Today we’d like to introduce you to Chaz Kemp.
Hi Chaz, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
My career in art began several years ago while working for a medical company doing shipping and receiving. My boss became my mentor and it was he that encouraged me to attend Art Institute. After working for various companies and becoming more and more frustrated with the system, I decided to become a freelance illustrator. I have never looked back nor have I ever regretted my decision! Having control over my own destiny has made me incredibly happy and fulfilled.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Going into business for myself has not been a smooth road at all. It’s always a struggle when you make sacrifices to live the life of your dreams. I have lost relationships because I wasn’t making a lot of money in the early years and I lost friendships as well. There have been a TON of rejections with people telling me that my art wasn’t good enough, or that it wasn’t the right ‘style’ for their projects or that it simply wasn’t marketable enough. (Loosely translated to mean, ‘we don’t think your style will make us enough money.’)
All of that being said, there have been a lot of awesome things that have happened because of being freelance. I would not have met my wife had I not been self-employed. I’ve had occasion and motivation to take classes in business, branding and marketing as well as additional art classes. I’ve had many amazing clients and I haven’t had to hustle for gigs in seven years. I’ve won several awards and I’ve been Artist Guest of Honor at many sci-fi/fantasy conventions. I’m now the Art Director for a small publishing company called Mobius Worlds Publishing and I’m working on a couple of personal projects that I’m very excited about.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I specialize in fantasy, cyberpunk and steampunk illustrations. I’m pretty well known for having a very unique style that doesn’t really fit the mold of what many consider to be popular. (And I love that!)
To date, I’m most proud of the Ashelon Oracle deck! It’s like a tarot deck but it’s our own system. Since it came out 5 years ago, we’ve sold close to 800 decks – which is amazing to me. I am both stunned and incredibly grateful. Every time someone is excited to buy the deck, it’s validation that there are a lot of people that love my art. In fact, we just sold a deck to someone in Switzerland a few days ago and I couldn’t be more thrilled.
As to what sets me apart from others – I believe it’s because I don’t want to conform to what the industry demands of us. If everyone else is going left, I want to go right. The big publishing companies want everyone to paint like Boris Vallejo or Frank Frazetta and I see a ton of artists trying to do just that. I hate that and if that means that I’ll never be ‘big time’ then so be it. I would rather be myself.
Can you talk to us about how you think about risk?
I took a gigantic risk when I decided to go freelance. I didn’t have savings and I had zero clients. All I had was the support of my family, a few really good friends and a belief in myself. Other people had done it so why could I? I truly felt like I was jumping off of a cliff with no parachute and with no idea of where the ground was.
It was super scary and I absolutely could not have succeeded without the help of my family and my friends. They believed in me and I knew that they had my back.
I believe that everything we truly want is on the other side of fear. I desperately wanted to live the life of my dreams, so it made perfect sense to me that I would have to risk everything in order to have that kind of life. I’m living that dream and it was absolutely worth the risk.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.chazkemp.com
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/chaz.kemp
- Other: https://www.etsy.com/shop/AshelonPublishing
Image Credits
All images created by Chaz Kemp
