Working for wrestling clients was something that began as a self-initiated sort of personal project for illustrator Jonathan Bartlett. He initially reached out to the wrestling world with idea pitches in hopes he could do a poster or two. That was about a year and a half ago, and since then he has had to create the stand-alone site, Strong Style Art in order to showcase the work and not allow it to swamp all his other work. Jonathan told us, “I never anticipated how big it would get and how quickly it would grow to the point where now, I would estimate, I can spend almost half of my work week on wrestling related projects.”
It works two-fold. On one hand, it’s a marketing tool that showcases all the work he’s done for his wrestling clients, but it’s also a portal for fans to purchase the work. Everything is sold as merchandise, so it just helps get people to the the place where they can buy it.
The whole enterprise has become a brilliant way to market himself. And once again, it proves that personal, self-initiated work can lead to all sorts of opportunities. Jonathan Bartlett is proudly represented by Morgan Gaynin.
