VIP Creator Highlight: Johnathan Jackson

The PVS Virtual Internship Program

In today’s industry landscape many art students are hard-pressed to find opportunities to gain real world experience and training to supplement their higher education and career development. Prime Vice Studios has established its Virtual Internship Program to give opportunity to talented students who wish to gain valuable experience and/ or earn academic credit for their efforts. 
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This interview series seeks to highlight our interns, share their testimonials and assist them on their creative journey.

Johnathan Jackson

​About The Creator

Johnathan is currently studying Digital Animation and striving to give life to his characters and stories to make an impact on the world. His goal is to work with an animation studio such as Sony Pictures, DreamWorks, or LionForge Entertainment while working as a freelance artist immersing himself in various mediums and careers. Art has always been a source for him to thrive, express himself, and have fun whenever he needs to. He is interested in and works with concepts, illustrations, animations, and creating comics.

When it comes to his style, it involves dynamism, realism, quirkyness, and an aesthetic feeling. This not only fuels his creativity but also adds on to the way he likes to depict himself and others in his art. Hope, diversity, and adapting is a strong source of motivation for him as he loves to take on challenges and adapt to them as he advances in his journey to create a great story featuring many unique aspects.

Johnathan is a 2D traditional and digital artist, animator, illustrator and comic artist currently residing in the Atlanta Metropolitan Area.

Interview

Thank you so much for providing your testimonial. Our readers want to know you a bit better.  Please tell us your Origin Story.
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I was born and raised in Conyers, GA with an interest in art ever since I was four years old. I never had much guidance or classes to help me along my journey and was more of a self-taught artist. However, this did not stop me from pursuing art and exploring my talent and interest in what it had to offer. I never understood many things related to art and mostly practiced drawing the characters I liked such as Sonic, Mario, Pokemon, and other cartoons. I looked at more animated shows growing up and finally gained an art teacher in high school who allowed me to test my abilities. This allowed me to understand what I was capable of and helped me recognize that creating animations and concepts was something that I wanted to do in the future.

​After considering many things in my life and gaining acceptance in Kennesaw State University’s art program, I have made it to where I am now. I am trying and striving to represent the importance of art while influencing others through hope, perseverance, my art and story.

PVS Internship Experience

Why did you do an internship with PVS?
I wanted to build my own intellectual property while enhancing my animation, conceptual development, storytelling, marketing, and copyrighting skills. On top of improving my brand, becoming a professional, gaining a diverse network, and working with and assisting clients through commissions.

What was your experience like in the internship? Can you share the most interesting stories that happened to you since you began the internship with PVS?
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My experience with Prime Vice Studios was great and I love going to their workshops which are held at the Syndicate Comic Shop. They have helped me feel included, understood, and have been nothing but inspiration to expand my perspective and story. What really helped me see the benefits and importance of connecting was when I went to one of the workshops and got a commission on the spot. It was from the comic shop owner, John Cirami, where he wanted me to work on a variant blank comic cover for him. This allowed me to understand what it felt like to take opportunities when given and interacting with the community around me.

Pivotal Moments of the Internship

We often learn the most from our mistakes. Can you share one that you made that turned out to be one of the most valuable lessons you’ve learned?

Before starting the internship, I had already been going to the Prime Vice Studios workshops at the Syndicate Comic Shop. In one of these workshops, one of the employees mentioned that there were variant blank comic covers I could work on if interested. I was hesitant at first but didn’t want to let this chance go as I wanted to immerse myself in more. After taking a few, I thought of ideas and started working on one of them which happened to be a completely black cover. This means that it is not easy to apply pencil or much of anything since it will fade due to the material and color. As a result, I asked the owners of PVS for help and they advised me to use certain materials and try my best to let colors like white pop out more. Even with the advice it was still a challenge to work on the commission due to a limited budget, needing light to shine on the pencil I applied, and carefully working around what I could see.

This wasn’t the only thing that I struggled on, I also had to learn about pricing my work, how to talk to my client about what they truly want, and having to eventually add color. Something I gained was confidence and more professionalism when I talked to the owner and asked them as much as I could to ultimately help them with the work they gave me. On top of this, there were even other professional artists in the shop that I personally interacted with to help me with the black cover. Once I got as much confirmation as I could, I knew that it was my job to take my time and do the work without waiting too long. The more I wait, the more I become unsure and start second guessing which is something I did not want to do. 

In the end, the colors came out just as I wanted and expected but like previously mentioned, it was difficult to truly make them pop without the proper materials. Additionally, they even bled through the other side of the cover. This mistake and saying yes to certain opportunities has helped me value time, myself, and that as long as I prioritize patience, consideration, and communication that I can make it through any obstacle. Even today, I am happy with the piece since I was able to sell it and am glad that I was tasked with such a challenge.

Can you share a pivotal moment when you realized that the internship was actually making a significant impact in your life?

Something that opened my eyes was when I about halfway through the workbook Prime Vice Studios provided us interns with to conceptualize ideas, create characters, and learn about storytelling. I was in a section specifically for world building and I was able to see how great it was to look at things from a different perspective compared to everything being the same. For example, I would think of my story as a whole, mixing all the characters, stories, themes, and locations. However, when I cleared my mind and viewed my project in a more simpler way, it helped me learn how to focus on every aspect on its own. They all have their own significance so it's nice to separate and create my story through even the smallest of ideas. Once I had expanded these smaller ideas, it turned into a network of many others that could tell its own story without characters or anything special. 

