Fashion Illustration

FREE Fashion Drawing Lessons

Hey there you guys!! If you want to become a fashion designer or fashion illustrator, and you have no idea about fashion drawing or you feel intimidated by fashion figures, I have something ultra special and super helpful to get you started 🙂

So keep reading 😉

FREE Bootcamp with Fashion Drawing Lessons

But, first I’d like to talk a little about who should definitely learn fashion drawing, so you can determine if these free lessons are for you or not.

So, let’s get started!

Who should learn Fashion Drawing?

Both aspiring fashion designers and fashion illustrators should learn fashion drawing because it’s the foundation of every fashion illustration.

Aspiring fashion designers should learn fashion drawing so they can communicate their designs and ideas.

As fashion designers, we can’t work alone and produce everything ourselves. We have to work with a team, we have to share our ideas with the people involved in the production, and we also have to share our designs with buyers, customers, sales agents, etcetera.

And aspiring fashion illustrators must learn fashion drawing because it’s where the whole work begins. Most of the times we fashion illustrators start with a drawing of what will turn into an illustration.

And, although some illustrators don’t start with a drawing per se, they can start painting right away, but they already know what to paint and how to paint because they learned everything about fashion drawing, body and face proportions, and how clothing and different kinds of fabric look on the body.

Great, now that we’re clear that you need to learn fashion drawing whether you want to become a fashion designer or illustrator, let’s see what these free lessons are all about.

A couple of years ago I launched an online course on How to Draw Fashion Figures and Faces. It’s been quite a success among fashion beginners during these years, and it’s because I designed it to take you step-by-step through the method I teach. So you don’t feel intimidated by the process and steps it takes to create a fashion figure and a proportionate face.

This course comes with video lessons and an in-depth printable workbook that includes the cheat-sheets I designed specifically for this course. And, I’m giving away free access to some of the video lessons plus some great + juicy email lessons to everyone who signs up through the button below:

This bootcamp will be delivered through email, and it can be considered a mini-course because I’ll share 5 video + 6 email lessons that will help you get started with fashion drawing. So, even if you can’t join the premium paid course, I want you to be able to get started and take advantage of the training I’ve created for you.

CLICK HERE TO JOIN!

When you sign up for the FREE fashion drawing lessons, you’ll receive one email per day during eight days, with one lesson each day.

The Video Series lessons are these:

What’s fashion drawing and who is it for?
What are fashion figures?
Types of fashion figures + their proportions
Tools for fashion drawing
Fashion drawing preliminary exercises

And the Email Lessons are all about demystifying fashion drawing + rookie mistakes + essential fashion croquis. The lessons are these:

Are you ready to learn fashion drawing? How can you know?
3 Mistakes you’re doing when drawing fashion figures + faces
How to draw proportionate + beautiful fashion figures. You need a method, and this is the one I love.
Take your work / portfolio / collection / Instagram feed from ultra boring to drop-dead gorgeous!
4 Essential Fashion Figures Poses for Fashion Designer + Illustrators
Take your next step NOW to be where you want to be and become who you want to become

Plus, you get a SPECIAL PRICE in my course Drawing Fashion Figures + Faces 😉

CLICK HERE TO JOIN!

That’s it for today! Now tell me in the comments:

What do you want to become a fashion designer or illustrator, and what’s your biggest struggle with fashion drawing?

Also, if you want to get the free lessons from my course Drawing Fashion Figures and Faces directly in your inbox, you can go to this link.

See you on the next post…. Bye!!

Tools for Fashion Drawing

Get Started with Fashion Drawing

FREE BOOTCAMP

So, you want to become a fashion designer and/or fashion illustrator, and you want to communicate your ideas clearly + beautifully, right?

Well, in this lesson, I’ll show you the essential tools to use for fashion drawing, so you can start learning + practicing + growing your skills right away.

If you want to go back to the main page of this free video series, go here. Or if you haven’t signed up to this FREE bootcam, button the link below:

JOIN THE FREE BOOTCAMP!

You can watch the video or read the lesson, whatever is best for you 😉

To start learning fashion drawing, you don’t need any special, super expensive, out of the world tools.

