Drawn to success:
Neal makes jump into New York City's illustration world

Neal did this illustration, titled "Gossip," for Paper Magazine. It was recognized by Communication Arts and American Illustration.

By Josh Boissevain

Two years ago, when Christopher Silas Neal ('99) decided to leave his job at a New York design firm and become a free-lance illustrator, it was a step into the unknown.

"I just did it," he said. "I left my job, made up a portfolio and sort of just taught myself how to be an illustrator."

For Neal, who was recently given an Award of Excellence by the Society of News Designers for his illustration work in the Boston Globe Magazine, the decision to leave his job to try something new came from a need to challenge himself professionally and creatively.

"You only get one chance at life, and you might as well just do what you want to do," Neal said. "It's worth taking risks."

To say that things worked out for Neal would be a bit of an understatement. His creative talent and his unique style – which can seen at his Web site, www.redsilas.com – have given him the reputation as an up and comer in the world of commercial art. Neal has received recognition in some of the industry's top publications, had his art exhibited across the country and owns an impressive client list that includes The New Yorker, Rolling Stone Magazine and The New York Times.

Neal, 29, said he knew even before college that he wanted to pursue something creative. He first came to CU to study music. He briefly considered going into fine arts for a time, but he said he ultimately chose advertising because "it was still creative, but it was something you could actually get a job in."

Christopher Silas Neal

Through classes in the advertising program, he said he became interested in commercial art and took a class in publication design taught by Michael Signorella, an adjunct instructor at CU who owns a Boulder design firm.

Signorella said that despite being quiet, Neal stood out from the rest of the class and was good at absorbing the material.

"I don't know what it is about some kids, but they just have this enthusiasm about it," he said. "You can just tell when something has clicked for somebody."

After Neal graduated, Signorella hired him.

"He gave me a lot of freedom. I could do what ever I wanted, and he would look at it and make suggestions," Neal said. "It was good practice, and eventually I got to the point where I was doing projects on my own."

Then in 2003, Neal took his first leap of faith. With no job or apartment and only the promise of some interviews, he said he packed up everything he needed into a little U-Haul trailer and drove out to New York.

"When I moved out to New York, I didn't have a job at all," he said. "Even before I decided to become an illustrator, I didn't have a design job set up. I just came out here assuming I would find a job and an apartment."

Within a week he had found both.

For the next year, Neal said he tried working at two different design studios, but he soon decided it wasn't what he wanted.

"I really felt constricted," he said. "Everything down to my schedule was dictated by someone else, which is the case for most jobs. I just felt the need for more freedom." 

Illustration by Chris Neal

And that's when he decided to work in illustration.

"I had no experience or schooling as an illustrator, but I had this feeling that it was what I wanted to do and it would work out."

It did. Neal's work for newspapers, magazines and book covers has been featured in such industry publications as Communication Arts and American Illustration, and by the Society of Illustrators.

Though Neal considers himself primarily a commercial artist, he has made time to participate in a number of fine-art exhibitions.

In the past two years, he said he has had showings in Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco and Detroit. chris@redsilas.com