Overall, this intrigued me to further look into the little and seemingly not as important aspects that allowed me to learn more about myself, my story, techniques such as starting small and taking time, along with many other things about life in itself.

Can you tell us more about your experience at events you’ve attended?

The most that I did when attending events was going to the in-person workshops at the Syndicate Comics Shop. They were always great and I have already been going to them since January 2025. The community is great at the Syndicate Comics Shop and it was nice to see how to make more connections with people. I have learned a lot and am confident to say that I have successfully started making my comic after a couple of months. It took some time but it was needed so that my characters, story, and style could improve into what I have now. If anyone is interested, then make sure to attend one of these workshops because PVS are certified teachers and are here to help.

Thanks! You also participated in additional activities. Please share about that experience.
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One night, Carlos, the owner of PVS, started a livestream showcasing his artwork and one of the commissions he was working on. I joined this livestream and made sure to let myself be known through the chat and talking to him about it during one our meetings. It was pretty interesting seeing how the livestreams work and what it takes to be a professional artist. I liked watching him do his work and learning a few things about the colors he uses and how he approaches certain parts of the piece.
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Knowledge & Skills Acquired

Johnathan, please share about new skills you’ve gained during the internship.

I now have a new style of exaggeration and dynamism. After using the resources PVS gave me and doing exercises, I have been able to visually express my art in a way that tells the story or idea more effectively. This can mean warping my design to help my audience feel the pull of something or exaggerating a character’s walking pose to get a better idea of how they are moving. I have seen this new style progress over time and I really love knowing how the body twists and turns with different actions. It is great knowing these new ways to represent my work and how to evolve as an artist.

How any new knowledge you gained?

I now know that I have what it takes to do pre-production work. For example, I can create characters, provide reference sheets, and make helpful facial expression sheets for any artists or writers to make use of. I also learned about the setup, hit, aftermath formula which is finding out how the scene is set up, what is the conflict or main thing that happens, and how things are resolved. It is great for storyboarding, creating scripts, and providing a good workflow with a summary of the story.

Wow! It’s great to see you’ve gained so much from the Prime Vice Studios VIP experience. You also have made new connections as well.
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This internship has helped me gain valuable connections like having a new community to go to when I want to talk about comics, art, or just chill. This community is at Syndicate Comics and I love the fact that I was accepted and respected immediately. I got a commission from the store owner, John Cirami, and I was even able to ask some professional artists, like Kevin Stokes, about how to approach my commission. It’s a great feeling to know that they are happy to help, talk, and even remember me whenever I go back.

Vision For The Future

Imagine we’re sitting down together two years from now or further looking back. What specific accomplishments would have to happen for you to be happy with your progress?

I would want my comic to be published or at least known about to the world. That is one of the main goals that I have and I would want it to be recognized by an animation studio or all made by myself so that I can have a moving visual of my story. 

Something else that would be great is to become an artist and individual that people can rely on and come to for help. PVS has turned me into a better professional artist and I want to continue growing even more than where I am at now. My other goal is to make others happy and leave an impact on this world through messages and cultures so I really want to make that dream come true.

What do you hope your art/IPs  will do in the world?

My main goal is to inspire others and have my work give people motivation, knowledge, excitement, and a chance to think deeply about topics and themselves. Above all, I want to help people, show the importance of art, and keep them happy since we all need to have some type of happiness within our lives.

Advice For Creators & Future Interns

Who should do this internship? Who would you recommend for this internship?

For those interested in creating characters, stories, concepts, art, or even wanting to learn how to become a professional, this internship is a great opportunity to acquire these skills and more. Prime Vice Studios may seem to be more catered towards art, but there are many other aspects to them such as providing knowledge and lessons on copyright, marketing, different industries, and how to promote yourself or your brand. Overall, it is a fun experience and the workshops are open to anyone interested in comics, art, or just wanting to gain connections with others.

The virtual aspect makes it even more flexible for those that have a job, need to go on vacation, or needing time to focus on themselves. There are meetings and although they are to check on your progress and answer any questions, they can still be used to practice with someone respectful, the owner of PVS, Carlos Perez, who will give advice on how to become more professional and mindful with others.

What advice would you give to interested students?

This internship will be advantageous to those that have a goal in mind. PVS works to help you, the intern, and any goals you want to pursue to help in future success and professionalism. Also, be open to take some of the resources and, in a way, homework into consideration. It will take time and feel like a lot to do, but I guarantee that it will be worth it in the end. I am reluctant to learn from the basics and take time on things that I feel I understand well enough. So when I did have the patience to learn, various answers and skills came to me. It is a great feeling and naturally I would want anyone else to feel the same way interning with PVS.

Final Thoughts & Follow Up

How can our readers further follow your work online?

I have a website, LinkedIn, and other social media outlets that anyone can follow me and my work. Feel free to take a look and connect with me if you have any questions or simply want to talk.

What type of clients, audience do you want to connect with or work for?

I want to work with a variety of clients willing to promote their brand, business, story, characters, and concepts. There is no end to who I want to connect with since I want to hear from anyone that has a story to share and wants to learn more about aspects of the world themselves. Regarding my audience, I want to reach as many people as I can. Naturally, I will have certain work for a specific audience especially for those that are able to and want something to share their experiences and mindset on.
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This was great. Thanks for taking time for us to learn more about you and your art. We wish you continued success!

Contact Johnathan via the following links:

Website: https://johnathanttn65.wixsite.com/jc-portfolio 

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Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnathan-jackson79/ 


Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jc.adaptations 


Email: [email protected] 

Creator Art Gallery

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