Rising Stars: Meet Jessica “J.R.” MacKenzie

Today we’d like to introduce you to Jessica “J.R.” MacKenzie.

Hi Jessica, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today.
I have always loved art, but in the 1990s, art was looked at more as a hobby and less as a career and many encouraged me to find work in other fields. So I treated art like a hobby from high school all the way through until 2019. My mom got me a Game of Thrones and Star Wars coloring book with colored pencils for Christmas 2019. It had been years since I used them. I loved to use them when I studied interior design – my instructor let me take colored pencil work to fun places, but I didn’t use colored pencils much after I got my bachelor’s. Yet here I was as an adult having so much fun rendering these coloring books and using my training from interior design school. I was revisiting my knowledge of light and shadows, textures, color, etc.

After coloring a couple of sheets I decided to retry drawing animals. Animals have always been my passion and I have drawn them since I was old enough to be able to draw them somewhat recognizably. And when I finished, I liked what I did. So I drew another animal. And another. I started studying colored pencil art on YouTube and joined Facebook groups. I started learning more techniques and started seeing other people’s work. I was obsessed with realism. I think being able to replicate the natural beauty of the animal and show its personality and spirit is an amazing feat. So I kept practicing. I struggled with fur and feathers, but each animal I drew helped me study these more, and my technique gets better and better.

A local art group had an animal art contest, and I entered it thinking, “What the heck do I have to lose?” I entered it, and I won the Best of Show award. I won a free membership to the art group, I started participating in local art shows. I learned a lot from my peers. I entered more contests, participated in other local art shows, and just kept drawing.

I am currently developing my part-time art business. My duties as a university instructor come first, but I have been successful in pet portraiture as well as international contests. I received my first art invitation to an international art show in November of 2022 in London, England. My husband and I will be flying over there to partake in the opening night. It’s fun to look back and see that a simple coloring book gift and a lifelong interest in drawing and animals took me on adventures and helped me achieve accomplishments I would never have thought of otherwise. So if you have a dream put action behind it, study hard, practice tons, and see what amazing things come your way. I feel like I’ve only just begun. Excited for more journeys in art and my own personal business!

I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
I wouldn’t say my road has been rough, but it’s been one of constant development and practice and working around the duties I have to my family and household. But when you have passion for something, you usually find a way to make it all work. I don’t have a lot of friends because I’m at home working and creating art. As an only child, I suppose being self-driven and okay with being alone is something that is just inherent in me. But I’m also doing work that is therapeutic, makes me happy, helps my self-esteem, and contributes to the education and respect of animals.

I think beauty is important to show in times of struggle like our world seems to be surrounded in today. So my work and this art business are in tune with my values. That helps any bumps or obstacles that come up not feel so overwhelming. I like to problem-solve and think critically. I don’t let the small stuff bother me. If I don’t win a contest, I don’t let it affect me. I just keep going. When I need to learn or develop more, I seek out resources. As I get older, I don’t see struggles as anything more than an opportunity to grow, learn, and conquer!

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I learned about colored pencils in junior high. I got ahold of a colored pencil book and it showed how detailed you could get with them. I remember practicing along with the book. But I am certain high school social life got in the way of my development with them. It was college where I picked them back up again in interior design school. I learned a lot about light and shadow, texture, and color. Creating rendered perspectives was my favorite thing to do in design school. When I picked up pencils again in 2019, I started learning about professional brands of pencils.

With the help of my Aunt, I was able to procure wax and oil-based pencils of higher grade, and that was a game changer. I was finally able to graduate into a finer art and really show the kind of details I was interested in showing.

I also work on black backgrounds instead of white. I like the way you build your colors on black as opposed to white.

I am particularly interested in animal portraits, trying to show the personality and elegance of each animal. My favorite animals are wildlife, but I love to see how people react to a pet portrait. Being a crazy cat lady, I can appreciate the grieving process of a beloved pet, and being able to honor their place in our lives is something that is very special to me. I do work off of photos and I do some light tracing to get my proportions correct. My favorite part is adding textures. Every strand of hair, every feather, and every imperfection. To skip one is to skip important aspects of the animals.

When it comes to what I am most proud of I would have to say I’m so proud to be some kind of voice for animals.

Steve Irwin was and always be a big role model for me in terms of his passion for animal welfare. I’m not able to wrestle crocs and be on television like he did, but I if I can help others understand the importance of animals in our world, then I am doing what I feel is my purpose on this earth. I believe humans are the guardians of animals, and unfortunately many fall victim to malicious practices and abuses of the land they reside in by mankind. My hope is to use art as a way of helping humans see the value and beauty of animals, and that in turn, animals and their habitats will be treated more kindly and respected. Especially animals that people are afraid of or don’t know anything about.

Vultures, for instance, have a very negative connotation, but they are such an important part of our ecosystem. They also have such beautiful lines and textures.

What sets me apart from other artists I think is just the way I draw. I have an interesting mix of illustration and realism. You can see the personality, and yet you can also see that it’s not a photo-realistic representation. It’s difficult for me to know how else to describe what sets me apart. I just hope my love and connection with the animal comes through when you see it.

What were you like growing up?
I grew up as an only child and my parents were divorced when I was two. So I was raised mostly by my mother and her parents. I think I was a typical child growing up in the 80s. I loved to ride my bike outside and played with other kids. But I could also play on my own. I was independent and a good student, yet I also really enjoyed being silly and expressive. Being raised with my grandparents gave me more traditional values and respect for others. I rarely did things that got me into trouble.

In high school, I was home hanging out more than I was hanging out on the town with friends. My mom taught me a lot about professionalism from a young age. I learned how to conduct myself around adults, and also to stay true to myself, I think she wanted me to be able to develop my personality in ways her own parents weren’t as open to doing.

And I’ve always appreciated the freedoms that came from that parenting style. My dad gave me my love for nature.

Though I only saw him during the summers, our days were filled with camping and star-watching.

I have loved animals since I was born and I also did quite a bit of art. But I also enjoyed movies, video games, and comic books, I loved life as a kid. I think the ’80s and ’90s were an excellent time to grow up. We weren’t rich by any means, but I still had great experiences and the time spent with loved ones was invaluable.

Contact Info:

• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JRMacKenzieStudios