Illustrator and paper artist Rita Jane: “I want to put‌ joyful, delightful things out into the world”

Rita Jane is an illustrator and paper artist with an educator past, who focuses on family-and child-friendly messages. In this interview, she talks about the power of calling yourself an artist, even if you’re not sure yet, as well as her brilliant approach to social media and why one of her goals is to increase her follower count, but without making it her purpose. 

She shares her thoughts about what it means for an art piece to be marketable, why every artist should have an accountability buddy, and why time blocking works for her. We also talked about why she’s not worried about AI, and why she thinks it’s important to accept that it takes time to develop one’s signature style. 

Rita also has wonderful book recommendations for artists covering topics from branding to self-care, so make sure to write down her tips—writing down things is actually a key part of her daily routine as an artist, too. Read on, and see if that might also work for you!

You started as an educator before becoming an illustrator and surface pattern designer. What challenges did you face during this transition?

When I was shifting, I did a Master's of illustration between, so it was part-time for two years, online. That was really useful because one thing that I think lots of people feel is that if you haven't done an art degree or you haven't done something that says you are an artist, then maybe you're not an artist. There's this kind of feeling that you're not there yet. 

It's hard to make the leap into doing a creative career for some people. It was definitely like that for me and my life situation. We were moving countries, and we didn't actually know where we were going to end up. I didn't know if I could teach there, and it just made sense to do something new. 

I jumped in, did this illustration Master's, and I really went into it thinking that it was going to teach me how to be an illustrator, and how not to be a teacher.

I really felt like I was leaving teaching behind and going into this other thing. I knew that I wanted to do children's picture book illustration in particular, and from the very start to the very end, even though I fought it the whole way through, the teaching bit just kept on coming back again and again and again, and all the stuff that I loved in the classroom kept on coming back again and again and again. 

At the same time, I had this idea that “I need to be a serious artist”. I need to use serious materials, for example. But I don't use serious materials. I use a glue stick. I use paper that I've either painted or just paper that I've bought. I use a ruler, scissors, and sometimes a blade. And a lot of those things are the things that I would use in the classroom with the kids.

Maybe once a year, I would do collage, and I would just get out the paper and the stuff that I would use with the children, and I would have such a good time. Then I would go back to digital art or watercolor or acrylic, and it was fun, but it wasn't the same kind of playfulness and joyfulness, and the kind of feeling that I would get in the classroom. 

When I was in my Master's, my tutor said, "You should try collage." And when I actually was given this permission to try collage for a really specific reason, and I finally went into it, I was like, "You know what? I do love all these things that I had in the classroom. Let's stick with that". 

Because I think my vibe and what I want to put out into the world are joyful things, delightful things. And if it brings me joy and delight, it's going to go out to other people. And it’s very much what you do in the classroom, too. You bring kids in with the joy and the delight.

This notion that maybe you’re an artist only if you have a degree of some sort—has this idea shifted in your head?

It is hard to say if my degree made a difference, but I think there is a lot of power in just saying that you are something. I have moved countries quite a few times, and every time you move to a different context, you get to choose how to introduce yourself to people. Where I was originally from in Australia, I was a teacher who was creative and did great art lessons. You could come to me if you needed something painted or whatever in the school. Then I moved to London and met my now husband, who is incredibly supportive of me being in the art world. There, I became a teacher who was doing art things on the side. 

Then I went to Geneva, and I had a friend who was like, "No, you're an illustrator. Call yourself an illustrator". And if I didn't know someone, she would say, "Hey, this is my friend, Rita. She's an illustrator, and also, she's a teacher". It was illustrator first. That was really when I started to quietly, carefully introduce myself as that. And when we moved here, to Cyprus, I've only ever been an illustrator to anyone who's met me because I haven't taught here. I haven't been able to hide behind anything else. I think that is very powerful in itself, that I can't say I'm anything other than an illustrator or an artist.

How did your experience as a teacher, working in different countries, influence your art, specifically? Your style, your themes, and your general approach to illustration and design?

When I left teaching, I had this specific idea of “I'm going to be a picture book illustrator”. And when I started doing my Master’s of illustration, I realised that the reason why I wanted to focus on picture books was because I thought they're an amazing educational tool, and they are just beautiful in so many different contexts. 

But the Master’s really opened me up to the fact that there are loads of different things that you can do in illustration. One of the things that I was really drawn to was from my teaching experience. When I was teaching at schools where they didn't have uniforms, kids would come in, and they would just be so excited. Four- and five-year-olds would be like, "Rita, look at my T-shirt!" And it might be a panda, or unicorns, or other things that kids love. There might be a little interactive bit on it, or there might be a pattern on their water bottle; just different things that children at that age are really enjoying having, because it is showing their personality. It's showing things that they really enjoy as they're starting to become these individuals who want to share the things that they like with other people. 

