Jillian Nichole: From Self-Taught Artist to Surface Design Maven
Hi, my name is Jillian and I'm the artist and surface designer behind Jillian Nichole Illustration. I have, like most of us, always been creative. I love art more than anything else, pretty much, and so art and creating has always been a part of my life. I fell into the "art is not a real job" mentality for the earlier part of my life, and prepared to go into the medical field - but my heart was not in it. Due to many different life choices I made, I found myself as a young married mother with time on my hands and a desire to find who I was outside of motherhood, and art was what I turned to. I learned how to do textile art in the form of crocheting, knitting, and weaving, and I always came back to drawing and painting. It's where I find the most joy and release and where I feel the most like I can express myself in a way that no one else quite can. I spent years learning on my own - through multiple books and online classes - how to draw and paint and eventually, create surface patterns for textiles. This is where I've landed, and what I do that gives me the most joy!
The Spark
I don't know if there was a specific pinpoint moment that made me realize that this was what I wanted to do... I think it was always inside me - just in the form of, "Wouldn't it be cool if, in a perfect world, I could be an artist as my JOB?!" I have always loved art - I love looking at it, I love creating it... I live and breathe it! I do think, for surface pattern design, I did have a moment when I thought this was something I really wanted to pursue fully. That moment was during Bonnie Christine's Immersion course when I took it the second time through. I created the very first pattern that I ever really felt proud of, and Bonnie actually called it out as one of the best hero patterns during a live call. That moment of getting positive outside feedback from someone else's eyeballs was instrumental to me. I thought, maybe I actually have something here that people could want...
Jillian at work creating her masterpieces
Overcoming Doubts
I don't really know if I'll ever overcome the challenge of dealing with uncertainties as an artist entrepreneur. This is kind of the nature of the business we're in, and it's totally normal to experience. I think the key here is to just never lose sight of what your goal is and to never give up. Setbacks are everyday occurrences and failure is inevitable at some point, but you can either let these things defeat you, or you can be the warrior that you are and do battle against them. I think my particular superpower is that I am extremely tenacious and I refuse to give up. 😂 I recommend adopting this mentality if you're in this industry - because it can be really difficult to put yourself out there time and time again and be rejected. You just have to keep going!
Challenges
I think I probably have a really privileged life, honestly. My challenges are so minor compared to so many other people's, and I recognize that privilege I have experienced. One challenge is that I never had any formal training in art. I think this really does give people a leg up in the industry, and it makes growth slower for those of us who need to learn as we go! Another challenge I've had is that we don't have a second income coming in as a family - my husband is a full-time student. This means I am fully responsible for the financial wellbeing of my family for the next several years, and this comes with a lot of stress and pressure. I would say this is my biggest challenge - the need to make an income to provide for my family as the sole income provider.
Creative Process
Hmm... How do I describe my creative process...? I find inspiration everywhere and I am actually always looking at what trends are doing. I think to grow more quickly, you do need to have your eye on what trends are doing. I like to draw for trends, often, because it's sort of a challenge and I don't know, I just think it's fun! I usually have a spark of an idea in my mind of what I would like to create, and then when I'm drawing it, I sort of let it tell me what it wants to be. That might sound absolutely insane, but it's really how it works! My work is usually really slowly made, because I will alter and edit a lot as I go. Thank goodness for Procreate's undo button! Haha.
About lettering: I got into lettering a lot later in my art practice because I honestly just never really enjoyed hand lettered artwork. I always would rather look at illustrative artwork instead of read words. This changed when an art agent challenged me to see each letter as its own motif - like it's own little illustration - and now I see letters differently. It's not writing to me anymore, it is artwork. When this mindset shift happened in my brain, I found that I liked to do lettering and I wanted to figure out how to do more of it.
For my portfolio: Surface pattern design is basically what my main focus is. It's my joy, so the majority of my portfolio is surface pattern design. I'm actually working really hard to work standalone illustrations and hand lettering into my work!
Some of Jillian Anderson's very intricate and detailed patterns
On Marketing
I market my work by sharing it on Instagram, mainly! That is pretty much the place I've chosen to have a presence and share my artwork with the world. I don't really drive traffic to my portfolio, but I do pitch my work to companies a LOT. I am part of a few online directories as well, which helps with visibility - but mainly I pitch and I share my work on Instagram!
We all have a love and hate relationship with Instagram, don't we! I think the trick to Instagram is to try to post consistently, but not worry too much about it. Instagram can be a huge time-suck and it can destroy your creativity, but it can also be a huge benefit to your business. I've had multiple companies reach out to me via Instagram, so I do think it's really important to have a presence on there. Think of Instagram as a place to build a community instead of just a place to throw your work into and it can really grow beautifully.
On Pitching
My process for landing licensing deals is to pitch!! Pitch and pitch and pitch. My motto is "Pitch until they block you," and I can tell you, I actually got blocked by a company! Haha I wear that as a badge of honor. You never know if a door is really closed until it is CLOSED, you know? 😂 The other thing I do is I share all my work on Instagram! Don't hold your artwork back - in the beginning that can only harm you, never help. So be brave and be breezy and let your artwork into the world. It can't get into the right hands if you are holding it close to the chest!
Advice for Aspiring Creatives
Here are my 5 tips for getting your work licensed
1. Create artwork that art directors are looking for. This is deeply important when you're starting out. A great place to get inspiration for this is from Cat Coq! She is always on the trends and are a great place to start working on really licensable work.
2. Develop a signature style. This takes TIME and SO MUCH WORK, but it is worth it. The goal is to have artwork that is so YOUnique. See what I did there? Haha. You want to have a style that is different than other artists so that it is recognizable and stands out.
3. Share your work! Don't hold it back. Don't hide it behind password protected pages - trust me. If you are at the beginning stage of your journey, let all of your artwork free into the universe. Later on, when you're wildly successful, you can have super secret artwork you only show to select clients - but for now, show it! The more artwork you share, the more potential you have to get eyeballs on your work.
4. Build up your email list. This is the most important thing - because those subscribers are yours. With Instagram, you are borrowing space on another platform and it can be taken away from you at any time. So you want to build up and nurture your own email list. This is difficult, but I believe in you!
5. Get some creative friends who can help hold you accountable, brainstorm with you, give you feedback, push you, and generally go along this path with you. I have to say, this is the best thing I have in my business. Creative friends are priceless.
To see more:
You can see my website here: https://www.jilliannicholeillustration.com/
You can follow me on Instagram here: https://www.instagram.com/jillian.nichole.illustration/
You can join my email list here: https://jilliannicholeillustration.myflodesk.com/glglyl8tg9