SciArt Spotlight: Abby Garrett

Ground control, this is Style Engineers Worldwide, and we are 'go for launch' an epic interview with rad and renowned #sciart creator and STEM communicator Abby Garrett! Abby creates all kinds of amazing space-related art from comics to t-shirts, and she's the author of the educational (and adorable) comic book Go For Launch: Merlin and his Friends. In addition to being an out-of-this-world illustrator, Abby works with schools in the greater Waco, Texas area, encouraging and fostering interests in science in kids from all backgrounds.

Abby also designs popular mission patches inspired by NASA and commercial spaceflight companies. SpaceX headquarters in Hawthorne, CA even commissioned Abby to design their nitro cold brew coffee tap. Jumping java, that's amazing!

We love that Abby's motto is "Bringing rocket science down to earth through art." Her commitment to STEM education is absolutely astronomically awesome, and we were delighted to get the chance to ask her our questions about her artistic process, what #scicomm means to her, what amazing projects she has in the works, and more. Meet Abby Garrett.

When did you know you were an artist?

I’ve been drawing since the day I could pick up a pencil, so since I was around 3 years old. My mom kept this drawing of a flower and sun when I was that age. I always did art just for fun, but entered city-wide competitions for kids when I was young and won first place at the Heart of Texas Fair art show with my Lion King drawing at age 6. I drew this Mercury Redstone rocket somewhere between 4 and 5 years old, which I think serves as some awesome foreshadowing as to what my life would revolve around over 20 years later!

When did you first combine your art with your love of space?

The first drawing I know of that was space-related was the Mercury Redstone drawing I mentioned earlier. I’m sure I drew plenty of shuttles, too. I grew up in the shuttle era and it had a profound impact on my life. Shuttle launches were happening somewhat regularly up until I was 21 years old. Fortunately, my mom valued the space program, and I watched a number of launches on TV when I was a kid. I never really played with Barbies—I liked “boy toys.” LEGOs, action figures, that kind of thing. I had a habit of turning everyday items and toys like my kitchen playset into rocket ships. I flipped over the play kitchen, used the sink faucet as a joystick, every button or moveable object became part of my control panel, countertops became delta wings, stove burner knobs controlled thrust, and the oven became the cargo bay or “pod bay.” My little brother wanted to play along, so he hopped in the oven and closed the “pod bay door.” We wore matching outfits, pretending they were our astronaut suits.

I was probably 4 years old in the first photo and 6 in the picture where I’m wearing an astronaut helmet at Johnson Space Center.

How do you define your comic style?

That’s hard to say, as I didn’t start out as a comic artist or cartoonist at all. I always tried to draw as realistically as possible, mostly just in graphite pencil and occasionally charcoal, and am completely self-taught. I think at first, I didn’t respect cartoons as much as I did “fine art” and realism. Fortunately, I learned better. To illustrate the process I went through to mentally get comfortable with what I considered at the time “dumbing down” realistic objects into cartoon form, I had to start off with phase one of character design with a realistic drawing, then phase two with a somewhat realistic but far more “cartoony” design than the one before it, then eventually wind up with a design I was comfortable with as my personal style of a cartoon in the last phase. I wanted to anthropomorphize spacecraft and rocket hardware to make space relatable to kids. To do that effectively, I had to practice, learn to let go of perfectionism, study cartoons I liked, and put unique personality into the designs of each character. Between my first space book, Go For Launch: Merlin and His Friends, and the subsequent comic strip/book series, you can detect slight artistic changes in the character design. I think this is because I’m evolving as an artist and it’s showing through in my work.

Though it’s good practice to keep design consistent throughout, I don’t want to feel boxed in or limit the characters’ expressions or build. After months of studying and working in this way, I fell in love with comics and cartoons. 90’s Disney animation was originally my inspiration behind Go For Launch character design but my style has evolved over time and become much more diverse. I’ve been highly influenced by the comic art of Jack Kirby over the past year as well as 1930s-1960s cartoons, so elements of those styles may influence future work you see from me. However, I suspect I will still gravitate towards realistically structured and colored backgrounds, complete with realistic rocket exhaust and sunsets (a signature I’m now known for).

What do you think it is about comics that makes them a great outlet to explore science-related topics?

Comics and cartoons have the ability to make serious or complex topics more relatable. In my case, I’m striving to “Bring Rocket Science Down to Earth Through Art.” Art in general, but especially cartoons, have the unique ability to sum up a paragraph’s worth of thoughts and feelings within a single drawing. Norman Rockwell was great at this with his Saturday Evening Post cover art, as well as cartoonists like Ed Arno, George McManus, and Patrick Chappatte who provided short cartoons for newspapers and political editorials to aid in getting a point across in an effective and succinct way. Cartoons are excellent attention grabbers and effective primers for how one perceives content. Art makes us feel something.

Can you tell us your inspiration for your Go For Launch: Merlin and his Friends book?

I live just a few miles away from SpaceX’s rocket testing facility in McGregor, Texas. Since SpaceX came to town, I’ve been hearing rocket engine tests from 20, sometimes 30 miles away on a weekly or daily basis for years. The tests alarmed residents at first and still do at times, but I’m absolutely exhilarated by it! After following the progress of SpaceX for some time, I became a fan. One day in early 2016, I heard a rocket engine test from my house one day and “Merlin, the Other Little Engine that Could” spontaneously came to mind. I immediately sketched out a corny little cartoon of a Merlin rocket engine with a face on a piece of paper. I’d never done cartoons before and wasn’t sure if the idea was totally lame, so I talked to my boyfriend and family about it. They loved the idea and I decided to move forward. The rest is history!

With the Merlin character and the Go For Launch series, I wanted local kids to think, “Hey, that’s Merlin!” when they heard a test and be excited about living so close to something that’s changing the world. I thought this could have a profound impact on students’ interests and life trajectories if I worked to help local schools boost their STEAM programming. Despite being in a neck brace for half the time, I was driven by this vision and worked 12-16 hours a day for a few months to start and finish my book, Go For Launch: Merlin and His Friends. I was able to get SpaceX’s blessing after they reviewed the book and requested certain changes and began shipping orders in January 2017.

Kristen O. BobstMarch 18, 2019Comment