I got really interested when I was thinking about this in surface pattern design because I love that joy, and the way that children wanted to share themselves and choose things themselves based on what they had available to them. I was thinking that it's not just a product, it's something that they really cherish and they're excited about. So I started learning how to make patterns, and this is something that I continue to really enjoy, matching illustrations that could be on T-shirts, for example, with patterns that accompany them. Bringing in this very childlike way, or materials that a child could use, but still creating something that they can have on their backpack or lunchbox. That has definitely been a big influence. 

I also find that a lot of the things that I have made in the past using different materials, I translate those into collage, or I like to make digital work where it's like faux collage, with shadows and texture. 

And with social media as well, it's useful to think about the way that you explain yourself, because the way that you explain yourself to kids or explain what you're doing, or for tutorials, for example, you really have to be clear about what you're doing. The way that you're talking about your story and the things that get you excited. If you're excited about it, other people will be excited about it, and it doesn't matter how old you are. I don't think that will ever change. So, I think it's useful for my presentation as well, that I'm coming across in a way that people want to engage, and I think that my teaching training has been really useful for that. The more I lean into that, the more engagement I get with people I don't know, and I really like that kind of building of community online and in person. 

You specialize in making child-friendly well-being messages with child-friendly materials. What is considered child-friendly today and what isn’t? And why do you think it’s important to create child-friendly art?

I really like this idea of linking a well-being message with the real world, where you're using your design to be a hook to talk to children about things. I love the idea of making teaching resources and things around this, as well. I had one about being unique. It was all weather-based because it's something that all children experience and understand. I had lots of different designs that were based on being surprised, or embarrassed, or all these different emotions. What came up against this idea was that this wasn't completely marketable because generally brands do not want to have things on their clothing or their stationery that are not joyful and not positive.

For kids, it is difficult to be able to sell the idea that there are lots of different emotions, except if you're in an educational context. If you're making educational materials, that could be a different type of thing. But I wanted to bring it into not just schools, but homes.

In the end, I have stopped focusing on that as being something that could be on children's clothing. Instead, I'm developing things like interactive paper art, with flaps and pop-ups. I'm currently thinking about how you could have a duvet cover that children could have in their room where you lift the flap and it gives you a prompt to think about how was your day, the things that make you feel safe, or things that you're grateful for; and do it in a very child-friendly way, such as having a space theme or having a flower theme, where you're already inviting the children in with things that they like, so motifs that they like. Then you're creating a safe space for them by asking these questions or giving them a little prompt that helps them reflect. 

Also, I'm approaching brands with designs that I think they might enjoy. I need to focus more on the positive stuff, but I think positive well-being messages should be authentic. You can’t be telling children “Just be happy”, because that's not how we process emotions. But you can still bring sunshine into children's lives and into other people's lives by more appreciative messages, like “You're the rainbow in my life”, where you're showing people that you appreciate them, and there's this idea of you being a colorful thing that lights up the world.

So, I have moved away from what I was thinking originally because of a business decision. I needed to have something that was marketable; otherwise, I was really not going to put myself in a position where I could create income for myself. Sometimes, as artists, you just have to be realistic about where the point is, where your art is going to meet up with what you can sell, because there's some art that I make that is not sellable, and that's totally fine, but I need to be realistic about that.

There are so many books that help kids understand and process feelings, though. There’s a clear demand there. Have you been thinking about going in that direction, writing and illustrating a book that deals with feelings and emotions?

Yes. One of my big successes that I felt in 2018 was that I participated in a picture book event on Twitter called PB Pitch, and through that, I found a literary agent in the US. I had a picture book go out to US publishers, and it didn't get picked up, which felt like a setback, but it was great to get feedback on it and see how I could improve it. Also, sometimes your first book just isn't your best one, and you don't know that until you get feedback. Then you can see, “Okay, actually I can continue to improve these things,” and one of those things I was improving was my illustration skills. That was very important to note. 

I really appreciate that I have my literary agent to speak with. I have not created full new stories since my Master's, and sometimes I get a bit worried about that, but I also know that I still have this amazing resource of having my agent, whom I can go to and be like, "Oh, I have this idea. Is it worth continuing into something else?" They are fantastic, very honest about what they think, very professional, and they understand the picture book illustration world and the picture book world in general. 

The best feedback that I had from my last conversation with my agent was when I presented my ideas for two different well-being books. One was based on my style that I use for my family portraits, which are called group hugs, and they have this concentric circle idea where everyone fits like a puzzle. And the puzzle is complete when you have your family all together. 

