Meet Sean Tiffany | Artist and Illustrator

We had the good fortune of connecting with Sean Tiffany and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Sean, why did you decide to pursue a creative path?
I think everyone is creative in their own way. It’s just a matter of how much time you choose to devote to it.

For me, it’s always been art and illustration. It’s just in my DNA. I’d be doing what I do no matter if I made money from it or not. I remember times when I’d be working a job-type-job during the day and carving out time at night to do art on my own. I just kept doing it. It’s easy to say, “never give up on your dreams,” but it’s a whole other thing when you feel like your dreams failed and you STILL keep doing it.

I’ve known a lot of people who don’t draw anymore, don’t write anymore, don’t play music anymore…but stopping art never occurred to me. When people I haven’t seen in a while ask me if I’m still drawing I look at them like they just asked me, “so, are you still breathing?“ Even when I “quit” it usually means I just take a day or two off and then I’m back at it.

I had no choice but to do what I do. And I make sure I make time to do it.

As far as making it a career, that’s a whole other thing. I’m sure there is more than a little luck involved in having a career where you get to do what you love and have someone pay you to do it…luck that the right person sees your stuff and wants to hire you. I’ve been lucky but I’ve also worked really hard to do what I do and get where I am.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I do art and illustration for a living. I’ve loved drawing since I was a kid and I was lucky enough to have parents who supported that passion. They sent me to art classes, had me talk to other artists, bought me books and supplies, and finally, I’m sure against their better parenting instincts, sent me off to The Joe Kubert School of Cartooning and Graphic Art in New Jersey when I was eighteen years old. It’s a three year school that specializes in training students how to become working cartoonists, artists, and illustrators.

During my last year of school I was hired as an assistant artist in a studio that put me right in the middle of doing art for a living. We did production art for comic book merchandise for Marvel and Image Comics. It was like post-grad work in the world of doing day to day production art and it was invaluable. I learned more about not only how to do art better but how to treat art as a business. After graduating from the Kubert School I worked as a freelance airbrush painter and inker for Marvel Comics. I did that for a few years and worked for over a dozen different editors in the Marvel offices.

Tired of living in New Jersey, I headed west to Colorado on my 25th birthday. I floundered for a few years, worked odd jobs, and did a few of my own projects that never got off the ground (although I did garner a few award nominations for them…but awards don‘t pay the bills.) Finally, I gave up on a few of my personal dreams and opened myself up to doing more freelance illustration for anyone I could find. I started doing concept art, illustration work, and storyboards for major advertising agencies. I did various illustrations for well known magazines. And, at last count, I’ve done more than seventy sports related children’s books. I also just wrapped up over twelve years of doing illustrations for a monthly article for Sports Illustrated Kids magazine. It’s been quite a ride.

Unfortunately, when Covid hit everything slowed down. Luckily I found myself in a position to pivot back to doing more of my own work and now I work for clients only when I‘m really interested in the project. Going back to doing personal work makes me feel like I’m seventeen again. It’s been a long time since I haven’t had to hustle and sell my art to make a living. But pleasing myself is sometimes a lot harder than pleasing a client. It’s almost easier to have an external person telling you something is good or not good. So I’ve set myself up with a personal project that gives me a deadline and that helps let me go of a lot of stuff and get it out the door.

Since the fall of 2020 I’ve been doing a monthly postcard project and physically mailing out postcards to friends, family, and clients. It was a way to connect to people that I feel we’ve lost with the internet and social media. It helps me think about the people I love each month and hopefully it puts a smile on their face when they go to the mailbox. And I loved doing it so much I just kept going. This year I’ve added an extra challenge to the project and started doing music for each postcard. A QR code on the back of each card leads you to a new song and an exclusive motion lyric video. It’s been a lot of work but it’s also been a ton of fun!

Recently I’ve added a Pateron page to the project which helps with printing and postage costs. If you’d like to sign up and get something in your mailbox each month other than junk mail and bills you can check out the project at https://www.patreon.com/seantiffany

The most important factor behind my success has been perseverance. Just doing what I love and keeping on doing it, whether it makes money or not. Art fills my soul so it’s been easy to keep at it no matter what. But the first step is you have to show people what you’re doing. Like all the time. And without shame or ego. Just show off your stuff. You never know who could be looking

In 2001, when the Colorado Avalanche won their second Stanley Cup, I was inspired to draw one of my characters as a hockey player. I put that on my online portfolio site and I can trace all the years of children’s book work and the Sports Illustrated work I’ve done back to that one piece. It’s weird. But pick up a thread, you never know where it may lead.

In a world where people always talk about building an audience or cultivating a thousand true fans to purchase your work I’ve always found far more success finding that ONE person to impress and do what that person wants. The right art director or editor who will hire you and help you figure out how best to solve a problem. I’ve always been better at impressing one person than a room full of people. I’ve also always found more inspiration in it.

And once you can find that one person you just communicate, do what you say you’ll do, and do it on time. Good and not good is subjective, done and not done is not. Those things, and not being a jerk, will give you solid clients you can work with for decades!

Drawing and inking by hand, coloring in the computer, mixing old school and new school techniques…just keep doing what you love, no matter what anyone else thinks.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
I keep things pretty simple these days, eating out at local Boulder places like Cosmos Pizza, taking a drive to Louisville to have lunch at Jersey Mike’s, or seeing late night movies on Tuesday nights with friends.

If a friend was in town it would give me a nice excuse to play tourist in my own town and take them to all the swanky, hipster places that I never go…spend some time on Pearl Street Mall eating at some of the fancier places, taking hikes in the foothills, and maybe even finding time to drive up towards Nederland and take the Peak to Peak Highway to Estes Park. That used to be one of my favorite things to do but I just don’t seem to have the time anymore with work and family.

Covid really drew me back into a more insular lifestyle. Man, I think I need to get back out there! Someone come and visit me so we can go and have some fun! Ha ha!

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I don’t know where I’d be in life if Mark McNabb didn’t give me that first assistant artist job while I was at the Kubert School. He took what I was learning in school and turned it up to the Nth degree. I came back from the summer working for him into my third year of school and my skill levels had jumped exponentially. He taught me not only how to approach an artistic problem but also how to fix problems when they happened. In school if you mess something up you go on to the next assignment and hopefully learn something from your mistake. Mark taught me how to fix those mistakes in the moment and make everything better. He taught me how to be a businessman in the world of art and his help and mentorship can never be fully repaid. I know I don’t tell him nearly enough what he meant to me in those early years but he is a huge hero of mine and I’m always grateful he came into my life.

Website: https://www.seantiffany.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/seantiffany_art/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sean.tiffany

Youtube: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLk4wxUNiBWGOnxMkGoaX8tvkMoNEyuk4V&si=9-SinIqWk5tE_C2c

Other: https://www.patreon.com/seantiffany

Image Credits
Photos by James Robert TIffany
Artwork by Sean Tiffany