Jordan McCracken-Foster’s Instagram feed is a testament to his artistic skill. Beautiful digital portraits. Character designs from his award-winning personal project Shadow Boxers. TV & Film-inspired fan art. Scroll long enough and you’ll find the foundations of his current finesse: landscape drawings, figure gestures, and hundreds of sketches of hands, feet, legs, and faces.

It was during this intense skillbuilding phase that I first met and got to know Jordan. We were both in undergrad in Providence, RI—I at Brown University up the hill, he at the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) alongside and around the hill—and met through an inter-campus Christian fellowship. I was immediately struck by his excitement and dedication to drawing. His discipline and passion has continued to inspire me, even from thousands of miles away.

Jordan graduated from RISD in 2017 with his BFA in Illustration. He has since attended the Academy of Art University, where he received his MFA in Game Development, with a Major in Concept Art, in 2020. At the end of 2020, he joined the ranks of artists at DreamWorks Animation, as a Character Designer in the TV Animation Department on an Unannounced Project (yes, that is his official job description).

I caught up with Jordan last week. Eight hours apart, me in my tiny English flat and him in his California apartment, we walked together through his journey as an artist.

---

So Jordan, where did artmaking start for you? Take me back to that beginning.

I started when I was very very little. It’s a very common story for artists, that as soon as they could pick up a pencil, they started doing art. For me, that’s the exact story. My mom said that when I was a baby, like under 2 years old, I would trace the air with my finger. She figured, “Hey put a crayon in this kid’s hand, and this’ll probably work for him.” So I started drawing. 

I was watching tons of Disney movies—Hercules, Tarzan, anything fun and cartoony, I just loved. By the time I was three years old, I had all of Hercules memorized. And I just kept going. 

At the time I had done a lot more crafts than drawing. My mom would turn our dining room table into this big art studio. She’d bring out felt and construction paper and scissors and stickers and glue and cotton balls and all this artsy stuff and just let me go to town. She was like, “Jordan, this is your space. Do whatever you want.” Only thing I couldn’t do was use the hot glue gun; I had to wait for her, which is fair. 

Over time I just started getting more focused on the drawing side of it. I started developing those skills up until where I am now. Maybe around 8 or 9 [years old] is when I just switched completely to drawing.

Obviously your mom was a huge influence in just allowing you to make a huge mess, which, credit to her, because I’m sure that was a time to clean up! As you got older and more focused on drawing, were there particular people who helped guide you?

There was a number of people. The first was a teacher named Khalid Birdsong. When I was in the fifth grade, he was an assistant teacher for the third grade. He was the first black teacher I’d ever seen but he was also a cartoonist. The fact that we were both black and we both liked to draw, at a school where it was primarily rich Caucasian Jewish students, we stood out to each other. He kind of took me under his wing for a few years and we’re still in contact to this day. He would show me little things like line of action and what non-photo blue pencils were. He’s the one who gave me my first sketchbook. That was a huge thing for me as [a kid] under 10 years old.

After that, I met my mentor—who became my teacher in grad school—Michael Buffington. He was probably in his late twenties when I met him; I was twelve years old. And I remember he drew this character I’d been working on. Nowadays I’d probably label [the character] as this blaxsploitation character, he’s called Pick Man, he was like this Afro-superhero character; he had this afro pick and he was a teenager… It was a weird concept I had and [Buffington] drew it for me on the spot. I was hanging out with my godfather one day and he just happened to be on the lawn. My godfather said, “Jordan, do you know who this guy is?” And I was like, “Some random dude on your porch? I have no idea!” It turned out he was one of the craziest draftsmen I could ever meet. He’s guided me up until this day. We talk all the time. He’s always been hard on me, but he’s always seen potential in me since I was little. He was a huge, huge influence.

There were some art teachers as well but those two in particular really left an impact on me.

It’s probably a good thing he was a little hard on you because RISD is no joke.

You know, it was interesting because I started being mentored by [Buffington] and then, through RISD, because of the distance, we didn’t talk as much. Then when I went to grad school, to the school where he basically wrote the program for the concept art course. There were a couple holes in my skillset that needed to be resolved. He basically bullied me into submission. It was like boot camp, it was challenging. No one likes discipline at the time but looking back it was definitely something that I needed. I feel indebted to him in that way; I wouldn’t be where I am now without that sort of tutelage.

There’s this idea that artists are born with that pen in their hands, flick a magic switch and suddenly you’re super talented. You exemplify in your own journey the amount of work that goes into it. Tell me more about what it takes to be an artist and what inspires you to keep going with it.

I’m going to start with the last question first. What inspires me is the little version of me. I’ve always wanted to be an artist; since I was six years old, I wanted to do art. I didn’t know how I was going to do it, how I was going to get there, but I never had a Plan B. Throughout my whole life, people were like, “You know, Jordan, this art thing may or may not work out.” 