The other idea is about the need for self-care and rest, and learning about the different types of rest, because this should be something that we are all aware of. Rest doesn’t have to mean having a nap or reading a book; it can be lots of different things, and we need all those different things in our lives. I have this idea of stillness and having a pause, mixed with an interactive pop-up book in the form of a gentle movement when you open and read the book.

My agent loved both ideas, but because these books have interactive elements, they said that, at the moment, the industry is having an issue with just how expensive things are. Again, it comes back to: are things sellable? Are they possible? How expensive will things be to produce, even when you have a great idea? 

So the feedback I got from the agent was, “Yes, please, continue these two ideas because they're wonderful messages, but also, are there ways of doing that without having the interactive elements?” which there are, absolutely, that is totally possible.

The third thing they said was that normally, publishers want to work with illustrators and with people who are well-known online for their expertise. This is one of the reasons why I have started focusing on my social media. I've always posted on social media, Facebook and Instagram, and even when I was teaching, I was posting two to three times a week, but never saw substantial growth, and I never had a strategy. But those two things are very linked. 

There was similar feedback that I got at the start of this year when I was cold emailing brands, or bold emailing, as my accountability partner likes to call it, and sending them my surface pattern designs. Quite a few of those brands got back in contact, but they said, "We do collaborations, but we approach people who have a large online presence". That was a little bit disappointing, but it also shows that there is a reason to be online. That it is not about a popularity contest, which is how I've always felt about having large amounts of followers before. It's very easy to attach your self-worth to how you get and what response online. 

These two conversations and feedback told me that social media is not about a popularity contest. It's about showing that people find value in what you're doing, and they want to see more of it, and they want to see more of you, and they want to have that in their life. So, my goal now is to increase my follower count, but that's not my purpose. My purpose is to bring joy and delight. And that follower number is just a data point that is telling me whether or not I'm achieving that goal. The follower number is not something that every brand cares about, also, nor is it one that you should base your artwork’s worth on, because otherwise you'll go crazy.

I’m a very practical person, very goal-oriented. So, this is simply a way of holding myself accountable for showing up and creating things and value for people.

I find this shift really helpful, and I can see that over time, that is going to help me to have more leverage to talk to brands, and to show I'm creating this value. That I am an expert in pop-up designs, or I am an expert in getting through to children with their well-being messages.

Did you reach out to these brands as potential art licensing partners?

Yes. One of the difficult things about having a creative business or possibly having any business of your own is deciding what is the right thing to focus on at this particular time. It's really easy to doubt yourself or doubt the direction you're going in, so I really like forcing myself to work on one thing at a time.

For example, for the first three months of this year, I was only making art for children's clothing, including some of those that were well-being messages and some of the fun, just silly things that I know from my teaching experience, kids really enjoy. Half of that time was about making, and half of it was about contacting people, specifically brands that make children's clothing that I could see my artwork fitting into. It wasn't a huge pool of brands that I was contacting. I was very careful to only contact them if I was providing potential value to them, because otherwise, you're wasting everyone's time. For instance, I'd be wasting my time contacting people who use neutral colors, and they only use text. You have to be selective about the people that you're contacting.

Also, one of the challenges with wanting to do art licensing is knowing who does licensing, and sometimes you don't know until you contact them.

It’s important to have follow-ups, too, so that you can create relationships and really nurture those relationships. If we’ve already had these lovely conversations where I’ve shown that I care about their brand and they’ve shown that they care about my work, I feel confident that I can contact the person in the future. 

What other projects do you have going on now?

The majority of my commissions are when I work with families,  because my work is so family-friendly. I make these group hug family portraits, and I really enjoy making them. But there is a part of me, maybe because of my own relationship with money and the things that my family would spend money on when I was a kid, that makes it very difficult for me to quote for my work that I'm going to provide for a family. 

I feel very connected to this idea of what other people will value my work at, and what families can afford. I really have to try and disconnect myself from that and be like “This is what it cost me, and this is what I would like. This is what I think my value is”. Just being unattached to the person who is receiving that, even though we've had a lovely email or a lovely conversation. I need to be honest about the value that I put on my work, and then they can choose if they put that value on my work, as well. It's totally fine if it's not, and if they do, wonderful, let's work together.

So that kind of idea is very different from working with commercial artwork, where they have a budget for their artwork, where it's just part of the business model that they have. This is one of the reasons why I advertise myself as doing commercial projects, because I'm interested in moving into more commercial things, so that I'm more comfortable with the pricing and payment. At the same time, I can't imagine stopping with my family portraits, because I think people really enjoy them. They're very special to the people that I've made them for, and they also feel really good to me.

