Rising Stars: Meet Ana Latese

Today we’d like to introduce you to Ana Latese.

Hi Ana, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
Hello! My name is Ana Latese and I’m a freelance illustrator and designer from Raleigh, NC. Like many other artists, I’ve been drawing ever since I could hold a pencil. You wouldn’t believe how many times I got in trouble for drawing on the walls when I was younger! I was drawing here and there until 9th-grade.

My English teacher saw my drawings one day and decided to let me decorate his whole classroom in DC characters until my 12th-grade year. You would think I would go into art straight out of high school, but I wanted to become a video editor and edit movies. I decided on Jacksonville University’s film program as I always considered Florida as my second home. I realized in my second semester of freshman year, that the program just wasn’t for me.

I have no regrets though since one of the required classes for the program was digital art. I learned the basics of Photoshop, Illustrator, and InDesign. During that class, the professor just so happened to be the head of the illustration department at my university and saw a peek into my sketchbook. He explained all about the illustration industry and how you could draw for a living!

After hearing many years about ‘the starving artist’ and how the only way to do art was in galleries, I never would’ve thought you could make art for magazines, newspapers, and books! I was immediately hooked and became an illustration major for the rest of my college years. Between then and the Summer of 2020, I was learning in my classes and taking on small individual clients from social media here and there.

Once the Black Lives Matter movement during that summer, 2 or three of my pieces went viral on social media and led me to my first big client, The Washington Post! Ever since doing that cover illustration, I’ve been contacted by many bigger companies such as Hulu, Scholastic, RuPaul’s Drag Race, and Penguin Random House.

Now almost a year out of college, along with the help of my amazing agent Christy from the Cat Agency, I’ve been working on amazing books, and editorial pieces, and been working in the film industry after all! I’m grateful to be able to work as a full-time freelance illustrator and I hope to continue to do so.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
My road may seem like it was smooth, but it was definitely not.

Trying to juggle illustration classes, part-time work as a marketing intern for my university, personal work, client work, and maintaining a regular human life has led to many meltdowns and health issues.

Probably the hardest years of my life so far, but I was determined to make my dream of becoming an illustrator reality. I did it and I’m so proud of myself for sticking it through and not giving up.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I’m a freelance illustrator and designer from Raleigh, NC. I specialize in book illustration, but I have done work for newspapers, magazines, and the entertainment industry.

I am most known for my vibrant and warm-feeling illustrations of black people. As a black artist, I strive for my work to communicate positive ideas and images of people of color.

I like creating work that not only illustrates the beauty and strength of a person of color but also creates work that is identifiable and relatable to us.

What do you like best about our city? What do you like least?
Besides the amazing food, I love the art scene here.

I’ve met so many artists from all different industries ranging from painting to food! The least thing about the city would have to be the traffic here!

You have to make sure you leave at just the right time to not get stuck for a bit on the road.

Contact Info:

• Email: anacandraw@gmail.com
• Website: www.AnaLatese.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/anacandraw/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/analatese
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/analatese

Image Credits
Elena Cobas