“It’s important to make time for friends and sunshine.”: Meryl Rowin, Catapult Artist for April 2019

“In college, I think there was this idea floating around that a real illustrator worked all night—and if they weren’t, they were half ass-ing it. [Now,] I like to give my brain some time to absorb and to rest in equal measure.”

I had the pleasure of art directing Meryl’s illustration work for Eat Joy, an upcoming book being published by Catapult in November. I enjoyed her use of rich and saturated palettes, whimsical patterns, perfectly placed textures, and the joyous style of illustration she brought to ingredients and plates of food. I had also been following her portrait work and have admired how she captures deep expression with such limited information in her paintings.

For these reasons, selecting her as our Catapult Artist for April to illustrate the beautiful and personal pieces for the magazine was an easy choice.

Nicole Caputo: What lead or inspired you to become an illustrator? How did you get started?

Meryl Rowin: My grandfather, Stanley, was a huge influence on me as a kid. I grew up on Long Island, living five minutes away from my grandparents. I would spend sick days, snow days, just a lot of days, sitting around my grandparents’ kitchen table. While my grandpa drew cartoons and characters, I’d draw women in all types of outfits and tableaus of whatever was on the table. I did a lot of drawings of Tropicana orange juice.

Another huge influence on me was meeting Jeff Fisher, a local illustrator, when I was in middle school. Jeff was a huge mentor in so many ways. I took figure drawing classes with him for years in high school—and in college, whenever I was back home. He taught me how to see, figuratively, in many ways and was brilliant in helping his students to recognize their unique strengths.

I went to the Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA) and graduated with a BFA in illustration. Afterward, I sort of fell into a job as a creative assistant at an ad agency after seeking all types of arts-related jobs to help me pay off my student loans. My illustration skills were an asset to the creative department; I was able to hone my conceptual skills and learn how to present a creative idea. I was promoted to art director and worked in advertising for most of my twenties. I think of that time as my graduate school. I was able to hire and work with illustrators and photographers. It gave me confidence in my creative ideas and a sense of what it would be like on the other side of the job.

After getting married and hopping on my husband’s health insurance, I quit advertising and finally took a leap into freelance illustration.

How long did it take you to land your first commissioned job? What was the job?

I started working on pet portraits and wedding invitations to build up my portfolio after leaving the ad world. I gave myself creative projects as well. One of them was a portrait of Hillary Clinton in 2014 that I turned into a simple animated GIF. A friend of mine shared the illustration with the people at the Lenny Letter newsletter and they paid me to use it for their interview with Hillary.

What tips would you give to emerging illustrators in regards to securing commissioned opportunities?

Put the phone down and meet people in real life! Being curious about the world and engaged in people and their stories is not only rewarding, but also part of an illustrator’s job. But also pick up the phone again and use social media in healthy amounts! It’s been such a great tool to get your work out there and to reach people you might not have found otherwise.

Please tell us about your desired medium(s) and what you like about this medium.

I work with gouache and with digital paintbrushes in Photoshop. The word “digital” is so funny to me—feels so early-internet. My first love was with line drawings, but once I discovered gouache, it kind of broke something open for me stylistically. I love the flexibility of it!

Can you tell us a bit about your process from start to final execution?

If it’s an editorial, a story, or a profile on a person, I usually read it a few times to absorb it, then pull out bits that stick with me. I’ll write these down somewhere and let the ideas grow from there. I do a few sketches for each idea on my iPad and then refine them before sending them off to the art director I’m working with. From there, I’ll make revisions depending on feedback and then begin working into the final color execution.

We are so excited about your work on the upcoming book from Catapult—Eat Joy, edited by Natalie Eve Garrett. Can you tell us a bit about any unique challenges/joys that presented themselves during that project?

The personal essays built around the recipes in Eat Joy are so rich with emotion and vivid detail that I wanted the food illustrations to evoke that same feeling. The chapter headers provided a bit of a challenge to me: How could I take the four main concepts of the book—Growing Pains, Healing, Homecoming, Loss—and unite them all conceptually? I found that depicting table place settings in various stages was a poetic way to capture the emotion behind these four themes and viscerally set the tone for each chapter.

One of my favorite questions to ask has to do with refueling the creative tank. What kind of practices, rituals, outings, sights, etc. do you engage with as a source of inspiration?

Oh man . . . I am constantly trying to figure this one out. Having time in the morning is a big one for me. I love taking my pup, Frank, on a long walk before I eat breakfast or start work. And then I try to take a few breaks during the day while I’m working.

Structure is so helpful, but counterintuitive to me. In college, I think there was this idea floating around that a real illustrator worked all night—and if they weren’t, they were half ass-ing it. Unless I have a crazy deadline, I try to give myself normal work hours. It allows me time to take in the world around me and to sleep! Sleep is a real important one. I like to give my brain some time to absorb and to rest in equal measure. I think that’s when I do my best work. Something I’m trying to implement more is taking more vacation time—more art dates and travel.

For those looking to get into the field of illustration what are your recommendations based on your experience?

Give yourself projects and make the kind of work you want to be hired for. Reach out to the people you admire. Know that illustration can be lonely at times. It’s a job that you’re generally doing on your own in your own space, indoors, so it’s important to make time for friends and sunshine.

Do you have any other recent or upcoming projects that you are excited about that you would like to tell us about?

I just illustrated a project with Chobani that should be out in the world this spring! They’re a brand I really respect and were so fun to work with. I’m also so excited to see Eat Joy on bookshelves in October!