Meet Manuel Herrera | Educator | Illustrator | Speaker

We had the good fortune of connecting with Manuel Herrera and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Manuel, what led you to pursuing a creative path professionally?
I stumbled into my creative career by accident. While I did not intentionally pursue an artistic career, I have always considered myself a creative person and have used that way of thinking and working most of my life. In 2003 I began working in education as a middle school special education teacher. My focus was 8th-grade math. In addition to that, I also worked with students on core subject areas. Science. Social Studies. Language Arts. Because of this, I found myself having to learn 8th-grade content all over again. As I worked with students, I found that using simple drawings was incredibly helpful in explaining complex concepts in each of the subject areas. I would draw these simple graphic organizers with students (diagrams, storyboards, character journey maps, mindmaps, etc). Not only would I draw them, but I would teach kids how to draw them. We always focused on the ideas and never the art. We weren’t worried about how they looked. Just what they represented. That took practice. Every time I would review or ask a student to recall information, we would draw what we knew.

Unfortunately, other teachers on my team did not like this idea. They said this would not help students in high school and beyond. They needed to learn how to take notes more formally. Cornell Notes were a big initiative in my school at the time. My students continued with drawing notes and using them to learn and reinforce concepts. We just had to do it outside of the general classroom.

After 7 years in the classroom, I ended up taking a role as an Educational Technology Coach. This sent me on a path of learning all about the edtech world and how it was impacting education. We were moving towards a very digital classroom. For the next 7 years I learned about the various edtech tools that were available to educators. Palm Pilots, Netbooks, Laptops, iPad, Interactive Whiteboards, Clickers, Chromebooks, and all the software and apps that went along with them. I trained hundreds of teachers, students and administrators on how to use these devices and software in education. I was full on tech in the classroom.

Then about 6 years ago, as a Technology Coach, I started to notice that we were replacing the creative process with apps. We thought that if kids had access to all the technology they could, it would magically make them more creative. This was not the outcome. What I felt was that a portion of the creative process (brainstorming, communicating, trial and error, drawing, designing) was being replaced by templates. Everyone’s products started to look the same.

Then I came across the Design Thinking process. That’s when we started to put down devices and started observing, asking questions, prototyping, sketching, and engaging in a creative process. I’m not against technology at all. It’s a necessity in our personal and professional lives. It’s that we started to use these tools with more purpose and intention.

By beginning to move in this direction with students I not only taught students them that they could be creative, I started to use drawing again with students. Only simple sketches. Just like I had done with my 8th graders. But this time I was a veteran teacher and there was little resistance. I also found joy in drawing again. Which sent me on my own creative journey with art.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
The more I started to draw with students the more I saw them practice and begin to use it as a way of thinking and expressing ideas. When they started to do it without my prompting, I knew it was making a difference and they were internalizing this strategy.

I wanted to share the work these students were doing with other educators so I started to post their drawings on social media. Simple sketches.

“Here’s a group’s brainstorming activity.”
“Here’s a group sketching out a storyboard for a video they’re working on.”
“Check out this drawing of a prototype this student will 3D print.”
“Have you seen this student’s mindmap they completed as part of their prewriting work?”

These posts were getting a lot of attention from educators and people started to reach out and ask questions about how I was teaching students to draw. This led to me starting to facilitate workshops on using drawings to show thinking. And everything grew from here.

Over the past 8 years, I’ve slowly grown a consulting business on helping educators use drawing in their classrooms. Along the way, I began to share my artwork. As consulting opportunities picked up, so did my drawing practice. Not only was I sketching ideas and supporting learning, but I was also beginning to tap back into my childhood love of drawing.

It started with small drawings about education. Mostly sketchnotes.

“Sketchnotes are rich visual notes created from a mix of handwriting, drawings, hand-lettering, shapes, and visual elements like arrows, boxes, and lines.” – Mike Rohde

I loved drawing these notes. They were easy. Quick. And could often be turned into art. I had been sketchnoting since I was a kid in grade school. I just didn’t know it had a name. Until I came across the work of Mike Rohde and Sunni Brown.

All of these influences and previous work helped me develop my style of illustration. And of course, I’ve mixed in my art heroes as well. Oliver Jeffers, Mark Kistler, Mike Lowery, Gemma Correll, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Shel Silverstein, and Eddie Vedder.

Simple. Whimsical. Fun. “I could draw that.” is how I might describe my art. I live in the education world most of the time and think that’s what has helped me gain a following for my art. I’m very proud of the work I’ve done so far. The thousands of sketches that have eventually turned into finalized art. I enjoy the process. And I love to share that part of my work. My hope is to inspire others to draw. Adults. Kids. The way I was inspired by my heroes. They made drawing seem accessible and attainable.

I’m incredibly proud of the work I’ve done and fortunate that my art has stood out and earned the appeal that it has. Some of my most notable accomplishments:

– 2 children’s books (Agi & the Thought Compass, Cooper’s Comics)
– spot illustrations for 5 books
– partnered with Adobe, Spotify, Pixel Press & Soundtrap
– keynoted two conferences
– traveled across the globe to speak and share my work
– appeared on several national podcasts and local television programs

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
St. Louis has so much to offer. More than I thought it would when I moved here. I can’t list everything but this would be a great start!

St. Louis – An Itinerary.

Eats
– Southwest Diner
– Salt & Smoke
– Brasserie
– Nudo House
– Casa Don Alfonso
– Olive & Oak
– Ted Drewes Frozen Custard

Visits
– St. Louis Art Museum
– St. Louis Contemporary Art Museum
– The City Museum
– STL City Soccer Game
– City Foundry
– The Armory
– The Fox Theatre
– St. Louis Zoo

Hangouts
– The Mud House – a coffee shop in the city
– Forest Park – Art Hill
– 4 Hands Brewing
– Rockwell Brewing

Interesting
– Get some ink at Howdy Tattoo
– Hike Castlewood State Park
– Paddleboard Creve Coeur Lake
– Ski Hidden Valley
– Shop Tower Grove Farmer’s Market

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I could not have done this without the support of friends and mentors. Often, I needed nudging from others. Sometimes it was for vailidation. Other times it was coaching so I could get better. And sometimes it was a “That’s a great idea!” and I ran with it.

I wish I could share how each of them supported my journey but I’ll list a few of them for now. Some are personal friends and acquaintances and others are authors/artists and their work.

Personal
Bob Dillon
Sadie Lewis
Mike Rohde
Dan Ryder
Kim Zajac
Jacquie Guardy
Kevin Lashley

Authors & Artists
Austin Kleon
Dan Roam
Sunni Brown

And Julia Heilich. For all the love and support she’s given me over the years.

Website: https://www.manueldraws.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/manuelherrera33

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/manuelherrera33/

Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/manuelherrera33

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@ManuelHerrera33