Hillary was born in Delaware to Kenneth and Hope Wilson. She spent much of her young childhood in a small town in Maine, running barefoot and building forts in the woods with her sister, Amanda. Her time in Maine ignited in her a poignant love for nature and physical activity, and her supportive family encouraged her in every hobby she showed an interest in, from drawing, to origami, to gymnastics.
Hillary’s teenage years were spent in North Carolina where she continued to deepen her love for art, and also started her pursuit of a career in medicine. She attended High Point University in North Carolina, originally set on going to medical school, but changed her projected career path and instead went on to receive a masters degree in medical illustration from the Johns Hopkins School of School of Medicine in Baltimore. Hillary currently works full time doing both medical and general fantasy art and tries to find ways to portray diverse skintones and facial features whenever possible. She is passionate about creating art that tells stories and makes people happy, and also hopes to lessen some of the racial disparity in the field of medical illustration.
In her free time, Hillary enjoys painting some more, lifting weights, being outside in nature whenever possible despite long Boston winters, playing the piano, and cooking spicy food.
1.) What elements and/or characteristics made you say to yourself that you wanted to do art and design for a living? Who are your influences/heroes/role models?
I came into realizing that I wanted to do art for a living fairly last minute in my undergrad career and also fairly accidentally. I’ve always loved art my entire life, and it was something I just always did. If my family happened to go to a book store, I could always be found in the art book section. I spent a ton of my free time painting, drawing, and playing around with simple animation all throughout my childhood and into my college years, but I didn’t really consider it a thing I would do as more than a hobby because I didn’t realize it could be profitable. My family also has quite a few doctors, so I always assumed that was what I would do considering I also loved science and medicine. During my senior year of college, I continued to do art on my own, and people seemed to respond well to it when I posted it in places. I got a good amount of freelance work over summer breaks, and ended up having a bit of an identity crisis my senior year as a pre med biology major because I realized that I couldn’t imagine a life where I didn’t have an opportunity to use my art in some way. I have an uncle who suggested that I look into medical illustration as a possible path, and I ended up applying to masters programs for that instead of medical school. Getting my masters in medical illustration kickstarted my understanding of what was possible with a career in art, and also honed my skills in my fantasy and portrait art. My biggest role models and support have always been my parents. I never had any doubts that I could do anything I wanted to do and set my mind to, and they provided me with all of the tools I’d ever need to be successful.
2.) If you could compare yourself to an already established artist, who would that be and why? If you don’t like to compare yourself, then what separates you from other artists out there?
It’s always difficult for me to compare simply because every artist has a different story and style, and different things to share. I’m always inspired by different artists, but I think that inspiration is a bit different than comparison. I’d say something that separates me from a lot of other artists is my medical illustration background. I think that makes me appreciate and want to convey different things, and gives me a slightly different type of creative eye. Work I’ve done as a medical illustrator has made me hyper aware of the variety of different bone structure and features, and I’m particularly obsessed with skin in general. I tend to want to include the little imperfections and aspects of people that are maybe a bit less polished, but show them in ways that are still beautiful.
3.) Everyone in life goes through adversity of some sort. Is there anything in your life that has any influence on how you approach your work? What is the most difficult thing you’ve had to endure on your path to becoming an entrepreneur?
I think that a major part of my life that has had a huge influence on my work is just being black and struggling with my sense of identity when it comes to race. For a long time, I struggled with painting black and brown people because I felt like I didn’t know how, and because I hadn’t seen enough inspiring examples of art featuring us to make me itch to do it. I haven’t really had much true adversity in my life. My family has always been extremely supportive and loving. My parents are both successful and have always made sure my sister and I had every single thing we ever needed. For the most part, I’ve been extremely lucky with the hand I’ve been dealt. However, for much of my life I’ve been in pretty non diverse surroundings, and often felt tension resulting from being one of the only black people in a space, the subtle racism and isolation that usually comes from that, and a lot of whitewashing of my racial identity with comments about how I’m not really that black, or I’m (insert positive word here) for a black person. If I pursued the things I wanted to, spoke in a way that felt natural for me, and was completely myself, I was told I was less black. A lot of this made me feel misunderstood and isolated from my blackness. At times I almost felt like I couldn’t really claim being black even though both of my parents are black, but I also was different and didn’t quite fit with a lot of the people I was ever around. It wasn’t until I was about 22 that I fully embraced everything about myself and my race, and I also realized that I really wanted to paint black features and tell black stories. I think it helps me feel as though I’m chipping away at some of the constraining labels and boxes that you often get placed in as a black person, and it also allows me to fully embrace so many of the things that society often gives us reason to be insecure about. I think that self doubt is one of the biggest barriers I’ve had to overcome, both as a black woman and as an entrepreneur.
4.) Aside from money being a motivating factor, how do you prepare yourself to create for your client (or yourself)? What is your process?