Has the way you price your projects changed at all since you started?

I think that my confidence in pricing has, because I make this effort to disconnect from the person whom I'm actually quoting, and my ability to price fairly for myself has improved. So, therefore, I charge more than I would have before. Before, I would quote my price, and then I would be making it, and the whole time I was making it, even if it was really fun, I would be thinking: “This is taking me so long. This is using a lot of my creative time and all these resources, and I know I undercharged because of how much I'm putting into this”. That can be really detrimental to the creative process on that project.

It’s also useful to write down your prices because when you quote again, you can be like “Ah, yes, this is the same as that project”, or “This is similar to that project. So how am I going to go into this?”

One thing that I still price a bit lower is when I'm doing experimental things, that I'm not sure quite yet how it's going to go, and I don't have evidence that it's going to be as successful as what's in my head. For example, someone asked me to create a real-life cryptocoin in an actual coin form with a wallet to put it into, as an interactive thing. I ended up spending a really long time on this project, and it ended up looking amazing. I charged €200 for it, for the amount of time, effort, and everything that went into it. I was really excited about how much creative skill I put into it, as well, and he absolutely loved it. I could have charged a lot more for that, but I learned so many new skills and new techniques within that one project that I wasn't mad in any way that I had charged a small amount for it, because I got so much value out of it. And now I know that in the future, I can do that again, and it will be successful.

Does the majority of your income as an artist come from these personal commissions right now?

Yes, definitely. I don't get them all the time, and I am in a privileged position, where my husband is able to support us with his salary, which has been the case for us in the past, where it's been the other way around. But I do want to build up my income. 

It is important to me to be able to contribute financially, but it's also not happening right now as I am not able to bring in the same amount of income as my husband does. He's very supportive, and he is very much making sure that I'm pushing myself, as long as I'm showing that I am really taking this seriously. But this is not something that I want; my husband to always support me, even if he's super happy to be that person for me right now. 

It does make me self-conscious because it's not the position that I want to be in financially, but it is also part of the process, of the transition for me right now. Finding the right way to make that income and also market myself to the right people who will want the family portraits and who will be interested in the surface pattern design, as well.

You mentioned that you have started focusing on TikTok a bit more, but you also have other social media channels. Where do people who commission you find you?

I have found in the past that a lot of them have come through Facebook, because even though I don't post directly on Facebook, I post my Instagram content naturally onto Facebook. That's where a lot of the grandmothers follow me. From Instagram, there are more people who are parents, between 30 and 50, which is more in the range that I'm seeing. And on TikTok, I’ve had more requests for quotes than on other platforms. I think that is probably because I am paying more attention to what I put in my videos and what I am asking people to engage with—and one of those things is a call-to-action.

On TikTok, just last week, I put a little thing at the end of my message, saying, DM me if you would like one, and I had three people message me within a day. That’s the type of interaction that I haven’t had on Instagram before, where it’s been more of a slower process.

Being more aware of what I'm asking people and how I'm asking people to communicate with me. Just telling people you can have one of these, that it's not just something that I'm making for other people, that you are welcome to just come and talk to me about it. Not every quote is going to lead to making an artwork for someone, but now you're in that conversation, and now they know how you work, and they might come back to you later on.

Have you tried any paid advertising so far?

A few years ago, maybe five years ago, I did my first product, which was a print-on-demand product. I stopped doing that type of print-on-demand because, over time, I saw the products that I bought with my own artwork were not of very good quality. I decided I'm going to pause that print-on-demand and find something that is better quality, because that's what I want to associate myself with. 

But the one time I did print my own cards for Christmas, I did some paid advertising on Facebook and Instagram, and it did get to a few more people. 

It wasn't anything dramatic, but at that point, I was so excited when anyone I didn't know was reaching out. It was a new type of thing for me to try, and I definitely did get some responses from it. I haven’t felt the need to do it again since, but it’s something I might consider in the future.

What do you talk about in your newsletter?

In my newsletter, I've got four clear sections, and that really helps me to write it quicker and not overthink it. Even though I do like to put some time into it, because these are people who have said that they want to hear things that are not just on my social media.

So I have one section saying “Hello from…”, wherever I am, with my photo. It could be from an exhibition. It could be from somewhere I am in Cyprus. Maybe I'm traveling and I'm just showing myself wherever I am. Often, it's art-related. One of the reasons why I do that is because of the personal connection, so they see my face. It feels like you're a real human talking to a real human. I think that is always an important thing to try and do in this online space, and it brings people into your world, as well. I also often get comments back about it like, “I hope you enjoyed your trip,” or “That exhibition was cool”.  