Actually, you only need a few things, and you can get started to learn and practice after one visit to the art supplies shop.

Sometimes it’s easy to fall into the trap of “well, when I get these tools, or these pencils, or these colors, or the dream studio, then I’ll start learning, or I’ll begin creating my designs or my illustrations”, but wouldn’t it be easier to just get started with what you already have? Or wouldn’t it be better if you started to learn, practice, and create from now so your skills and talents grow with time?

Of course, it would be easier and better, right?!

Okay, great, so let’s see the essential tools that you need to start learning and practicing your fashion drawing skills:

essential tools for fashion drawing

Pencil or mechanical pencil

My favorite pencil to work with is 2H because it’s not too hard nor too soft, and it’s not as messy as those pencils on the B spectrum.

Remember the H in a pencil stands for Hard, and the bigger the number, the harder the pencil and the cleaner the lines. And the B stands for soft black, and the bigger the number, the softer and darker the pencil.

I also love working with mechanical pencils because the lines are finer than the pencil’s and I don’t need to use a sharpener, so I can draw and draw non-stop.

If you want, you can try with both, a regular pencil and a mechanical pencil. Neither of them has to be expensive. My pencils usually cost less and one buck, and the mechanical pencil I’m using cost no more than two bucks. I tend to lose my pencils all the time, so I don’t invest quite a lot in them, but I also love how they work.

Eraser and sharpener

When you buy your erasers, make sure they’re soft and kind with your work. You don’t want your eraser to stain or damage your drawings, so make sure you pick the right eraser.

I love purchasing erasers in bulk because as with pencils l tend to lose them all the time 😛

For sharpeners, I prefer the metal ones. And this one with two holes is just perfect. One hole is to sharpen the pencils and the other one for the color pencils.

Paper. Loose sheets of paper or a notebook

Okay, you have your pencils, your eraser, and your sharpener ready, now you need a place where to put your ideas on.

For this, you can get a notebook, or you can even work with loose sheets of paper and then put them in a binder.

Especially at the beginning that you’ll need to practice a lot, I’d recommend purchasing a pack of bond paper in letter size and a binder. Then, start learning, draw, practice, make some mistakes, observe and improve, and tweak and repeat. Make sure you keep your best work in the binder. And when you feel more confident in your drawing skills, then get a notebook and put all your designs, ideas, and illustrations there.

You can optionally use ruler and templates for circles and ovals

These tools are amazing for beginners; they help you create clean + perfect lines + circles + ovals for your figures and faces. And I totally recommend them when you’re just starting out, although sometimes I still use them when I want a neat drawing.

The ruler will help you create a preliminary line skeleton for your fashion figures before you draw the actual body and put garments on it.

Then you can determine where the joints like knees, shoulders, elbows, and ankles will be with the circle’s templates.

And you can use the ovals templates to draw the head of your figures.

All the ruler, and the circles + ovals templates are here to help you with that shaky hand. But, I definitely recommend you to follow the drawing exercises from a previous lesson and video, so you keep getting better.

Workbook and cheat-sheets

If you’re totally new to fashion drawing and especially to drawing fashion figures and faces, then the workbook and cheat-sheets from my course Drawing Fashion Figures + Faces will be super helpful for you because I created them specifically for beginners to train their eyes + hand + brain to create beautiful and proportionate figures and faces.

These are a shortcut to help you improve your skills faster, and you only need to print the cheat-sheets and draw over them. Or use the cheat-sheet under a sheet of paper, and draw following the step-by-step from the course + workbook.

As you can see, you don’t have to wait until you have all the tools, nor the most expensive materials or the biggest studio. You can start learning + practicing from now with as little as paper and a pencil.

So, grab your materials and stay tuned because during the next lesson we’ll be doing some preliminary exercises 😀

Great, before you go, and if you haven’t signed up for my FREE ‘Get Started with Fashion Drawing’ Bootcamp yet…

I want to invite you to go + do it now! This is a jammed packed FREE resource for you if you’re new to fashion drawing and drawing fashion figures, sign up through the button below!

CLICK HERE TO JOIN!

