About Jess Harder...

I’ve always loved to draw and create characters.
As a kid I would find a sketchbook that hadn’t been filled - which was a harder task than you might think - and fill it with my imagined characters, my comics, and all kinds of illustrations.

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Excelling in all of my art classes in high school, I achieved 100% in my cartooning class and was awarded the Illustration Award at graduation. With all of this love and passion for drawing, I’ll bet you can easily guess what I chose to study at University... science!

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I had decided to be a genetic psychologist and study neuroscience and psychology. Throwing myself into my studies, I didn’t find time to fill any sketch books, and I lost touch with my artistic side. Luckily, at the end of my first year, I failed chemistry, an imperative prerequisite course for every other class to continue. While I loved science almost as much as I loved art, failing chemistry was the best thing to ever happen. Thinking long and hard about my career path, I chose to study biology and studio art because I still needed some science courses to graduate with my Honours, Bachelor of Art & Science Degree.

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After graduating, I had another life-changing epiphany. I’d written a thesis about the importance of creativity for brain health in my fourth year, and I knew - all I want to do for the rest of my life is to be creative! I want to be an illustrator!