Then I have the “In the studio” section, where I will give some behind-the-scenes photos and some information about a process, or I might talk about some things that you might like to try in your sketchbook, and give some photo examples of that, so that people can have a bit of inspiration.

Then I have an “In the shop” section, if I'm selling something from my website at that point, or I will have a “Commissions open” section and show some different examples of the commissions that I've done in the past. I switch them up and make sure they're all fresh and interesting. 

That makes sure that I have a sales component in my newsletter every time, and that I don't feel weird about it because it's always there. It's something that people expect to see. It's not too long. It's just clear information so that people know that they can contact you about this cool thing. 

My final section is the “Things that I love and that you might, too”. So, I'll share a cool tutorial I saw, or this cool artwork. An artist whom they can find online somewhere, and they can also enjoy this artwork. It's kind of a curated one or two things that I think if you're interested in my work, you might be interested in this person's work, too. Sometimes I send documentaries that are about what I'm working on. So, maybe, if you want more information about octopuses, here's an amazing one that I found. 

Having a structure to my newsletter really helps me know how long things will take and what I need to put into it. And while I'm working, I'll be like, "Oh, this is a great thing to put in my newsletter,” and it's ready by the time I go to sit down and write it. The structure also helps people to know what to expect when they open it up.

How long have you been doing the newsletters?

I've been doing them for three and a half years, and I haven't seen a lot of growth in my newsletter list over that time, but again, that's not something that I've focused on. Now, this is something that I'm bringing more into what I'm doing. 

One of the great things about doing a newsletter often is that I can also show myself and talk about myself as an expert. I'm able to share what I'm doing with other people. And again, it's kind of evidence for yourself, like, "Wow, I'm doing something really cool and I'm really good at it". And that's a nice reminder every fortnight. Then you get to share it with other people, and they're also excited that you're really good at it.

Besides digital marketing, are you planning to do any offline marketing, or have you done it before, like taking your paper art to markets?

That is the type of thing I would love to do, and the type of thing that I also imagine myself doing, but simply because of my visa situation, because I'm Australian living in Cyprus, it's not actually something I'm allowed to do. I can only gain income internationally, not from where I actually live. It’s an interesting restriction to have, but it just means that I know that I can only focus on online.

Have you ever had a webshop or tried an e-commerce platform, and are you planning it now, or for the future?

Yes. With my print-on-demand shop, I decided to do prints through Printful, because I did some test prints and I really liked those. This was specifically from a time where I was doing Inktober, where you’re doing a drawing a day, and I had people request things. It was very much my style, but it was all before I had transitioned into collage. I actually recently took those drawings down because I want my website to reflect me and the artwork I’m creating now. 

I’m currently trying to work out the best way to translate my collage work into things that could be on prints and other products. The best way that I have found so far is this idea of faux collage: when I do my digital work, and I'm using these shadows and textures to make it look like it is collage. I think that looks really successful, but I haven't yet put it on my webshop. But I have taken some of the prints I had on there before, which I really enjoyed, and shifted them or translated them into this faux collage. I am excited about putting those up because they are designs that people are already familiar with.

Do you know who the people who commission you are? Like where they are located?

It’s mostly places where I've lived, because often people recommended me like “Check out Rita,” since it's coming from a source that they know and trust, and then they feel really confident in commissioning a piece of work. That means commissions are often from Australia, the UK, Switzerland, or France, because France is close to Geneva, where we lived in Switzerland.

Those are the most common places, and that does make marketing difficult, to know what time to send things out. As I have a fortnightly newsletter, I have to think about what time this would be landing in an inbox in Melbourne and what time it would be in the UK. Finding that happy medium is sometimes a bit interesting, but I have just chosen my time and left it at that. I send out my newsletter at noon every second Friday, and that does seem to work well. But it is an interesting experiment, when I'm posting online, about when people are going to be engaging in these types of things. Having an international audience is a very interesting conundrum and privilege.

I guess it also makes it difficult for the physical art when it comes to shipping and the shipping costs. 

Yes. Exactly. And whether people want to pay for the courier to ensure that it's delivered quickly and that it’s a “Yes, 100% this is going to make it,” or if they want to take the risk of “I'll pay less for regular postage, but I just hope it will get there”. 

With print-on-demand, this was one thing that I really liked about Printful, for example, that they are local to Melbourne. So if someone's ordering in Australia, it's made in Australia, and I know it will reach them. I also know it's not doing all the air miles of coming from me to them. That's a really nice thing about print-on-demand. Plus, the quality is going to be consistent, no matter where you print as well.

With Printful, you can also integrate your print-on-demand shop into your own webshop.

