Julie Houts
Julie Houts has worn a few hats since leaving the Midwest, where she grew up. Following her studies at The Art Institute of Chicago, she graduated from Parsons School of Design and then landed a plum job as a womenswear designer at J.Crew. Her skill as an illustrator and satirist resulted in a huge social media following, which led to her first book, Literally Me, in 2017.
Julie combines her fashion background and wry sense of humor to tell smart, succinct stories that resonate with the modern woman. Hers is a tartly fresh body of work, and it continues to evolve as does she.
1. What was it like growing up in Indiana?
I lived in Indiana until I was 16, when I moved to St. Louis, Missouri. I’m happy I left, but I do love the Midwest. I can always spot another Midwesterner in New York. They’re usually just kind-hearted, unpretentious people who love a good casserole.
2. When did you discover your love for creating art?
My sister was thought to be the “artsy” one in our family, and, I think out of convenience for my parents, I was always enrolled in the same art camps and classes that she was. I ended up having some talent for it, and I also really enjoyed it, so I kept at it. I think I started to enjoy it more fully as an outlet for expression in high school.
3. Which came first, your love for art or fashion?
I’ve always been interested in both. One of my earliest memories is sitting at my little art table and drawing different outfits on top of a Barbie template. In high school I developed a painting and drawing portfolio, which helped me get into art school. After a semester, I realized I was in way over my head there amongst the serious painters and transferred into the Fashion Design program, which was a better fit for me. Working in design, I always found myself more interested in making illustrations and designing on paper than draping on a form.
4. How did you develop your illustration style and what are your favorite mediums?
I think I’m still developing it! It’s shifted pretty dramatically over the years. When I was working as a designer and just making illustrations on the side, I would use my AD and Prismacolor markers, pencils, Micron pens, and some gouache, because those were the mediums I had hanging around my desk at work. After I stopped working as a designer, I broadened my mediums to include oil pastels, wax pastels, colored pencils, and drawing ink. Right now I’m working on layering different mediums and then bringing the drawing into Photoshop to manipulate and clean up.
Developing my style has been an ongoing process, and one that hasn’t been easy to sort out these past few years. When I first began illustrating, it felt very intuitive to include satirical text and draw fashion figures. I’ve tried to consciously move away from that in the past few years, and it’s definitely been a challenge to figure out a new style that feels consistent and signature. But I’m happy with the progress I’m making.
5. What was the transition like going from student to designer and then professional illustrator?
When I graduated from fashion school, it was in the midst of the 2010 financial crisis, and I was lucky to be offered a job through the presentation of my senior thesis collection. I didn’t even negotiate my salary offer. I was so excited I just said yes! It turned out to be not a very great experience, and thankfully I quickly moved on from that first job to J.Crew, where I worked for the rest of my career as a designer. While at J.Crew, I started making illustrations at my desk during lunch and posting them to Instagram. At first I had a very small following of just my friends, and it felt very low-stakes and just for fun. Eventually I grew a much larger following and began to get requests for freelance illustration jobs. Around this time, I also got a book deal. I decided to just take a leap of faith and quit my design job to pursue illustration full-time.
6. What do you find most compelling about fashion?
I think what I find compelling is that everyone has to engage with it on some level. Everyone gets to decide how they are going to be seen by others. Getting dressed each day is a series of creative choices everyone makes, no matter how big or small those choices may be.
7. Vogue crowned you "Instagram's Favorite Illustrator" before you released your book Literally Me in 2017. Your satirical illustrations highlighted the absurdity of navigating womanhood in the social media age. In the years since the book's release, what new observations have you made about navigating your life and career in this age of AI and general social strangeness?
When I was making those illustrations, it felt fun and easy to be interacting with culture in such an immediate way. I would read an article, overhear a conversation or just see something and immediately turn it into an illustration and then post the illustration to Instagram, without much consideration or thought. It was all pretty self-assured and unexamined. As a rule, I posted a new drawing every day! I think the culture has shifted around how we all engage with social media now and, for me, it doesn’t feel like it would be such a fun exercise to put my own words out there so freely in the same way I used to.
In the almost ten years since Literally Me was published, the political and cultural climate has changed pretty dramatically. I’ve also changed a lot, and my life is very different. Generally speaking, I see everything now as being far more grey, delicate and complicated than I did in 2017.
8. You're based in NYC, are there aspects of the city that inspire you and your work?
We’re spoiled for inspiration here! I’m most inspired by the people and how visually layered the city is; trash, weird signage, construction materials, I love it all.
9. Tell us about your studio, where is it located?
I live in Bed Stuy in Brooklyn with my husband and son and our dog. My studio is in a tiny room upstairs in our house, next to my son’s room. We moved in a year ago, and it’s taken me forever to set up my studio. I'm still figuring out storage solutions for such a small space, but it is really wonderful to have a whole room (with a door!) to work out of. In our last space, we had split my office into two small rooms with a wall partition after my son was born, so he could have a nursery. You could hear a pin drop between the rooms so, during his naps, I would be trapped on my side of the partition, trying desperately to not even let a pencil roll off my desk for fear of waking him.
10. Anything special that you have to have in your workspace?
I have a few personal items in here: an ear of corn from my grandparents’ farm, a mug with a picture of my grandpa on it, a cow figurine that was my dad’s when he was a kid. I have a plaque my friend made to rib me after a particularly excruciating turn of self-promotion. It says, “the fame is blinding exhausting.” I also keep some personal photos of friends and family here. Supplies-wise, the only things I always need are 3B, 6B and 8B pencils, a sketchbook, and a pad of smooth Bristol paper.
11. What does your typical workday look like?
Right now, I have childcare three days a week, so I try to make those “work days” really count. I can report varying degrees of success on this front, from week to week! But my daily schedule depends mostly on whether I’m on a deadline.
If so, as soon as I transition my son over to his nanny, I immediately go to my studio and sit down and start working, and I don’t usually take a break until late afternoon. I make a very quick lunch and get back to it, eating at my desk. Sometimes I’ll make an ill-advised coffee around 4 to get me through the late afternoon hump. I stop at 5 when I take over from our nanny. If the deadline is very tight, I’ll go back to work after my son is asleep.
If I don’t have an assignment giving me direction and momentum, it’s often just a directionless haze that is some mixture of domestic and work admin, free drawing, getting frustrated, giving up, starting again, scrolling, questioning every life decision I’ve made to get me to this point, and endless little trips to the kitchen for snacks and various beverages…not the best! Someone please hire me! I need structure!
12. What has been inspiring you of late?
I’ve been taking pictures around my neighborhood lately and drawing from those. I have also been working on building up my portfolio and working out my style, so I’m trying to find references that feel personal to me to keep me engaged with the work when I start to lose my way with a drawing. I’ve also been drawing, painting and cutting construction paper with my son, which is a lot of fun, then trying to incorporate that spirit of playfulness and spontaneity into my own work.
13. Any dream collaborations, or clients?
Right now, my dream client is any client, I really just love to be working and I get excited about whatever job I’m working on. But in the past I’ve loved working with hotel groups, there's always a fun mix of subject matter to draw: beautiful interiors, people, food, drinks.
14. Thank you for your thoughtful answers. Any parting words?
Thank you! :)