Interview With Shawn E. Russell
Location: Anime Expo 2023
Interview Date: 7/3/2023
Anime Herald: Please introduce yourself.
Shawn E. Russell: Hi. I’m Shawn E. Russell. I’m an illustrator specializing in pencil work depicting highly detailed illustrations of wildlife and fantasy art.
Anime Herald: You started doing this after you had kids. What was what inspired you to start doing this at that point?
Shawn E. Russell: When you become a new mom, with all the adjustments, and all the pivoting you have to do when you become a new mom, you kind of experience identity loss in a lot of ways. Because you’re not your own person anymore. So I started creating again, with the intention of pursuing it professionally. And I used my time a lot more intentionally after I had kids. So my work grew a lot faster. I started getting connections with the work and meeting other artists at other conventions as well. And that kind of turned into me vending as well.
Anime Herald: It’s a pretty big step to get from just starting to want to do it, to actually getting here to Anime Expo. What was your training? How did you how did you get here step-by-step?
Shawn E. Russell: Technically, I went to an art school before I had kids, but it was a program that focused mostly on the art that’s really edgy, very offensive. None of it is based in technical skills. So that actually made me stop creating art for a long time. Until after I had kids. I started drawing again. After that, it was a matter of just watching other artists do their craft online on their channels. Studying from life. I spent a lot of time looking at my kids and I learned a lot about how light would reflect off of their form. Off of the forms in nature and around us when we were at the park and just at home. There was a lot more opportunity for quiet observation. And while they were really young, while they were babies.
Anime Herald: It sounds like you’re kind of a hybrid where you are professionally taught, but you’re also mostly self-taught.
Shawn E. Russell: Yeah. Mostly self-taught for my illustration focus. Because yeah, my schooling, didn’t value learning how to draw representationally. They didn’t value realism. They promoted art that no one understands unless you’ve taken about five art history courses. It’s very like high brow I suppose.
Anime Herald: Who are the artists who inspired you? Who are your favorites?
Shawn E. Russell: I would say Tran Nguyen inspired me a lot. Obviously, Hayao Miyazaki and all his creations. There are so many. A lot of the classics, like Norman Rockwell, which is, you know, not anime-related at all whatsoever. The Disney films, definitely. I think the most formative inspiration was the Ghibli films. Spirited Away, especially.
Anime Herald: Out of curiosity, have you ever had the chance to meet Tran? She attends a lot of the same conventions.
Shawn E. Russell: I have. Yeah. I’ve had a few meals with her. She’s amazing. Yeah, she’s super fun to hang out with. And I admire her work. Also, whenever she posts a new book cover, I get to discover a new Asian author to listen to.
Anime Herald: That’s really nice. I’ll tell you. With my “interviews with artists” series she was one of the last ones I did over at Lightbox Expo. She’s really cool.
Shawn E. Russell: Wonderful. She’s hilarious too.
Anime Herald: Yes. She’s also a very hard worker. If you’re going to choose someone to be inspired by, she’s a good choice.
Shawn E. Russell: Yeah, definitely. I admire her a lot.
Anime Herald: What is your process? How long do your pieces take you?
Shawn E. Russell: It depends on the size and complexity. But since I work with mechanical pencil, it usually takes a while. I’m getting faster, but I would say most full illustrations take between 60 and 100 hours of rendering time.
Anime Herald: A lot of artists work digitally. Do you work digitally at all? Or are you just straight, by hand?
Shawn E. Russell: I’ll plan things out digitally. I’ll sketch something on paper and then I’ll take a photo of that and tweak it in Procreate or Photoshop to make sure I have all the proportions right. Then I’ll print it out at the correct size, do a light transfer, and then I’ll draw everything in pencil.
Anime Herald: When I think of you as an artist, I generally think of the Zodiac series.
Shawn E. Russell: Yeah.
Anime Herald: What inspired you to do that series?
Shawn E. Russell: I’m half Chinese, and I live in a very white area of Indiana. So it’s very nice to get back to my cultural roots. While I’m drawing these it brings back a lot of the memories of spending time in Chinatown with my parents making dumplings with my mom. Just getting back into the nostalgic childhood of my Chinese cultural background.
Anime Herald: Was art part of your childhood growing up? Were either your parents into it or were you into it back then?
Shawn E. Russell: I was definitely into it. I don’t think I ever stopped drawing really, minus that period of that during college, when it was like, “This isn’t art. This is just photocopying or whatever.”
You know, there are different definitions of art, which is fine. But yeah, I always drew. When I was in high school, my parents would see my friends out and about doing things. They would tell my friends to call me because I was sitting at home, drawing on my tablet and just like, watching all the Lord of the Rings movies.
Anime Herald: You were a homebody?
Shawn E. Russell: Yeah. I mean, I would go out, too. It was kind of a split. I’d either be out all the time, or I’d be drawing at home for three days straight.
Anime Herald: Out of curiosity, which Chinatown did you grow up in?
Shawn E. Russell: Chicago Chinatown.
Anime Herald: Is there anything else that you’d like to share with our readers?
Shawn E. Russell: For aspiring artists, just don’t stop drawing. Just keep doing the thing that you’re passionate about. Nurture the love for it, and that will get you where you need to be.
Anime Herald: Final question: Do you have any questions for us?
Shawn E. Russell: What’s your favorite anime?
Anime Herald: My favorite series is FLCL, also known as Fooly Cooly. My favorite movie is Paprika. Satoshi Kon.
Shawn E. Russell: I’ve heard of that one, but I haven’t seen it.
Anime Herald: It will be a treat. Thank you very much for this. I hope Anime Expo goes very well for you.
Shawn E. Russell: Thank you so much.
Her works can be found on her website, and her Instagram.
Cover Image: Nocturne, courtesy of Shawn E. Russell