Exactly. It really looks like it's my website. It’s really nice and seamless, whereas I used to use Redbubble, for example, when I was first starting out, and with Redbubble, you first have to do your own marketing, then you're taken to the Redbubble site, and you can see my artwork, but also over here, there is “Other artwork you might like,” and it's other artists. And, “Oh, you like this theme? Here's some other artists who were making this theme”. It's not directly obvious to the viewer that these are not your artworks. So, quite quickly, you can be taken away from your art, and you've now lost that potential customer. This is one of the things I really like about Printful, that there's no way that person can be confused or distracted from the purpose and the reason why they came to your website at all.

How do you decide which medium, digital or print, to use for a particular project when you just have an idea first?

Quite often, that is influenced by what I'm doing. In my sketchbook, I'll be trying out things and how they would look in this way. For example, I did a mini collection of fruits and vegetables, seven different fruits and vegetables. They're the colours of the rainbow, because “eat the rainbow” is a really great thing to do for your gut microbiome. So, I made this “Eat the Rainbow” collection in my sketchbook using simple papers, then I scanned those in Adobe Illustrator.

That was really useful because if I'm doing collage work, I am not trying to get it perfect. One thing I really like about paper is that I can cut it out and it will never be identical to the way that you cut it out before, and neither will it be if I cut it out again. I'm not going to make it identical to what it was before. So it's a very unique thing that's only going to happen there. 

So, I like putting that into Illustrator and then instead of using the tools to make it perfect, I'm following my cutting lines, which makes it more of a natural shape in a way. Then I can put that into Procreate, if I want to create patterns.

Whereas if I know I want to do something experimental with pop-ups, I will, of course, just use paper. If I want to turn it into a tutorial and I want people to have printables that they can then make paper art themselves, I will switch over to digital. It really depends on what the purpose is.

But I do find that, generally, I'm doing a lot less digital and a lot more with my hands, which I think is the right balance for me.

It might be really good that you create both print and digital art, especially now that AI has started influencing digital art.

Yes, and I actually started doing more paper art just as this conversation about AI was really coming in, and it made it even more special that I was making something with paper.

I've also been to general networking events. Not artistic networking events, but I have had someone say to me, "Oh, your career… Why are you in this career? You're going to be completely replaced". And I said, "You don't understand what I do, and you also don't understand what AI does if you think I'm going to get replaced".

It's not something that I'm concerned about because I know I have these skills in making tactile art, and also, I think that you can tell when something is made with AI. Sometimes, of course, there are nice things that AI can create, but I think there is something special that can come from the creativity of the human mind. I'm not too worried.

Yes, I think you're in a fine spot. And I agree, or that's my strong hope, that the human value and experience, the human stories, and the human creativity are going to be much needed as we are moving ahead.

I think it is a very apt thing to talk about whether it’s about people who use AI to make their artwork or brands that use AI to make their artwork—were they ever going to commission artwork, were they ever going to pay you a reasonable rate in order to get their art, to create artwork for them? I really like this argument because it does make me feel like I'm not missing out on anything. Even if it is digital artwork that I could create for someone, I highly doubt that they would pay me what it's valued at or what I value it at if they are going to go to AI.

And that includes picture books, as well, where the importance of the illustrator is enormous, and if you want to make a good-quality picture book, it's highly unlikely you can do that with AI, in my opinion. And therefore, the people who really care about making it quality are going to go with illustrators, anyway.

How are you with handling feedback and criticism?

Showing people your work, even though it can be a bit heart-wrenching to get criticism; that constructive criticism is so valuable, and can really take your whole work to another level that you wouldn't have been able to do on your own. And so, you need that critique, even though it's super scary.

I'm so impressed because I've also learned not to take it personally when I get feedback, but also, I've learned that a strategy for me is that I cannot read it and respond to it. It's often written feedback that I'm getting, and I can't read it and immediately decide how I feel about it. I'll go and do something else. I might come back to it tomorrow or in a few days, and then I'll read it again. And the way I read it the second time is going to be completely different from the first time, because the first time, my brain will immediately pick up on the things that are sore points for me, or things where I feel like they're saying something really negative, when actually, they're just saying you could improve on this.

It's just learning to cope with it in a way that is beneficial to you. I think we're all kind of going to do that in slightly different ways.

Who are the people who give you feedback? And what kind of negative feedback or criticism is it that you receive? It's hard for me to imagine anything.

When I wrote my picture book, I was part of a writing group, and someone nearly completely changed the way that I had developed a character in the most clever way. She was like, "Oh, you called her Lucy Baker, the main character. Why don't you make her a baker?" I had just chosen that name because my childhood friend was called Baker. But this suggestion then really influenced this bit of the book and made the whole book make sense in a very cute and meaningful way. That was at a stage, where I was focusing on picture books, and there was a large range of picture book writers that I could get influence and feedback from. 

