Cartoonist and illustrator, JJ Harrison, is constantly
putting his artwork out there for public consumption. And his penchant for
posting colorful fan art and original works for all to see has both opened
doors and landed him in a pickle or two.
The Utah Valley University graduate, husband and father recently
was a guest of Salt Lake Community College’s Visual Art & Design Department
as part of its Guest Artist Series. Harrison told a roomful of students and
faculty that getting noticed or seen is key in a business that deals in the
visual realm. While that might seem obvious to some, Harris really focuses on
the nuances and surprises of that process that sometimes get overlooked.
A company once stopped paying a young, inexperienced
Harrison but continued to use his artwork, so, he struck back, found out where
that company printed their materials, started his own business and went
head-to-head with them with some degree of success for a while. And then there
was the time Harrison signed a document without reading the fine print, only
later to find that his artwork was legally being used by a chain store to sell
t-shirts – and he did not earn a dime from it. These days, he has an agent to
prevent those sorts of things from happening.
But there have been other times when his art was seen by
someone online and resulted in a phone call or email and then a paying order to
use his pieces in print materials. He’s a tireless worker and his list of
selected clients now includes Mondo, Cartoon Network, BOOM! Studios, Penguin
Random House, Disney, Cartoon Network Books, Hachette, Nickelodeon and Marvel.
He’s also featured in several galleries around the country. Harrison also owns Utah-based Braintreehouse Game Studio, which
is currently looking to hire more artists.
Despite his busy professional life Harrison finds time to give
back. He and other artists have organized the Misplaced Showcase event to
“connect creative people, embrace the process of making art and promote the
local scene.” The free event, which helps raise funds for the Children’s
Justice Center, features artwork that includes illustration, urban art, comic
books, prop making, toy building and more. This year’s event takes place Oct.
20 at 244 S. Edison St., Salt Lake City.
