Independent pursuit of his passions led Jamesie Itulu to a career as an independent artist and he’s now sharing his gifts with the next generation through art instruction. He was born in Iqaluit but was soon adopted and moved to Pond Inlet, Nunavut. When he was young, his mother gave him paper, a pencil and a book of dinosaurs with instructions to draw them, sparking his first love of art.

At one point, Itulu created art and written words for the Canadian Space Agency, inspired by satellite imagery. He has created and sold merchandise with his art printed on it and designed graphics for informational posters for Smart Ice, a sea ice monitoring company. He also illustrated for Baffinland Iron Mines Corp and was invited to and participated in an artist in residency program with the Winnipeg Art Gallery in March of 2025.

These days, Itulu teaches illustration through Connected North, sharing his passion with students, knowing what it’s like to not have support or help from people who understood his passions or chosen path. He loves to teach about art and help others.

As a self-taught artist, Itulu never had the benefit of a live instructor providing feedback and direction, instead learning slowly over time through experimentation or online tutorials. Growing up, he bought books on how to draw things whenever he would travel South and has built up a collection of art books over the years. He recommends aspiring artists research online how to draw different things.

Motivating him to draw is the joy of bringing what he imagines to life on paper or digital surfaces. Sometimes Itulu feels moved to create original works while other days he wants to make fan art. He takes breaks to avoid burnout which can leave him unable to draw for months at a time.

To bring himself out of burnout, Itulu plays games, and he takes care not to be idle too long to avoid losing his knack for different techniques. He gets himself moving again with things he wants to create, rather than what he has been asked to make. From there, he finds it’s a snowball effect, with offers of more and more projects until he has to be careful not to burn out again.

Itulu loves drawing on his tablet because of the ease of changes he can make, where paper helps him refine his skills because too much erasing can impact the quality of the image. He uses a program called Procreate on his ipad for digital drawings.

For Indigenous students thinking about leaving home for development opportunities, Itulu suggests self-study rather than going to school for arts and crafts. He feels with the challenges that come with being an independent artist, getting one’s name out and getting higher paying gigs, having a job to fall back on is the best way to do things.

As far as obstacles go, Itulu faced his own challenges getting his name out and found he had to develop more of a personality to stand out, building an online presence and being outspoken. Financially, things have been challenging, with the need to generate funds for projects and cost of living. A job that pays well often alleviates those pressures and gives time for skill development.

If Itulu could share a message with his younger self it would be, “Keep doing what you're doing and walk the path that you're walking currently, because it might lead to places that you never even thought of going to.”

To balance his mental health and well-being, Itulu loves to immerse himself in stories through story-rich games and reading and listening to books from his collection of novels, comic books and manga. He listens to the news for inspiration and rewatches shows and movies or goes on long walks. He loves to listen to the song Bottle Rocket Astronaut by Bug Hunter.

His advice to aspiring artists is to start with paper and something to draw with. “It doesn't really matter if you're good at it or not, because if you enjoy it, then you should just keep going,” Itulu urges. Finally, he recommends, “Trust your gut feelings on what you want to do, and pace yourself on what you're trying to do, because if you go too fast, you might miss some stuff that you probably needed. Slow and steady, but keep going.”

From drawing dinosaurs as a child to drawing for the national space agency as a professional, Jamesie Itulu’s self-taught talents have come a long way. Bringing his imagination to life through his artist practice, he motivates himself to create for his own satisfaction and for clients. Paying that knowledge forward, he’s sharing his talents as an illustrator with the next generation through Connected North.

Thanks to Alison Tedford Seaweed for authoring this article.