It’s been almost 2 years since I started learning illustrator. 2 years, and I can’t believe I went my entire life without it. To give you some background here’s the bio I wrote for my Etsy about page:
“When I was little, my friends and I would sell stress balls made out of balloons and corn, homemade magnets (old relator magnets with a new piece of paper glued to the top with a picture or “catchy” phrase on it) and spend hours creating new art projects. If there was a group art project, I would find a way to do it just a bit differently than everybody else and also spend an extra 20 minutes on it after everyone else had left. It was creativity mixed with a bit of entrepreneurial spirit and some obsession. Those were just the things I loved.
But, I also decided early on that I wouldn’t be doing anything “art” related for my job when I grew up. The only guy I could think of who tried to do art for a living was Vincent Van Gogh and he was poor, crazy and actually made no money until after he was dead. Plus, there was that whole cutting off of the ear thing…I think he was a bit of a creeper. And I just didn’t want to go down that path. I knew I wanted a secure, predictable job without any “just scrapping by” if I could help it.
So, as the years went on and I applied to colleges, got accepted, and had to figure out what in the world I wanted to major in, I choose the practicality of Business & Marketing. I figured there were so many jobs you could get with that degree, so there had to be something that I liked. Let me tell you- business is boring, people. While I enjoyed some of the marketing and consumer behavior classes, I realized with a few semesters to go that I didn’t really like business. At all.
But, I persevered, since quitting would be a waste of the past 2 years I had put into this degree. I graduated, ended up back at the same job I had in high school and college, got married, and sometime in the midst of all that realized that what I was really supposed to be doing was graphic design. So, in August 2012 my husband and I scraped together some money to buy a Mac with the Adobe Design Suite. I had no idea what I was doing, but I was so excited anyway.
The only thing I could make were Chevrons, so I would make chevron after chevron in so many different colors (my husband can attest to that because I would proudly show him each one). Then, I took some online classes in Illustrator (the king of design programs) and fell in love instantly.
So, here I am. Not at all where I thought I would be when I was 12, but I couldn’t be happier about being wrong (I’m sure this is the only time though). Designing makes me happy, makes me crazy and makes me want to work late into the night (and sometimes even get up early, GASP!) And I’m so excited to share this passion with you all! I hope you find something you love as much as loved creating it. Thank you for joining me in this crazy effort to make a living with art and supporting me in it. I am thankful to each and every one of you.”
I’m sharing that with you because 2 years ago was the start of all of this (finding what I loved, becoming a real graphic designer, starting a business). In college, I didn’t know what I wanted to major in, I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do, so I picked business because I figured it’s so general, there has to be a job in that field I like. Funny thing is, though I sometimes wish I would have known at the time I wanted to do graphic design and majored in that, the business degree is helpful in, you know, running a business. And the truth? I know I don’t really need that graphic design degree because I can see proof that all this hard work and constant learning of these skill that I love, this creative work I’m so passionate about, is paying off.
Here’s a picture of an elephant I made about a month or two in to learning illustrator:
Not too bad, I know I was proud of what I was able to make back then (I think we were learning the shape tool). I don’t cringe when I see it, but there’s certainly other work I did that I do turn my nose up at. And I think that’s good, that means I’m growing. And I think you’ll agree too, here’s the elephant I just made a few weeks ago for some client work:
When I realized that I was creating an elephant just like a had a few years ago, I went to back to take a look at what my old design had looked like to compare. Oh my goodness guys, you have no idea how happy I was to see how far I’d come. You know how it is when you don’t see someone for months and they show up one day and they look sooo different, but the people you see everyday, you don’t really notice them changing? That’s how this was for me. I didn’t realize how far I’d come, how much better I’d gotten until I was looking at these right next to each other. 2 years…even 1 year can make SUCH a difference.
I was reminded of that this week talking to a new friend. She asked how long I’d been running my business and when I told her all the things I’d be doing since I started this business last November, she was impressed. And I was surprised. It certainly didn’t feel like I’d accomplished enough to really be impressed about.
