Liv Garber’s illustrations spread joy and humour, “no matter how scary the world can feel”

“I feel like other people saw me as an artist before I saw myself,” says Liv Garber, an illustrator based in New York. Having fell into the medium by accident, so to speak, Liv would find themselves regularly putting pen to paper as a child, doodling on homework and often getting in trouble for it. But it was less of a mishap than it was a natural evolution, for Liv would even go as far as drawing on the whiteboards and make cartoons of teachers. However, Liv never viewed the role of an illustrator as something they could pursue professionally – a mindset that changed as soon as they enrolled in art school. “I was the only one who surprised myself by my own decision.”

It was a time of self-discovery for the young artist, who felt “unprepared” by the prospects of art school, especially as they didn’t come from an artistic background. “I didn’t even know what kind of art I wanted to make,” they explain, “all I knew was that I liked to draw.” In their second semester, they were transferred into the illustration department at Parsons School of Design, and a dose of encouragement from their roommate meant they were able to dive right into the course full throttle – “I probably wouldn’t have done it without them really pressuring me to submit my portfolio,” they add. Making sure that the nerves never got the better of them, Liv continued to pursue their dream despite the prevailing anxieties of not being good enough. “But looking back, I think that my insecurity was actually weirdly beneficial and led me to be very experimental and explore things that I wouldn’t have done if I had already solidified my practice at such a young age.”

Even if Liv isn’t quite yet a full-time artist, their portfolio is just as mature as someone who's been working for years. Not only are they adept at detailing the busy scenes of the everyday, they’re also pretty solid when it comes to character development, sprinkling with their own personal view of the world atop a wobbly and spiky illustration. “I find my inspiration from childhood memory, experience of queerness and my non-binary identity, and finding little joys in a very scary world,” they say. Beginning the process of illustrating with a small and minute idea, Liv then fleshes it out into a larger concept, and creates "its own little detailed and chaotic world around it.” These ideas tend to be pulled from films, albums or short stories; they’re influenced greatly by life around them and from the friends, artists and peers they look up to.

In any given circumstance, Liv will often be found scurrying away at their drawings late at night after they get home from their day job. Or sometimes, they’ll be sketching in the break rooms at work. Whenever they get the chance, rest assured they keep busy in their practice and will always make time to draw. “Over quarantine, I created a little ritualistic schedule where I would work really early in the morning, have the day to myself to read, find inspiration, do nothing and then work really late at night,” they say. “I try my hardest to keep that ritual even though I leave my house now.”

If there’s one good thing to come out of quarantine, then it’s Liv’s illustration Quicksand, a piece they made during a challenging part of lockdown. “I felt like every day I had to have a weird mental chess game with myself,” they recall. The drawing is a sketchy depiction of two chess players, face-to-face in a seemingly intense match – the sweat dripping off their faces affirms this. Tinted in happy colours and hues of lime green, oranges and peach, it’s quite the joyful sight considering it was crafted during a time of unease. “The figures are meant to be a combo of my face and the face of my grandmother; it kind of felt like the anxieties I was having were generational and I wanted to incorporate that into the drawing. I also just love its compassion and I enjoy looking at it.”

Loose Tooth is another fine example, featuring signature pastel tones plus some humorous characters doing the usual odd and funny things. This one takes a stance at the mythical tooth fairy, which arose after Liv’s partner had a rotten tooth extracted. It’s a funny exchange that every child grows to learn and love, and something that Liv began to question for its absurdity. “We kept the extracted tooth and it sits on my desk – it weirdly brings me a lot of inspiration,” they say. It’s also provoked many more tooth-based drawings afterwards, like a loose or angry tooth “sitting in someone’s mouth waiting to be pulled out”.

Overall, Liv’s work has a fantastic sense of humour running throughout – with each line and stroke detailing a memory or pastime that’s risen to the surface. With a goal of making people smile, Liv hopes that their viewers will be able to feel joy from looking at their work, “no matter how scary the world can feel”. They conclude: “This is incredibly cheesy, but I truly believe life is such a precious gift and filled with weird little details and moments, even loose teeth! My work is really an exercise in pulling joy from memory, even if it is painful. It’s all an homage to how much I love life.”