Now tell me in the comments all your questions about drawing fashion figures and faces 🙂

With so much LOVE!!

Watch me Illustrate #1 – Fashion Illustration Time-lapse Video

Hey, guys!! Welcome back!!

Today I’m sharing a little fashion illustration time-lapse video that I created on my iPad pro with the Apple Pencil and the app Procreate. So it’ll be just me talking about the steps I’m taking as I create this illustration.

Before starting, I want to invite you to download my Fashion Illustration Tool-Kit, which is a handy PDF with all the tools I use to create my fashion illustrations and designs. You can find the link on the cards from the right and below in the description box.

Great, if you’re ready, let’s get started!

TOOLS I USED:

Fashion Figure Cheat-Sheet: http://bit.ly/fashion-drawing
iPad Pro
Procreate App
Built-in Brushes
Melissa Cabral’s Brushes: http://melissacabral.com/watercolor-calligraphy-brushes-for-procreate/
Matthew Baldwin’s Brushes: https://www.behance.net/gallery/35841045/Splash-Vol-1-Procreate-Custom-Brushes

Well, that’s it for today, I hope you liked this time-lapse video, if you want more of this please tell me in the comments!

Also, feel free to let me know in the comments if you have any questions for me regarding how I create my illustrations, the tools I use, or whatever.

If you liked this video:

Give it a thumbs up
Subscribe to my channel so you don’t miss any of the future videos.
And share this video with your friends!

See you on the next video…. Bye!!

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(With LOVE!)

Client work VS Personal projects as a Fashion Designer + Illustrator – Pros and Cons

What’s best, focusing solely on working with clients or focusing only on your personal projects?

In my latest video/post, I talked about the importance of doing what’s most exciting to you first, and I mentioned I’d focus on my personal projects as a fashion creative and on growing the community around FSBS and my own brand as Karen Avila the artist and illustrator. And in this video, I want to dive deep a little more into the pros and cons of doing client work VS your own personal projects.

Wanna know my thoughts on this?

Let’s dive in!

You can watch the video or read the post, whatever you prefer 😉

Client work

Okay let’s focus on client work first because it’s one of the main reasons we want to become fashion illustrators and designers, so we can work with clients, gain experience, explore with our skills and talents, gain exposure, and make money.

So, the Pros to work with clients are:

You do the work, and you get paid. Clearly, the biggest pro is that clients give you the money.
Every time you finish a project with a client, they can give you a testimonial, you can use the work you did with them in your portfolio, and that gives you credibility to keep landing clients. It’s like a snowball effect; one client brings lots more with them.
But also, working with clients give you experience on real-life projects, they give you the ability to solve problems, create for a necessity, or simply know how a process works in real life.

For example, when I was in college, I had to design and create the sample of a pair of shoes as a final project for one semester. So I designed it, loved it, and I found someone who could make the patterns and produce the sample of that pair of shoes because I didn’t have the tools to follow and do the process myself. My learning experience finished as soon as I gave my design and materials to the footwear maker.

But, during my first ever freelance project, I had to design and produce the samples of a collection of women’s footwear. Here I learned all about:

Material sourcing
What materials work best for shoes in the outside, inside, for the sole, insole, heels, etc.
How patterns are made, and how sometimes an idea must be rethought, so the design is feasible
The whole process of making a pair of shoes.

Of course, working with clients isn’t the only way to gain such experience and knowledge. You can learn and experience through your personal projects as well, but sometimes we get short by thinking that we don’t have the resources, tools, or people to make them happen, and we finish the project once the design stage is done.

Now let’s see the cons of working with clients

Sometimes your creativity is restrained. You must create according to your client’s requirements + guidelines + aesthetic. Sometimes, most of the times, clients have something specific in mind; a certain style, look, or product. And you must do your work according to that. Some illustrators and designers, like Frannerd mentioned in one of her videos, have a style for freelance work or client work, and another style for their personal projects (if they have time to work on personal stuff).
Some clients are a pain to work with. Yeah, sorry to break it to you, but working with clients, sometimes, isn’t a dream come true. I’ve worked with tons and tons of clients for over eight years, and as some of them were delightful to work with others left me drained + broke + needing a 2-month vacation or more.Over the years, I’ve become more selective with the kind of clients I work with, and I’ve also been lucky enough to find and be found by some amazing dream clients. But, at the beginning the difference between a dream + a nightmare client it’s pretty blurry or inexistent; we believe that everyone is a dream client because they’re willing to pay for something we love to do. So that’s another con.
And as a third disadvantage is that client work can absorb all your time not allowing you to focus on personal projects. This has been so true for me during my whole time in business, and for me, it happened because one client brought another or a couple more, and I didn’t want to say no or disappoint anyone. It’s the snowball effect I was telling you before.