But I saw this thing from Will Smith, where he said, “It’s useless having a Plan B because it distracts from Plan A.” I’m not saying that’s the right path for everyone, but for me it rang home, it rang true. I just think about the six year old version of me living out his dream. That keeps me going. And the fact that I find it fun. I keep pushing for that reason.

To answer the other question about what it takes to get there… It’s a lot of hours. It’s a lot of time alone spent at a desk, sometimes being frustrated, sometimes being sleep-deprived. It’s not an easy thing at all, but it’s one of those things where, if it’s your dream, you have to pursue it. I spent a lot of time just practicing skill building like lots of figure drawing, lots of boring master copies, lots of understanding of perspective and color and lighting and anatomy and all this different stuff. Very rarely would I  feel like I get to flex the creative muscles. 

I will say this—I forget who said the quote—“Hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard.” Personally I think that there’s lots of people who like to have that idea of you’re just born with it but in reality that only helps a little bit. Maybe. There’s so much that goes into [being an artist] that I don’t think people give it credit for.

As someone who has often focused very intentionally on the skill-building side of things, what of your practice brings you that artistic joy? Are there particular moments, projects, styles, or media that hit the spot?

Oh yeah, I have lots of shows and films that inspire me like that. My favorites… I love the Prince of Egypt, I love that style. Avatar: The Last Airbender, Legend of Korra, Young Justice, The Road to El Dorado, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. Every time I see any of those, I get goosebumps still. Any time I see Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse on screen, I’m just like, “Ah that is the coolest thing ever!” 

I love seeing people’s creative processes. I like animation and film, because animation is one of the only, if not the only, film media that is purely creative. You have to make everything you see on screen, unlike a live action set. With a 2-D or 3-D film, whether it’s a piece of paper on a desk in the background… Someone had to think that up. I just love the creativity that goes into it, even if it’s a detail most people won’t notice. I can’t really explain it; it’s like the way people are inspired by music. It just hits them.

Seeing your influences in animation and film, it makes sense that you’ve ended up in the TV Animation Department at DreamWorks.

I’ve always wanted to be a character designer for TV animation. It’s perfect: my first time working at a big studio happens to be the job that I want, exactly. It’s really weird, almost—I don’t want to say unheard of, but my situation is very unique. A lot of people will have had to work up to this spot. For whatever reason, I was placed in this position to do exactly what it is that I want to do. I don’t know of any other situation quite like mine. I’m not trying to brag or anything. It’s been very humbling, very bizarre, and I’m like, well, I’m here now. I better knock it out the park!

You’ve been at DreamWorks for about two months now. Tell me more about the process of entering into this exciting new space.

My cousin happened to work at NBC Universal, which is [DreamWorks’] parent company. I just graduated from school in May [2020] and all throughout the summer and fall I was applying for jobs and stuff like that. I wanted to see if I could just get in the door on my own. At one point I was like, “You know, Jordan, use whatever ways you can. Use whatever connections possible. If you have a door, use it.” There’s no shame in having someone help you. My cousin said, “Jordan I can’t guarantee you a job, but I can make sure they don’t throw your resume and portfolio out when you send in the application.” That’s what happens a lot of times: you send in stuff, and sometimes they don’t even look at it or they’ll hire in house or whatever the case is. Sometimes it’s hard for people to get a shot, especially when you talk about a big network like DreamWorks.

What’s something you’ve learned in this first bit of time at DreamWorks?

I guess for me it’s just going with your gut, in a way. They hired me because there’s something that I have or something about the way that I think about design and drawing that they connect with. Though I’m working with a team of people, I don’t think they want me to lose that voice. I can say things like, “You know I think this would be really cool to add to this character design.” They’re usually pretty okay with it, especially if it works for the story and all that. 

I would say, even though you’re working with that team, you’re not by yourself. It’s not a solo project. You have to learn to push yourself creatively and add that creative spark that only you can, because that’s what they hired you for.

That creative spark is so important. As a character designer, you take words and random ideas and generate images that in themselves tell stories and then are used to tell stories. I want to touch on Shadow Boxers, which is amazing and I know one of your favorite projects. Tell me a bit about the process of producing such a project.

I guess I’ll start from the beginning, is that alright?

Have at it!

So I mentioned Avatar: The Last Airbender a moment ago. That, to this day, is my favorite show of all time for so many reasons. It’s just phenomenal. The storytelling, the world-building, the characters. It’s just phenomenal. When I was fourteen, and I saw it for the first time, I wanted to make a show like that. I was like, “You know, there’s got to be a way I can make someone feel the same way I do about Avatar, but with my own project.” 

