch up. It was unlike anything I had ever experienced. Several local artists, all with different talents, meeting up at one spot in Orlando just to draw. I was lucky to find a place like this.
Out of all the artists, there was one who was held in high regard. She was the one everyone seemed to gravitate towards, everyone wanted her advice on what they were working on. I had spoken to several artists about what my next step was to doing art shows, where do I go? What materials should I get? All the artists said that she was the one to talk to, so they gave me her card and said to contact her, so I did. I simply said I wanted to start doing art shows and I was told to speak to you about that. She offered to meet me at the nearest Starbucks later that week. She never met me before, had no idea who I was, my background, I was a complete blank slate to her, she did have to meet me, should could have said no or never answered me at all. But she still walked through those doors, and sat right in front of me, and give me all the advice I needed to hear. She gave me several checkpoints to hit, told me what I needed to focus on, what materials I need to get, where to get prints, and where to start looking for shows. My mind was completely overwhelmed, I still don’t believe I was able to process the entire conversation. But what I was given was more than enough because fast forward five years later, I participated in several comic conventions, art shows, gallery shows, co-director of a convention, a tattoo internship, a live art competition, a wall mural, etc. And now, I am a freelance illustrator with plans to create my own comic, work for a comic company, and eventually become a full-time artist.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
It definitely wasn’t smooth. I was never the best with my finances coming in, so I ran into several issues with overspending. I didn’t understand how to prioritize my art along with living needs and bills as an artist.
I had to deal with companies using my art without my permission on a flyer.
One of my worst experiences, being scammed. I was emailed for a pop gallery at Art Basel. If I didn’t catch on to the scam in time, I would have shown up to an empty baseball field.
I’ve attended several shows where I was not prepared for the outside conditions and my materials were damaged or destroyed because of it.
I had to deal with and distance myself from several negative people in the art community.
Struggled with the mentality of making art for yourself vs. for the community.
The pandemic was a huge hit to all artists who relied on going to conventions for profit. Like me several artists had to adapt to selling and promoting their art from the safety of their homes.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
A lot of my most recent art is digital but I specialize in digital and traditional fan art. I think I’m known for my detail, colors, and lighting. I’m most proud of how far my lighting has come, it’s something I really try to focus on a lot. I think what sets me apart from others, if anything, is the way I draw my illustrations. I try to always have the characters in motion. There aren’t too many static poses in my illustrations. Plus, I always try to keep the illustration accurate to the character and what they would do.
Can you talk to us a bit about the role of luck?
Working in customer service has helped me tremendously in my art career. The experience of just talking to several people throughout the day for five years. has helped me become more communicative and personable to people at conventions. Before my job, I had a hard time with public speaking, I was a very shy person and I didn’t know how to communicate with people in general. Working front desk and a call center helped me.
Contact Info:
- Email: grayhollow707@gmail.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/grandmastagray/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Grandmastagray/
- Twitter: https://mobile.twitter.com/grandmastagray
Image Credits
All illustrations were done digitally by Gray’s Artwork.
