Grit and determination drive SCAD alum Katie Hearns to create
Written by Elise Mullen, Images courtesy of Katie Hearns
Graduating in the middle of a global pandemic is sure to come with its challenges. Almost everything is up in the air and not at all how anybody expected their culmination of college education ending. Katie Hearns, who graduated last May with a B.F.A in illustration, was able to use this time post-grad to reflect and prioritize what she wanted to do, professionally.
“I think most people who graduate will say the same thing but it makes you realize how dedicated you are or how not dedicated you are. After graduation you don’t have your professors there to push you or your friends or your colleagues always showing you work. It makes you step up and say, I’m doing this and I have to make time for it. This year helped me focus more and decide that I’m going to have to really keep pushing for it even in these circumstances,” she said.
“The environment at SCAD is really nice because you meet a lot of different people and you really get a sense for what’s happening in the arts besides just in your small hometown. It helps with interviews and being able to connect with people and seeing real worth in other people as well,” she said. “After graduating you really realize to appreciate things while you can because you do have creative people around you but not in that way. It is a competition and everyone is trying to get a job. When you send your stuff to you they’ll say oh awesome work but won’t tell you anything you can work on. Professors give you the good and bad so you can improve, I do miss that I miss critiques because nobody wants to critique your work when you send it to them, they won’t take the time to tell you what to work on.”
It can take some time to know what creative and professional path you want to take, and is often through trial and error that people find that. For Hearns, illustration has always been it for her. “It’s just what it’s going to be, forever,” she said. “I just always felt drawn to use my hands with artwork and is something I find enjoyable. I typically like to focus on portraiture but I like to add a surrealist spin, I keep it pretty detailed but also make it something unique that catches peoples attention. I also like to make work that makes people think. I like to do emotional, raw work or anything to do with social issues. I feel like you can say a lot with an image rather than actually talking about it, and it can also appeal to more audiences when they see an image”
Her passion for social issues and longing to do good has led her to her current gig: a series for Black Girl Film School, a non-profit organization based in Los Angeles. “They create inclusive learning experiences for women of color in the film industry, which I think is awesome because I want to get into movie posters and get into the film industry and I am passionate about social issues so it’s the perfect project to be working on. We’re creating tarot cards for Black History Month , which was February but we’re extending past it. Each card mentions a different role within the industry, we want to highlight people who are already succeeding in that role to show that it is possible and there is work out there,” she said.
Hearns even got recognition from Lena Waithe after sharing her creation of the screenwriter card in which Waithe was featured.
Although that’s not the only widespread recognition Hearns has received. In July of 2020, Hearns posted a TikTok that became an overnight sensation. “I posted a TikTok showing my AP portfolio from my junior year of high school which was on the stages of life showing the gritty stuff that people don’t like talking about. I scrolled through all of them just following the trend. I was on TikTok and all of a sudden I started getting all of these comments and it started blowing up. I woke up the next morning and had 3 million views or something crazy like that,” she said.
Hearns’ grit and determination are what has led her and will continue to lead her to her future success. “Don’t feel like you’re behind. I feel like one thing that a lot of myself and other people who I have kept in contact with that also just graduated feel this pressure of ‘I don’t have a job yet and things aren’t happening how I wanted them to’,” Hearns said. “My advice would be to relax and keep working because it’s going to come. It may not come in the way you want, you’ll get work that is different than you imagined. Maybe it’s not in-house, maybe it’s freelance but it’s still work and if you push you’re going to get something.”
To keep up to date with what Hearns is working on check out her Instagram and website.
