The art world??? Idk I wouldn’t really consider myself part of the art world! I’d say i’m still in the “there was an attempt” category but wow uh

well like most artists I’ve loved animation/drawing since I was a kid. When I was about 2-3 I was obsessed with this one mickey mouse video which had “boat builders” on it and i was just totally hooked from there on, anything animation I was all over it! I used to draw during all my classes and hide them under my notes when the teachers walked past ahaha. Unfortunately high school wasn’t kind to me, the other kids were super nasty cos I liked cartoons and my teachers told me I’d never get a job in art. so I dropped it and went into science. I graduated in ‘09 from manchester in england with a bsc in mathematics, but in my final year I sort of snapped and decided nope, this isn’t for me, I’m going to give art a shot! because I know that if I didn’t, I would regret it at the end of my life, and that would be the worst.

So as soon as I was done with uni (I call it my safety net degree) I moved in with someone who could support me financially while i was learning and just drew. I was just doing art for myself at first, mostly comics with the odd personal commission. Lots of studying things like composition and value and colour theory and all that technical stuff.  so yeah that was pretty much mid ‘09 to mid ‘11. I would have gone to art school but university left me with £20k of debt and my parents are poor, so that wasn’t really an option, and I just had to do my best with the info available to me on the wondrous internet!

In mid ‘11 I was an exhibitor at the London MCM comic con, and I picked up my first proper client there. I still work for them and its slow but steady work with the occasional big project like a comic. but it was better than nothing for sure and it’s a big confidence boost to have someone scout you among dozens of other artists!

from there other people just sort of started approaching me after seeing my stuff online. I think other freelancers I’ve spoken with sometimes refer them to me if they’re too busy to take on work themselves, which is a BIG help. So communicating with your fellow artists is important, even if it’s only over the internet!

But yeah that’s basically it! Lots of drawing, lots of communicating/socialising with other artists, and putting things where people can see ‘em. 8) apologies for the text wall haha but I hope that answers your question!