OTTUMWA —
When young artist Jamal Robinson sees someone draw something better than he does, it makes him work harder.
The Omaha, Neb., student, now attending the Ottumwa Job Corps Center, said he first noticed that desire to be the best in kindergarten.
“The teacher would draw an alligator ... and I’d think, that’s good, but I want to draw one even better. I worked at it and worked and worked until the next [time], mine was better than hers.”
But in Jamal’s mind, another child’s drawing was still better — so he worked to surpass that art, too. Jamal still has a competitive nature. But rather than feel bad about someone else’s talent, he works hard to learn from them — and to better himself.
“My dad (James) is a professional artist. When he noticed I had an interest, he [encouraged] me. When I was in fourth or fifth grade, he really seriously started training me.”
He’s learned a lot from his father: Even when he sees a drawing that could have been superior to his, he can see where the other artist went wrong.
Dad, he said, taught him “how to make it pop.”
Yes, there are all different types of art, but for Jamal, 17, he wants his cartoons, superheroes, even graphic text to jump off the page and grab the viewer.
Yet Dad noticed something else about his son. He was a decent student — when he went to class.
“I got in a habit,” Jamal admitted. “It’s called skipping.”
He’d skip a day here or there, hang out at his girlfriend’s house. He’s still in love and wants to get married as soon as possible. But back then, the occasional missed class became a regular thing. Dad sat both young people down to talk about something called Job Corps. Both agreed to apply.
“I love my dad,” Jamal said. His dad has always encouraged him, he said, not just in art, but to make good decisions — which, at the time, he was not doing. That’s changed.
He’s been in Ottumwa since January. His mom, Tessa, was actually born in Iowa and has been in the material handling trade program for about six months. He shows up, ready to go.
“It takes 26 days to break a bad habit,” Jamal said. “That bad habit is gone.”
He has goals and plans, backup plans — even the start of a business plan.
He wants his own line of clothes, which he’s named Wolves in Sheep’s Clothing, to be a cartoonist developing his original ideas, or perhaps working for a Hollywood animation studio like Pixar — to become one of the top artists in the world and if possible, to study art in Paris.
Job Corps teacher Connie Wilson said the young man has the drive and the talent to make something of himself. And, she said, he’s more focused.
Besides the orientation all students at the center receive, Jamal said he’s been influenced by his material handling instructor.
“He’s doing more than teaching us to work in a warehouse or to be a manager. He’s teaching us to go out and be [successful] in the work world. Maybe I won’t do material handling the rest of my life, but [what I’m learning can apply] anywhere. I know how to present myself in a polite way and let people see who I am.”
And who he wants to be.
Local News
Related Photos
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Ottumwa Job Corps student Jamal Robinson, 17, of Omaha Neb., flips through his portfolio Friday. It which contains superheroes, original cartoon designs and this self-portrait, complete with energy boost from a big mug of coffee. Mark Newman/The Courier
August 11, 2012
Student turning talent into success
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