I started working on [Shadow Boxers] in high school. The issues I kept running into were that I didn’t know how to write and I didn’t know the right way to solicit feedback. It started becoming jumbled with all these different ideas from different people. It became a dead project. For five years, 2014 to 2018, I didn’t work on it or touch it at all. I thought I would never touch it again. When it came time to do a thesis project for grad school, I brought it back based on the suggestion of some of my classmates. I literally analyzed everything that I like: Avatar, “Jak & Daxter,” Spider-Man, Black Panther… All of these things that are really cool to me. I asked, “What about that specifically is really unique? Is it the adventure aspect? Is it the visual style? Is it the character journey? What about it do I like?” Then I took those elements and I put my own spin on everything.

With all that information, where do you begin with creating the characters themselves?

It starts with the story. I always tell everybody that I mentor and try to help: any time you’re creating a project like this, you have to start with the story and know it very very well. I know this for a fact because I struggled with this. I didn’t know how to tell a story. All the decisions you make about a character are going to only make sense when you have that in tact. 

For example if I’m trying to design Harry Potter, but I draw him in a cop’s uniform, suddenly things don’t make sense. He’s a boy wizard; why’s he dressed like a cop? It’s funny when I say it, but it’s the kind of thing a lot of people miss. 

I really had that driving me. I made a 70 or 80-page document of just the story. It’s still getting put together, typed up, but I knew I needed to figure that out first. Then I need to figure out what looks cool. I was inspired by Afropunk and Afrofuturism culture. I wanted to have the action of Avatar and Spider-Man. I wanted to have the colors of Nicholas Kole and Jak & Daxter. 

And I wanted to have fun with it. To me, that is what separated my project from a lot of other people I went to school with: I just genuinely had so much fun working on it. That shows in my work.

It makes such a difference to enjoy what you do. Do you also find parts of the process scary or intimidating?

All the time. There’s something called impostor syndrome. It’s the idea that you don’t feel worthy enough to do what you’re doing, despite your experience level or how long you’ve been doing it. Here at DreamWorks, I feel a bit of that impostor syndrome because it’s so new. I know I can draw. DreamWorks wouldn’t have hired me if I couldn’t do my job. But it’s totally scary.

[Shadow Boxers] is totally stepping out of my comfort zone, everything about it. The writing—I’d never written my own story, especially one this big. Trying to design a world that no one has seen before. Trying to make it sound and look epic just by the character designs alone. It’s all very intimidating. I’m very thankful and very humbled that a lot of people seem to appreciate what I’ve been sharing with them, even if it’s not a whole lot.

Through all the exciting and intimidating moments, you keep going. What would you say your creative practice as a whole has taught you?

Two important things. One: Learn to take risks. In life, especially for me, making a big move or a big transition is very scary. A lot of people—I put myself in this category—can be inhibited by fear. You have to learn to not allow that to control you, because it will show in your designs too. Art is a very psychological thing, as well as a visual thing. If you can’t break out of that mental space, it’s going to be hard to expand visually.

The other I would say is always be a student and always be learning. If you feel like you’re at this place where you have nothing else to learn, “I don’t need to grow anymore, I don’t need to experience new things,” that’s also going to show in your work. Whether it’s watching a  show, reading a book, getting a new perspective on a past experience, whatever it is, that constant movement forward is going to be key for any artist. It’s very challenging at first, but I think it has to become a habit if you want to improve in any line of work.

There’s a trope that professional artists want to do anything in their spare time other than art. What’s one thing you love to do when you’re not drawing or designing?

I love getting into new shows and movies, drawing with friends on Skype. I’m at the stage where art is still fun to me. It’s a grind, but it’s fun.

So I spend most of my time [drawing] but I also like Bible study a lot. I really enjoy learning different things about ancient Jewish culture, ancient Roman culture, anything that fits in that time frame. I love thinking about certain things like Noah, his journey. It’s so fascinating for me to think about what the world might have been like at that time. These people lived for hundreds of years; what sort of technology did they have that we don’t even know about? Think about all these structures that are still mysteries to us—these giant monoliths, it’s like, “What was going on? How intelligent were these people?” I love thinking about that stuff.

---

There are many ways you can follow, learn from and connect to Jordan:

• Follow on Instagram @jo.mc.fo
• Check out his portfolio on www.artstation.com/jomcfo 
• Get in touch at jomcfo.art@gmail.com
• Learn from Jordan (and fellow artists) on Art Prof, where he shares art tutorials, critiques, and videos five to ten times a month.

Remember, if it’s your dream, it’s worth pursuing—and hard work is almost always a big part of the bargain!

Tune in next month for another Chat with a Creative! Follow the blog or subscribe to Katie’s newsletter to receive an update as soon as it’s posted.