All visual art students gathered in the Sun Theatre on February 12th from 9-10 am to meet Kadir Nelson, a famous modern-day illustrator.

Nelson is a well-known painter/illustrator who has made artwork for children’s books and album covers for Michael Jackson and Drake. Known mostly for these paintings, made with oil paints, Nelson has received honors and awards for several illustrated books including Thunder Rose, by Jerdine Nolen, Ellington Was Not a Street, by Ntozake Shange, and Moses: When Harriet Tubman Led Her People to Freedom, by Carole Boston Weatherford.

Antonio Snow, a sophomore at GCAA and a visual art student at the assembly, enjoyed seeing him talk about these books.

“When he went through the different books he had created and painted for, I thought that was interesting, cause I used to read those books when I was little,” said Snow.

Nelson also talked about his childhood and his process of becoming an artist. Many people at the assembly enjoyed this.

“He’s this absolutely phenomenal artist, but he was really chill about the way he presented himself. He didn’t act full of himself, and I love how he showed his process. He brought all of those images from when he was a kid, like what he used to do, this is where he is now,” said Megan Clayton, the visual art department chair at GCAA.

“It reflects how, pretty much, every artist has to continue and get better throughout their lives,” Snow mentioned.

Showing pictures of artwork he did as a child, Nelson mentioned different things that inspired him when he was younger. He said that since his mother was also an artist, she encouraged him to improve his work. He also discussed reading plenty of art instruction books, and as he got older, he would go to the library to look up artists that he was inspired by.

“I like a lot of different artists,” Nelson explained.

The two main artists he mimicked when he was younger were Boris and Ernie Barnes. At 16 he began using oil paints, which he used to create his own artwork inspired by these two artists. However, after a while he became depressed because he saw his artwork as boring; he says this was because he was limiting who he was inspired by. For this reason, he began to look at other artists, gaining inspiration from countless people, including Thomas Blackshear and Norman Rockwell.

Because obtaining a job in the visual art field is difficult, Nelson said he thought it would be easier to have a steady job and do art on the side. He chose architecture as his major in college. However, he soon realized that he was miserable in this major and gave it up to go back to painting. Still in college, Nelson changed his major to illustration.

At the assembly, Nelson talked about studying art in college. He said that he always completed his assignments as soon as they were given; in this way, he was able to improve.

“Wish on a star- but do your homework, too,” said Nelson.

After college, Nelson began to find different jobs as an illustrator, such as illustrating children’s books. Baby Bear is one of his more popular books. Other books of his include We Are the Ship, Henry’s Freedom Box, and The Village that Vanished.

Clayton was glad that Nelson was able to make connections to modern day culture that were beneficial to the students.

“I think his connection to our culture was a big thing, cause we study a lot of western European artists that really don’t have much to do with our life and our culture, and Kadir was very much part of our culture, and understands what our kids like,” she said.

Clayton saw the assembly as very useful to the students. She said she wished that they could have had more time with Nelson.

“I think it did have the impact that I wanted it to have. I think it gave a lot of our students hope that they could do something similar,” she said. “Afterwards it would have been really cool to have him actually come over to the classes and see what you guys are doing, and even have him give you guys feedback on your artwork.”

Snow enjoyed seeing Nelson and also thought it was beneficial to the students.

“I think it’s good for young artists to see someone who is successful in what they do, and are able to support themselves while doing what they love,” Snow explained.