Today we’d like to introduce you to Lauren Brown.
Hi Lauren, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
I’ve loved art ever since I was young. My parents encouraged this habit and enrolled me in animation and other arts classes, which is where I first fell in love with animation as a medium. That, combined with absorbing all of the cartoons, anime, and video games I could get my hands on, made me want to be an animator when I grew up. Flash forward to a freshly graduated student from Savannah College of Art and Design with an MFA in Illustration. I opted to stay in Savannah to work on my portfolio, and I suddenly got an email from a Background Director at a studio called Floyd County Productions. I took an art test, visited the studio during Dragon*Con, and found myself hired as a Background Artist on FX’s Unsupervised. With my locs freshly started, I also started my full-time studio art career.
After five years, I moved to Austin, TX to start working in the games industry as a Lead Environment Artist at Electronic Arts. During this move, I noticed that I didn’t often see faces that looked like mine, even though there were many artists who looked like me who wanted to break into the industry. In order to promote change and create a safer, more inclusive work environment, I co-led an Employee Resource Group called BEAT! (Black EA Team) that actively promoted Black workers in gaming and also more inclusive Black representation in the games we created. This experience was rewarding (and exhausting), and I resolved to continue to be an advocate no matter which studio I worked for. Since then, I have done various panels, talks, workshops, mentorships and won awards for my work in making this industry more inclusive and equitable. As a part of this work, me and two amazing co-hosts, Mia Araujo and Eric Wilkerson, started a podcast called Painted in Color, which is an art podcast dedicated to representing and supporting marginalized artists. I am currently an Art Director at Wizards of the Coast, working on Magic the Gathering; a game I started playing back in my days at SCAD.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
The road was certainly an unexpected one with a lot of bumps on the way! My first obstacle was finding my own voice in an industry where I didn’t see many people who looked like me. My instinct was to keep my head down and not make any waves after I witnessed many outspoken women being slowly pushed out of the studios they worked for. Once I moved into the gaming industry, my manager told me that he found little ol’ me ‘intimidating’. I took that to heart and allowed myself to BE intimidating if that was going to be his perception of me. I stopped being quiet and started using my voice as a means to promote change, ask hard questions, and not allow my team or studio to continue to use the same default means of designing characters, creating backstories, and hiring talent. It certainly was not done without detractors, but the majority of people responded well and wanted to actively do better at being an ally. But this work was exhausting because not only was I doing my core job functions, but I was also taking on a lot of extra emotional and mental labor, educating my coworkers and being hyper-aware of my Blackness. I also have always prepared for an industry that wouldn’t always be stable. Last year, I was suddenly unemployed a day before I moved back to Atlanta and had to do a lot of quick thinking in order to land on my feet. Impostor syndrome, self-doubt, and fear have been constant companions. I’m trying not to let any of them prevent me from doing what I need to do to make my voice heard.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I have always done personal art, freelance, online sales, and conventions outside of my full-time studio work. I can’t recommend this lifestyle to anyone because burnout is a real thing. But I am proud of all the things I’ve been able to create and maintain. My personal work is all about human connection with nature and finding metaphor and whimsy through that connection. Finding my artistic voice after college was huge, and getting amazing jobs from clients who actively wanted to showcase diverse characters BECAUSE of that voice was very rewarding. Most recently, I completed two board games and experienced the reception to the physical copies at GenCon, which is a tabletop gaming convention. Seeing the joy that art can bring people is a feeling like no other, especially when you have worked so hard to bring it to life.
Have you learned any interesting or important lessons due to the Covid-19 Crisis?
I learned how to protect my own peace. The Covid shutdown was a lesson in not allowing anxiety to rule me, nor to let work take over my life. I learned a LOT about work-life balance during those years. Separating myself from my workspace when work is done with a physical barrier. Going out on walks and taking care of my physical health. Allowing myself to rest and meditate and unpacking all of my negative self-talk through therapy. Those were hard years, but I experienced a lot of growth. It was the realization of exactly how precious and fleeting life was that really made me desperate to properly live it.
Contact Info:
- Website: http://labillustration.com
- Instagram: http://instagram.com/labillustration
- Facebook: http://facebook.com/labillustration
- Linkedin: http://linkedin.com/in/labillustration
- Twitter: http://twitter.com/labillustration
- Youtube: http://youtube.com/c/paintedincolor
