#5: Badass Business Babes*: Emma Steinkellner, Illustrator
It feels like the media/press recycle the “same old” influential [white cis men] creatives. So, instead of just complaining about this (which I’m super good at!), I decided to begin highlighting some of my favorite creative business babes! (Here, “babe” is used as a gender neutral term.)
Emma Steinkellner is a writer, illustrator and creative extraordinaire.
I met Emma because she was in my honors thesis cohort at Stanford (shoutout to the Feminist, Gender and Sexuality Studies program).
I met her and I thought, “Are you a real REAL person?” While I’m a dark and moody Maleficent, Emma is like… a Pixar character. She’s fun loving and happy, but not in an annoying way — like, she spreads happiness around like glitter, except it doesn’t get stuck under your nails.
Honestly, Emma should’ve been a character on UP!
OH MY GOD, THAT’S IT.
This is her:
Special note: Where noted, Emma Steinkellner/collaborators own the media shared.
1. So, let’s start at the beginning. How did you decide to be an illustrator/comic book artist?
I knew I really wanted to be an illustrator and a writer, like mid-high school. Before then, I was obsessed with performing and musical theatre and comedy. My first instinct, when telling a story, was to draw it.
Once I began getting good at it, I realized I could do this professionally.
2. Let’s educate the People, AKA me. What are some common misconceptions about being an illustrator?
I think people underestimate how much stake you have in things being GOOD, in your work being GOOD. I used to do a lot of commission work, and I would get people being like, “If it can be cheaper, then just do a scribble.”
Uh, a scribble?
If it’s not my best work then I don’t want to do it. I don’t want to go into a project with the expectation I’ll be less than my best. I’m going to show up 100%.
3. Can we talk logistics? You graduated in 2016, and then what happened?
I spent the summer after graduation in Santa Barbara with my family. My parents were both home, in our vibrant house. There’s always usually people “working” there. [Picture this:] My mom is always typing on her computer, working on a play or something, and my dad is working on a memoir, my bro/sis are working on their ideas. It’s this nice fuzzy hum of productivity. It kept me motivated.
I spent the summer trying to beef up my portfolio so I could show people, like people in the industry, my work.
I didn’t go to art school, so a lot of the time I had to act as my own gatekeeper, putting myself in the role of someone established in illustration. My summer was luxurious in that I was able to take a lot of time to get better. But also hectic in trying to up my game in the span of months. Eventually, I moved to LA, and I work full-time at an ad agency.
3. At this point in the article, the reader will have seen a good amount of your work. How would you describe your aesthetic?
My goal with my work is to amuse myself. There’s a big reflection of the things I’ve grown up with, and the kind of homes I like to surround myself with. My style is pretty lighthearted, positive and old-fashioned.
My goal with my work is to amuse myself.
But, I like to have a kind of contemporary social consciousness with my work. I utilize a vintage shape language and color scheme, but I keep in mind the social principles that I hold really dear that aren’t “old fashioned” at all. For me, it’s especially important to portray people who don’t get seen often in the media.
I’m kind of in a position of power, where I share my ideas and make statements with my art, I want to be representing visually people who don’t get represented in a positive light all of the time.
4. Speaking of your work — let’s talk about Quince! You’ve been working on this for quite a while, and more issues are going to print.
We’ve been talking about it for a couple of years, keeping it under wraps until we started releasing it online. I’m preparing my comments for Comic-Con this Saturday, which is amazing.
A couple of years ago, Spring 2015, a friend of mine, Sebastian Kadlecik, reached out to us [me and my sister, Kit] about an idea he had. The concept was a girl (named Lupe) who gets superpowers on her Quinceañera. He reached out to us because he thought we’d be good for the tones and themes.
We were so stoked to work on it. I started illustrating it a couple of years ago, and I finished it a couple weeks ago. Sebastian is the Creative Director, and Kit’s the writer, and I’m the illustrator. Quince is available in English and Spanish.
You can learn more about Quince here.
5. What was the process of creating Quincé? Like, did you lock yourself in a room together and go over concepts, sketching frames, and then break for snacks?
Kit wrote a script, like how most scripts look with stage directions and dialogue, and she also broke it down by panel. I used those to inform the artwork. It wasn’t a linear process, we all had our hands in it.
6. What inspires you? How do you feel the ‘creative juice bucket?’
The electronic universe is saturated, and it’s super easy for me to find things I like. comiXology houses thousands of comics titles, and it’s easy to find new comics I like, etc. Paper Girls is really good. I also love Fresh Romance Anthology, and I know you’re going to love it.
[Writer’s Note: Both of these look queer AF, which I am HERE FOR. Also, I totally backed an issue of Fresh Romance Anthology on Kickstarter!]
Besides that, I’m grateful for Big Mama Internet for sharing so many wonderful artists with me (within and outside of my medium).
7. I hate when people ask this question, but I’m asking because you’re so prolific. How do you do it all?
I work at an office 9–5. For me, the work/play line is blurry. Independent projects are relaxing to me. I just free myself and tell stories that are exactly my flavor. I always watch mind numbing TV. Stuff like “Murder She Wrote”, “Quantum Leap”, “Great British Baking Show”, and sometimes a podcast.
For me, the work/play line is blurry.
I will concede that I spend too many nights drawing, but I don’t know what else I would be doing.
8. What’s coming up?
The next issues of Quince! That’s going to be really exciting. And that will come out in print in October, the same month my brother is getting married, which I will be officiating. Thanks for the suiting advice, by the way.
I’ve got some secret comic projects on the old docket that I will be loud about soon enough. They involve a lot of the goofy supernatural fun you’ve come to expect. ❤
Join Emma on Instagram here. To contact Emma about commissions, use her website.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Hi, I’m Bri! A queer fashion designer (currently paying for that calling as a business and marketing professional for HBICs). Insta here, twitter here. If you’re a Creative Business Babe, and would like to be featured, drop me a line!
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