Then, during my Master’s, that was the first time that I got feedback on illustration, and that was a whole different ball game. Because in the tutorials, you're putting your work forward, and then the tutor says to people, “Okay. What do you think? What does it make you think of? What might you change?” And you're talking to people directly. It's not written feedback. That made me change my perspective of what feedback is, because sometimes people would say things like, "Oh, it reminds me of this book”, or “It reminds me of this type of artwork that you might want to check out because it could help you further develop it”.

This idea and the feedback I find really exciting is where you hear how you could improve and get a very specific suggestion. It’s encouraging you to go and do your own research on something that you have probably not heard of. Where people provide you with more input so that your output becomes better. I didn't know that feedback could be like that, and that really changed my perspective. 

Right now, I have an accountability buddy that I send everything to. She's also an illustrator in London. We know our artwork, the other person's artwork, inside out. We're really good at seeing what the other person needs, and that can always change as well. That person could be having a tricky day today, and what they need right now is some cheerleading, and when they're ready, let's come back and see, how can we improve this. But sometimes you need the feedback of “This is finished”, because it's so hard to step away from creative projects. You can be working on them for ages and sometimes you just need that person to say stop.

How did you find this accountability partner?

She was one of the other students in my Master’s of illustration, and she was someone who said that she was interested in having an accountability partner. We just decided to try it out, and it ended up lasting.

We still message every day, and we finished our degree two years ago. We talk about what we're working on that day. We send each other artwork, to ask for support or critique, to say we're having a hard day and if we need someone to say, “Go, rest. You've worked your bum off and now you need to go have some restorative time”. Or sometimes you need help with the whole “I'm stuck in a rut, help me get out of it” kind of thing. 

I think an accountability buddy is the number one thing that I would suggest that anyone have in their creative life because it just makes such a difference to have someone else going through a similar experience with you. They can understand more about what you need and they also know when to tell you that you need to do more, as well. 

Having someone in your field is just really beneficial because I've had accountability buddies in the past who were really good friends and who were doing other creative things, and it did work well, but it’s not quite the same as having an illustration buddy who really gets what’s going on.

Besides reaching out to your accountability partner, what do you do when you have any setbacks or creative blocks?

I think that self-care is so important. Sometimes you need to be reminded by people around you to do self-care in those situations where things have not gone in a way that you wanted them to go, or you're disappointed, or you feel like you've lost direction. This type of stuff happens to every creative. It can be really easy to just feel like you're stuck and get in your own head. To go and do those restorative things sometimes, you need a bit of a push to go and do them because you know it will make you feel better. Other times, you know it will make you feel better, and you don't want to do them because you're in your little hole. 

Another thing I found is that I have a very logical brain, a very practical brain, and it’s very helpful to record at the end of the day or even throughout my day what my successes have been. Because I'm such a morning person, I will get so much done in the morning, and then I have this huge crash in the afternoon. So, once I've finished something or I've had a success, or I'm excited about something I've done, I will actually write down the things I have achieved, with a different colour in my paper notebook, because at the end of the day, my brain is likely to have forgotten.

So it comes back to reminding yourself, “No, you have been successful, and you are going, you are in the right direction,” and moving yourself from that disappointment when you got an email back from someone saying, “Thanks, but no thanks”. It’s reminding yourself that you were brave enough to email that person in the first place, thinking about what you got out of that. If anyone else is forgetful like me, I would definitely recommend doing that type of thing. 

Do you have any other tips for creators?

I think it is different for everyone. I had a really interesting conversation with a local artist the other day who describes herself as chaotic and emotional. I do not describe myself as chaotic and emotional. I am very much a planner, and so the things that work for me would not work for her. 

I love to plan because it gives me direction and a little box to stick within, because then I know what I'm doing. I like to have a very clear direction. Therefore, I like making these time blocks at the start of the year. For example, I did three months on just making surface pattern design, where I was designing for a month and a half, and then for another month and a half, I was sending things out to potential brands, getting their contact details, and all that kind of boring stuff that was very difficult for me to do. Doing this kind of research is not something that I excel at. 

So I had a three month block where I knew I don't need to be distracted by picture book ideas. I'm not going to work on commissions at this time. And it really helped me to focus and wow, I made so much artwork. I was so in the zone. I was really good with my communication with these brands and I was successful because I had said this is the one thing. 

I really like time blocking, and that also works for me during the day. For example, between 9 and 10 is always my sketchbook time, because I'm also the type of person who needs to plan unplanned creative time. So, between 9 and 10, that's when I'm not specifically working on a project that I've already started.