When I have client work, usually one of the first things that I have to do in order to prepare myself is find some way to make their story that they want to tell become a story that I want to tell too, so that the art I create is lively and authentic. Thinking about artwork for clients as nothing more than artwork for clients can make the act of painting it feel like work that just needs to get done, rather than a fun and exciting new thing to explore or problem to solve. I usually gather a bunch of reference material and look at related images that are inspiring and get my creativity flowing so that I can brainstorm or create thumbnails from there.
5.) Unfortunately the creative industry is full of talented individuals who more or less become the “starving artist” and don’t get any recognition for their talent and/or work. What do you do (or plan to do) to make sure you stand out and get noticed and don’t fall to the wayside?
I think that figuring out what your audience is and fostering and engaging relationships that speaks to it is extremely important. A lot of the time, recognition comes from people having a desire to engage with your work, and that’s much harder to do if you’re trying to do too many things. I think a mistake that a lot of artists make is lacking a focus or niche, or not specifically targeting an audience. Or they aren’t consistent or deliberate enough.
6.) Would you rather work for a big corporation or would you rather stay independent and run your own business? Why or why not?
I think that overall, I’m a person who would feel the most content running my own business, even though working for a corporation can give you a lot of great experience and opportunities. But I like freedom and being in control of my work space, and I like the entrepreneurship that comes along with running your own business.
7.) Social media is obviously an extremely important element in today’s world, especially when it comes to business, branding, marketing, etc. With that being said, how do you think the internet and social media affected the creative industry and how artists are able to market themselves? Do you think an artist will be able to survive in today’s economy if they’re not social media savvy?
I think that social media has both added a lot of noise to the creative industry, but also a lot of opportunity. It can be pretty easy to get lost in all of the noise or have trouble staying focused. There are so many programs to try, so many techniques you can learn, so many styles to see, and so many examples of different ways to approach art. If you’re not careful, it’s easy to get overwhelmed. But I also think that there are a lot of really great tools that can make it easier than ever to be successful as an artist if you know how to leverage them.
8.) It seems that black entrepreneurs have to really fight to be seen and heard in a world that more or less doesn’t embrace black business. With that being said, what are some issues that you feel that black business owners face when it comes to gaining the momentum necessary to compete in a white-dominated capitalistic society?
I think that a lot of the time black businesses and content is seen as a thing that mainstream society can’t really relate to, so it can be tough to get traction. A lot of the time, if you want to portray black people and stories, your work is sort of put in a box of “Things that aren’t for everyone” and people may overlook it for the most part. I think that also, you often have to work pretty hard for people to take what you do seriously and see you as a skilled, experienced professional. It can be exhausting explaining why art costs what it does for all artists, but I think that can be even more pronounced as a black artist.
9.) If black entrepreneurship is one of many avenues to black economic empowerment, do you think we will see more black entrepreneurs coming on the scene? If so, what do you think it will take for black business to truly compete in a world that seems to be rapidly advancing?
I think that we will definitely see more black entrepreneurship in the future, and I think it will only gain more and more traction. Especially since there are so many people who are really invested in black empowerment and supporting black creatives. I think that having a solid network of support, personally and professionally, is crucial for competing in a rapidly advancing world.
10.) What advice would give to someone who’s interested in pursuing a career in the arts, whether it be illustration, graphic design, web design, photography, branding, marketing, etc.?
Be creative and realize that there are many ways to bolster your pursuit in an art career. Also, the world will change whether you’re ready for it or not, so there’s no point lamenting about things like new technology or social media algorithms. All you can really do is figure out how you can work with the changing world and culture, or you’ll get left behind.
11.) Making a living through art is obviously a desire for most, if not, all artists, so is that something that you have been able to do? If so, how were you able to attain a career doing what you love? If not, what do you do in order to fund your business?
I’ve been able to make a living through art pretty successfully, and I think one of the reasons for that is because I took a lesser known path that merged two things that I loved, art and science. Pursuing medical illustration jump started my career, gave me a profitable way of being an artist, and also improved my general art as well so that it became more marketable and engaging. Now I have a nice balance of both medical art and general art.
12.) There are multiple ways of attaining clients and building up your clientele, so what are some ways you acquire clients? If you were to advise an up and coming artist on how to get more clients, what advice would you give them?
I get pretty much all of my clients through various forms of social media, and from being consistent on them. Whichever social media or internet tool you choose to pursue will lead to more work, but I also think it’s important to not try to do too many if it’s hard for you to keep up with them. Consistency is extremely important. I also try to create artwork that will make it easier for potential clients to want to approach me because they can see how I would be able to tell their story. Since I create a lot of flashy fantasy art, often potential clients see it and it speaks to them and ideas they maybe have and need artwork for.
13.) Professionally, where do you see yourself 5 years from now?
I see myself running my own business, working in a well decorated space with a lot of sunlight and plants, and just continuing to learn and improve.