Finally taking the plunge into illustration

[mandaleemade]

Hello everyone I'm Amanda or mandaleemade on instragram.
I'm from snowy Minnesota and I love camping, collecting too many art supplies and my pets (dog named Scuzzy and leopard gecko named Toad)

I studied comics and animation in university and while my day job does allow for some drawing, I've always dreamed of creating my own freelance illustration business. I want to make work that resonates with people and tells amazing stories. I'm hoping I can learn more from you all here at SVS while improving my portfolio and business savy!

Here's some work I have made so far:

I'm excited to start this journey with you all!

[jdubz]

Looks great! Welcome

[Jacy13]

@mandaleemade Welcome! I love these pieces, especially the Princess Mononoke one I hope you reach your goals. I think you definitely have the skills to go freelance. What kind of illustration are you looking to do? Are you still interested in making comics or animation? Or something else?

[carlianne]

@mandaleemade beautiful work! Excited to watch your journey

[mandaleemade]

@Jacy13 Thank you so much! I love your Ember the cat character design btw, her outfit is adorable!
Honestly I'm not sure which direction to take my work (partly why I'm here at SVS!) but I think I'd like to try for older kid content, like YA or middle school books and illustrations. Since those were a lot of the books that resonated the most with me as a kid.

I still really love comics and hope to make more... but they're so time consuming!

[mandaleemade]

@carlianne Thank you so much! I love your art style!

[mandaleemade]

@jdubz Thanks! Excited to be here!

[Jacy13]

@mandaleemade Oh, thank you so much! I appreciate the kind words

That's totally valid. I'm still not exactly sure what direction I want to go either. I think I'm leaning towards the older kid type of stuff too. Although I love the idea of picture books as well. I guess it's just something that takes time to figure out!

[phoenix yip]

That's so cool! Princess Mononoke is one of my favorite movies. You're off to a good start!