How I Became an Illustrator

Those of you who are familiar with my story know that my path to illustration was atypical. At the same time, my journey has been somewhat of a cliché. I loved art growing up, but didn’t pursue a higher art education. In high school, I’d taken many art classes, and became really involved in the art program. And then in all stopped. In college, I chose something more '“practical” instead of art. The thing is, I’d always done fairly well in school - getting good grades and taking honors classes. I got the vibe that everyone thought I was too smart to do art for a living. Art was something you did when you weren’t good at school, right? Now, I can see how false this belief was. My art challenges my intelligence daily in a way nothing ever has.

I attended Miami University in Oxford, Ohio for undergrad. In college, I first studied business, and then switched to communications junior year. I only landed on communications because I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life. This felt like the broadest degree I could think of. College was a really tough time for me because deep down, I knew I wanted to make things for a living. However, the starving artist stereotype scared the hell out of me. No one was telling me I shouldn’t be concerned about this either. I didn’t have any successful artists in my life to prove otherwise. You never know where life is going to take you, and I was paralyzed by fear of regret. What I should have been afraid of was not following my heart, but I wasn’t wise enough to see it at the time.

After college, I was kicking myself for not pursuing a more creative program (big surprise), so I went back to school for a year. I studied advertising and art direction at the Chicago Portfolio School. Compared to my college classes, I loved the work. The program included graphic design classes, so I was able to build a portfolio of ads. My portfolio landed me my first job as a graphic designer at Wendy’s corporate in Columbus, Ohio. I worked there from August 2011-April 2015. I was 27 years old when I decided to quit. I’d fantasized about freelancing for over a year, before finally having the guts to leave. It was the scariest and best thing I’ve ever done for my career. I left because I could feel the years slipping by, and I wasn’t happy with how I was spending them. I wanted to choose how I was going to spend the rest of my life. I didn’t want to do it working in an office, investing my time in someone else’s vision.

Once I became a freelance graphic designer, I felt empowered to start making art again in the hours I wasn’t doing client work. I’d missed it terribly. It had been ten years since I’d made anything, and my goal was simply to make art a hobby again. I wanted to rediscover the joy it brought me when I was younger. I started posting daily illustrations on Instagram. They were just little drawings (5x7” or smaller). At the time, that’s all I had the courage to do. Through that practice, I formed a habit. I had so many insecurities at this point. I knew I wasn’t very good. I had no idea what “my style” was. Every post on social media felt like streaking through a crowd naked. I felt silly and exposed. The only thing that kept me posting was the fear that if I didn’t, I would never make art again. I knew I needed a platform to hold me accountable, because everything else I’d tried hadn’t worked. It was now or never.

My first year of freelancing (2015) was tough. Money was tight, because we’d just bought a new house we were renovating. I felt like a failure on a regular basis, but I kept at it. The motivation of not wanting to go back to an office kept me going. By the second year (2016), I had a full roster of clients. I’d almost doubled my Wendy’s salary. At this point, I’d started drawing bigger pieces. I’d even posted my first art print to Etsy. I knew I still wasn’t very good, but I was determined never to stop making art again. A big life change also happened that year. We moved back to my home state of Illinois. The move only brought about more creativity. I was inspired by my new surroundings.

I continued working as a freelance designer for the next few years, making art on the side. My fourth year of freelancing (2018), I discovered gouache - the medium that changed it all for me. It allowed me to create better art faster. Something clicked, and I was on fire. I couldn’t stop making art. Besides the occasional print sale on Etsy, I still wasn’t making any money from it. However, I was at the peak of my career as a freelance designer, making triple what I’d made at Wendy’s.

In 2020, I invested in a commercial printer. This allowed me to offer more print sizes on Etsy. Between that and Covid, my shop took off. In 2020, I’d made as much money on Etsy as I’d made at Wendy’s. It wasn’t anywhere near the money I was making as a freelance designer, but I began to see it as something I could eventually do full-time.

In 2021, I more than doubled what I made on Etsy the previous year. At this point, I’d started to have some really cool illustration projects come my way as well. I wasn’t chasing any opportunities, but people seemed to be finding my art online. It’s amazing it took me six years to become “findable” online. That Fall, I decided I was ready to quit freelance graphic design work for good. While it was hard to leave when I was at the top of my game, I knew it was time. I didn’t hate graphic design, but I didn’t love it the way I loved painting. Client projects dictated how I spent my day, and I didn’t have as much freedom as you’d think. Client work also brought on a lot of stress, whereas art did the opposite for me. I dreamed of spending less time at my computer and more time on my feet. Quitting graphic design was the second best decision I’ve ever made for my career (after leaving Wendy’s). November 1st, 2021 was my last day as a freelance graphic designer.

As of Thanksgiving 2021, at 34 years old, I was finally illustrating full-time. I’d spent the last 10 years inadvertently working towards this goal. While every day doesn’t feel dreamy, I do feel like my dreams have come true. On a daily basis, I feel challenged and fulfilled. I know there are a lot of things to work on as an artist, but it’s work I’m happy to do.

My motive in sharing my story is to give you hope if your art has felt like a lifelong struggle too. For most of my adult life, it felt like the world didn’t want me to do the thing I loved most. I faced so much resistance. Looking back, I’m not sure how I kept going to get to this point. When I think about it all, it makes me tired. It certainly would have been easier to settle on a job in communications, or to keep working at Wendy’s, or even to keep freelance designing. However, my heart wanted different things. Every time I listened to my intuition, it pointed me towards art. Even when I wished it didn’t.

If you’re struggling to become an illustrator, I can tell you it’s possible no matter where you’re at in life. You may be working in an opposite field, making really good money, but you just can’t shake the feeling you’re supposed to be making art instead. If this is you, there’s only one piece of advice I can give:

Don’t let another day go by without your art in it. Make something, anything, today. Even if it’s just a quick ten minute sketch. Then, show it to someone. Once you’ve done that, make something tomorrow. And the day after that. Focus on making art a habit. Make as much as you can in the time you have. Keep showing your art to others, and decide not to care how good it is.

This advice may sound easy, but it will feel like the most vulnerable thing you’ve ever done. However, you don’t have a choice. I’ve learned that the most unhappy adults are those who fail to listen to their intuition time and time again. Suddenly, they’re living a life they never wanted, and they have no idea why. You can either resolve to be deeply unhappy, or listen to your heart and return to your art. I’ve witnessed how many miracles snowball out of listening to your intuition just once. Start making art again, and things will happen that you never imagined possible. Trust me. It terrifies me to think where I’d be if I hadn’t started making art again in 2015. It was such a leap of faith, because I had no idea where it would all lead. Now it’s what I’m doing for a living. I wish I could go back and give my 27-year-old self the biggest hug. She gave me the gift of getting to do what I love every day.

Remember, the only thing worse than not starting yesterday is not starting today.