Artist Beautifully Illustrates Overcoming Relatable Life Challenges (68 Pics)

Bored Panda reached out to Jeremy, who told more about his background: “I grew up at Bondi Beach in Sydney, Australia, completed an Architecture degree from Sydney University, and while still at Uni, I drew editorial cartoons for the Sydney Morning Herald, one of Australia’s great newspapers. That started my lifelong love of drawing comics.”

He continued: “I then moved to New York, where my creative partner and inspiration, Megan Mair, and we set up Studio Jeremyville.

We are based in New York now, with clients on our team like The New York Times, Apple, Adidas, The Brooklyn Museum, Colette, Lululemon, Boss, Lacoste.”

Jeremy also shared what initially drew him to the world of cartooning and artistry.

“My aim has always been to use art as a way to find answers for my own problems in life. Then to convey the messages for others to relate to, and bring into their own life.

I developed my minimalist, haiku style of comic stories to communicate simple messages of change, and personal growth. It’s just one form of art that I create; we usually work in the mediums of giant public sculptures around the world, paintings, museum installations, and our street art project, the #JeremyvilleCSA messages. We have about 5,000 of the CSA messages now, that I started in 2010.”

We are always curious to learn about the essence or theme behind the comics from the artist’s point of view, to which Jeremy answered: “I approach the comic stories more like a song, or a poem, rather than a throwaway gag cartoon. I don’t call them cartoons, I think they’re something else. Like a short story, or a scene from a movie. A vignette of a feeling.

I often revisit them, pause, and look at each square for a while. I get lost in each frame’s world, then I move to the next frame. I like to spend time reading them slowly, and getting lost in the feelings they create in me. I have no idea how others see them, but from the comments I get, I think it’s pretty similar to this. There’s a real, human connection to them. I love that, thank you so much. It makes it all worthwhile.

I also try to keep them really sparse and neutral, so I often draw the figures as if they could be a male or female, just something universal. I leave out lots of detail in the drawing, so that others can imprint their own feelings onto it. That’s the way the songs that I love work for me: They’re simple enough so we make them our own.”

From Jeremy’s responses, we can definitely see a deep connection to his work. To delve deeper, the artist shared his creative process and how he comes up with ideas.

“I often start my day early, with my diary, while I’m half awake, and I draw a 4-square grid on each page. One 1/4 of the grid is work projects, the other is exercise, the other is personal commitments, and the last is a square for a comic, or a sketch for a painting. So the creation is baked into my daily habits, and I feel incomplete if I have not drawn an idea down for the day.

I’ll then open up my diary when I have some free time, and draw one of the comic ideas.

The ideas are from half-remembered dreams, or a feeling, or something I observe in nature. I saw 2 birds in love once, on my window sill, and that became the essence for a comic I drew.

It’s the little things in life that are beautiful, those small moments. Our hopes, our desires for change, for love. That’s what I draw inspiration from,” wrote Jeremy.

In regards to audiences’ takeaways, Jeremy described his goals: “To build a growing connection with them, and to look forward to the next ones that I draw. That, to me, makes the #JeremyvilleComicStories series worthwhile, as my main aim is to connect, and to communicate with people on a real and genuine level.”

And lastly, the artist added: “Find your own unique way of expressing those things in you, that are left unsaid, and hidden. It could be poetry, drawing, craft, anything. By finding this tool to express who we are, it reveals the truth about ourselves, sets us free, and reveals our journey forward in this life.”