So, that’s my encouragement to you this week (which is incredibly fitting because it’s my first week back blogging since June), don’t be frustrated that you’re not getting to where you want to be as soon as you wanted. Just keep going, just keep doing something that will get you further to your goal. Because something is SO MUCH BETTER than nothing and a lot of somethings will add up to a big something in a year. I think as creatives, as business owners, as control freaks (please tell me I’m not just describing myself here?) we often are so hard on ourselves, feeling like we’re not good enough, or need to be more, do more, when to someone else’s standard we’re doing pretty darn good. So, keep practicing, keep planning, keep doing, but remember to step back every once and awhile and give yourself a break, and gosh darn-it, some recognition because you probably deserve it.
And for those of you that are still in the beginning stages of starting a business something I’ve slowly been working on all summer is about to release. I’m going to be offering new logo packages- and the one I’m most excited about is a Sweet and Simple Logo package that’s quicker and less expensive, but still high quality for those who are just starting out and need a great logo, but don’t quite have the budget yet. Look for that next week! I’m so excited about it!
You’ve come a long way and it definitely shows. Keep up the good work.
Illustrator rocks! :)
Thanks, Elsa! Yes, Illustrator’s THE BEST!
Wow! Amazing, and so true! When I look at websites I did years ago and compare them to now, I can see just how far I’ve come!
Isn’t it awesome to look back and see all the hard work is paying off? Love it!
Ohhh how fun! I’m going to have to dig through my files and see if I have any “before” stuff leftover! Love this comparison and what you can learn from it. Thanks for sharing Megan!
Oh, I’d love to see that, Leah! You should for sure go on the hunt for them! It’s SO motivating.
I had to use Illustrator a little at my last job … never could quite master the pen tool. Which means that I can appreciate your Illustrator mastery. Nice work!
Don’t feel bad, the pen tool takes a LOT of time and even more patience (and probably a little bit of fairy dust or something too…) to figure out! Thanks, Beth :)
Love it! It’s good to go back and see how far you’ve come! Good idea to go back and look every now and then :)
Thanks! It so is! I think everyone should do it more often :)
Love it!! This is a great testament to Doing the Work. Thanks for sharing!
It really is. And it’s something I’ve held onto these past few weeks when I feel like I’m not doing enough. Thanks, Heather!
Wow, this is so inspiring. I am currently learning Illustrator and it’s a monster. I’ve never thought myself much of a designer but as I improve little by little I feel there might be a possibility that by next year I might be able to start using design skills as part of my services. I love the fact that you didn’t sugarcoat the time and effort it took. Congratulations on the great improvement. It shows!!
Just keep at it and soon you’ll be a pro! It does feel like a monster when you start though. Thank you, Luisa!
Amazing progress! Do you have any recommendations for online classes?
Thanks Tiffany! Yes I do! I took classes from Nicole’s Classes and they were great although the teacher I took is now teaching at Atly.com (and she was really awesome!). I’ve never taken any classes from skillshare, but I hear great things about them. Even seeing if a community college in your area offers classes might be a good option as well. Good luck!
Checked out Atly – looks pretty awesome! And they have an Illustrator Essentials course that seems perfect. The teacher is Alma Loveland – is that who you had? Thanks for the help!
YES! Alma is really the BEST there is! She’s self taught, so she really focuses on stuff that she would have wanted to know as she was learning.
Soooo AWESOME! Way to go, girl! I’ll just take a guess here, but would that wonderful teacher be Alma Loveland? :)
The one and only! Haha :) Alma’s the BEST. I love her so much it’s probably unhealthy :) Thanks Stefani!
Ha! Me, too! I’m currently signed up for 2 Atly classes with her. I hope you sent her this blog post! :)
No, I didn’t. But I totally should, what a great idea! I signed up for everything she put out on Atly (except Illustrator 101). I don’t even care if I already know a lot of it.:)
It’s so fun that you kept your old illustrations so you could compare! I love what you said about being in business too—that it doesn’t feel like you’ve really accomplished that much to be considered impressive, but when you actually consider where you were when you started and where you are now, it’s a hell of a lot! I think it’s really easy to get blinders on and be so concerned with what’s next and always moving forward that we forget to look back every once in a while and see where we’ve come from. I’ve been in business since March and I can certainly say I have come a LONG way since then. It feels like ages ago!
Thank you for sharing your journey to small business ownership! I really enjoyed reading it, and I gotta tell ya, your right it is all about just starting, getting out there and working at your goals, keepin plowing and eventually things get clearer the journey becomes a little easier and all of a sudden if feels somewhat figured out!