Daily Inspiration: Meet Shannon Burton

Today we’d like to introduce you to Shannon Burton.  

Hi Shannon, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
I’ve been drawing since I was very young, but my journey to a career in art has taken a bit more of a winding path than a lot of other artists! I started taking art a lot more seriously in high school (at least as seriously as anyone can take anything in high school) and was looking into going to art school for a while, but I wasn’t sure exactly what I wanted to be doing and was convinced that a) I wasn’t good enough to get into art school and that b) even if I did, there was no money in a career in the arts. So, art school plans abandoned, I went the more traditional route and graduated in 2021 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Classical Archaeology from the University of Michigan. 

I loved my time at U of M in the Classics department, but I was very much on an academia track – go to grad school, get my Ph.D., do a post-doc, find a teaching position at a university, etc. – and I was finding that I wasn’t as excited about that future as a lot of my classmates were. I liked archaeology a lot, and I’d always loved school, but I just couldn’t see myself doing this for the rest of my life. 

When the pandemic happened, I found myself at home with more free time than I’d had for years. I’m not sure what one thing precisely propelled me back into it, but I got back into art big time, drawing more than I had even in high school. I started following all these amazing artists on Instagram and realized that, while some of them were drawing traditionally, a lot of them were working digitally. I knew very little about digital art, but during the summer of 2020, I invested in an iPad Pro, enrolled in as many online art classes as I could find, watched a ton of YouTube videos, and threw myself into creating as much as I possibly could. Now, two years later, I’m working as a graphic designer by day, working on my personal art at night, and selling my work at conventions and art shows on the weekends, and honestly? I couldn’t be happier, and I wouldn’t change anything! 

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
As I talked about in the last question, I’ve had a very winding road to where I am in my artistic career right now. One of the biggest struggles I’ve faced, and I’m sure a lot of creatives from any field will be able to relate to this, is imposter syndrome. For years I think I blamed other people for talking me out of things, but a lot of it was that I was too afraid to put myself forward for things. I wanted to go to art school but I was convinced I wasn’t good enough so I never even applied. That saying that you miss 100% of the shots you don’t take is cheesy but true! I’ve missed out on so many things throughout my life simply due to the fact that I was so scared I would fail I never even bothered to try. 

Don’t get me wrong – I still struggle with imposter syndrome a LOT and I’m still scared of failing, but I put myself forward a lot more than I used to. Even though I didn’t think my graphic design portfolio was very strong, I still applied for graphic design jobs and now I’m working at a great firm doing super exciting creative work every day. Even though I wasn’t sure anyone would want to buy my paintings, I started tabling at cons and have met incredible people who have said so many lovely things about my work. It’s scary to put yourself out there, but I promise you that it’s always worth it in the end. 

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
Outside of my day job, I’m a freelance illustrator. I like to think I’ve done a little bit of everything, but I primarily focus on pop culture paintings and movie poster art. I always tell people that I try to make digital art that feels like a traditional painting, so while my paintings are realistic, I use a lot of textured brushes and visible strokes to give it a kind of oil painting-esque feel. With all of my work, whether it be a bigger poster piece or an intimate moment between two characters, I always try to capture the essence of the movie, TV show, or game that I’m working from. I love doing other kinds of art, but I think painting characters from pop culture is so fun because these characters mean so much to so many people and I like being able to put my own interpretation of that out into the world. 

Any big plans?
Oh man, what a question! I’m a big believer in the mindset that things will work out the way they work out and you gotta just go with the flow sometimes, so I don’t have a five-year plan for where I want my career to go or anything like that. I definitely want to sell at more shows and conventions. It’d be fun to travel to some shows out of state and maybe even sell my work at one of the bigs like San Diego Comic-Con eventually. The BIG dream would be to create licensed art for a movie or TV show, and the BIG BIG BIG dream would be to get to work with someone like Marvel or Lucasfilm one day! For now, I’m just going to keep making art and see how things work out. 

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.shannonburtonart.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/shanburtonart/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/shanburtonart
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5BggxHtbk3KEIGybL6YqYA/featured
• Other: https://www.etsy.com/shop/shannonburtonart

Image Credits
Shannon Burton
Emma Burton Photography