This is the one I made today, which I thought you might like. It's us on our Zoom call. I wanted to make one that popped up and out, and had a frame. But I was also like, “You know, what am I thinking about? I'm thinking about this interview that we're going to do. And I really like that. I'm going to put that in my sketchbook, and I'm going to remember the time that I had an interview with Petra”. 

So, that's another way of my sketchbook being a really personal place for me, to just spend time in. And a lot of my ideas later, the things that I turn into finished artworks, will be from that free creative time that I've made for myself, of course, where I was like trying new things or just doodling.

Regarding time blocking, there’s one book that I absolutely love: The ONE Thing by Gary W. Keller and Jay Papasan. It’s like the simplest thing: do one thing at a time. But it’s a useful reminder. Whether it needs a whole book or not is up to the reader, but I really enjoy it, and it talks about time blocking, too.

Any other books that you enjoy and would be useful for creators?

Yes. Art, Money, Success by Maria Brophy is really great for me, and for ways of marketing yourself, being bold. Especially for cultural differences. This is from an American. There’s this boldness she uses to put forward his husband’s art, and there are just really clear, great ideas in this book.

For branding, there’s Brand Brilliance by Fiona Humberstone. She’s got lots of resources that you can download for free, as well, if you don’t want to buy the book, but this really helped me with finding my purpose. Also, I hadn't really thought of myself as a brand before I was reading her book, and I think that's a very interesting concept that an individual is a brand.

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The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron is a classic that I just can't recommend enough. I also love Big Magic from Elizabeth Gilbert, and another is Steal Like an Artist by Austin Kleon, which has so many practical tips that you can open it up and be, “Oh, yeah, you’re right. Thanks for the reminder!” so I really like that. 

And then coming back to the idea of self-care, there’s this book, The Mindful Self-Compassion Workbook by Christopher Germer and Kristin Neff. This is a really great resource for when you're having those days that are not going well. This has made such a big difference to me. I can dip into that and be like, "Okay, this is a different way of thinking about it, or this is why I feel bad, and I want to make myself feel better". Really practical and really authentic. 

You know, how we talked about not telling kids to just be happy. This is exactly that. It's not about telling you to be happy, but giving you strategies to help yourself feel better when things aren't going right.

What do you think is the biggest challenge for creators right now, regardless of their fields?

I'm not sure if it's the biggest challenge, but definitely one challenge is this idea of authenticity. For example, on social media, you're always bombarded with information, people, and opinions, and working out how you want to present yourself as yourself can be really challenging. Especially when you're working out who you are as a creative and you need to make choices about how you want to present yourself. 

I have tried using some trending audio where it's someone else talking, just a little sound bite, and it's used for lots of different videos that maybe aren't always to do with art. I posted it, and I could tell that it was not authentic because I could feel the ick factor. That it doesn't fit with me and how I feel, and it also doesn't fit with my artwork.

The same when I've done some more salesy posts on Instagram, when I was doing prints. There were times when I could just tell that I wasn't feeling good. Not in a way where I was being brave and I was putting myself out there—that's great. But if it doesn't fit with your personality, it's going to feel really weird for your audience, as well. They're going to tell that this is weird. 

I think remembering that you're talking to a person is really important. And finding this authentic voice is a bit of experimenting and seeing what didn't feel very good and what did feel like you. Sometimes, friends and family will also tell you if that was a great video, saying, “I felt like you were just talking to me,” or “You were talking like you were just sending me a voice message”. That's the best thing that someone can say to me. 

The idea of working out your style is also something that comes up again and again. How do I find my style? And people wanting to already be there. But I didn't find my style until a year after my master's degree, so probably like a year and a half ago. 

It takes time to find your style. It is frustrating when it doesn't feel completely right. But it's also okay to change, and you will evolve as an artist. The style that I have, what I incorporated into everything I do, that's going to change later, as well. It might not change as significantly as it already has for me to get to this point, but as an artist, you're always evolving. And so, just being okay where you are and not kicking yourself because you don't feel like it's right yet, I think is a very important thing to do, and a very difficult thing to do to just be okay with “This is where I'm at and I will get to where I want to go”.

It’s like one of my favourite sayings: Trust the process.

Definitely. And also being clear about what in the process you can actually control? Because I think sometimes we set ourselves goals of something like, “I want to get two licensing contracts in the next six months,” but that's not directly in your control. That depends on a lot of different things. What I can control is making quality artwork. Making sure I find the right potential clients, sending it to the clients, being brave, and following up with the clients. These are things that I can do, and I can say to myself, I did those things. Then you see what happens.

You have to be like, “Okay, I need to let it go, let them choose now that they have all the information, because I did all those great things”.

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Featured image source: Rita Jane