Great, now let’s cover the pros and cons of personal projects

First the Pros:

You have the freedom to create whatever you want, however you want. If you’ve had an idea of a design or an illustration forever, but you haven’t been able to work on it, now you can. If you want to create a collection in your own style, now you can. If you want to follow a trend or not follow it. Or if you want to use certain art media, this is your chance.
Your personal projects also allow you to explore and experiment with your skills + techniques + your authentic style + your whole work to discover you as a fashion artist or fashion creative.When you’re creating your own personal projects the restrictions are set by you, so you can feel completely free to keep learning and experimenting in an intentional and purposeful way.And now that a set of requirements does not restrain you, you can get to know what are the tools and materials you love the most, what features can be part of your authentic style, and what matters the most to you as a fashion creative. While at the same time you can learn something new with every new project.
There’s no ceiling on how much money you can make with one project. Personal projects are not destined to leave you broke or give you no money.Actually, personal projects have the biggest potential to bring in the money because you’re making them with passion and love, and passion and love move people. Passion will move you to explore all the possibilities and do things you never imagined you could do. And people getting in touch with you will be moved and infected with your love and passion that they’ll be eager to be part of it.Maybe you start small and decide to create your first postcard collection featuring your illustrations and sell it through your Instagram. Maybe you just want to create as many illustrations as they come to your mind and sell them as products in RedBubble. Or maybe you want to go bigger, and you decide to create your first fashion collection and sell it through your website and social media.
There’s no ceiling on how much money you can make. The amount of money will only be determined by you, what you think is possible, and what you make happen.

Wow, I’m so pumped by these pros, it’s exciting to know all the possibilities you have when you embark on creating some of your personal projects, but now let’s see the cons.

Well, I really couldn’t think of any other con than this:

If you don’t turn your project into a product or don’t sell it in any way, you won’t make money from it.Personal projects take time and sometimes money, those are the main reasons most people don’t focus on personal projects. And as I mentioned in the last point, you can shift this by making your project sellable. But, if you’re not willing to put the extra work that that means, then you won’t be able to see any monetary return.It’s up to you if you want a personal project to bring you money or not, and it’s also up to you if you want to give the necessary effort + time + work to make it happen.
If you decide your idea and your personal project is worth taking the time and doing the work to make money, then it’s time to show up, share your project with the world, and shout it from the rooftops.

To finish…

For many many years I focused on client work, my main goal was that they were happy with my work, so they returned or referred me to other people. I liked what I was creating with clients, I liked my business model, and I enjoyed working with clients, but something was missing. I left myself aside.

Every time I wanted to create something personal, I told myself ‘once I finish with this client’s project.’ All the experimentation I wanted to do, all the things I wanted to try, all the things I wanted to create had to wait. And that made me feel drained + passionless about my work.

There was a point where I didn’t enjoy to do the things I was supposed to enjoy; the things that were the reason I started my own business became meaningless.

So, I’m not telling you that you shouldn’t work with clients anymore and that you should only do whatever you want and be happy. Well, yes, you should be happy and hopefully do whatever you want, but I’m here to tell you that you must find a balance between client work and your own projects, so you get the best of both worlds: the experience in real-life projects, the credibility and trust from new clients, the fulfillment + freedom of doing what you like, the ability to explore + discover yourself as the artist and creative you are, and the money.

But, if what you want is to focus purely on your own projects, then go ahead. Go for it because there’s nothing better and more meaningful than making your dreams + ideas happen, and see how you evolve + improve as an artist and as a person along the way.

That’s why I’m eager to explore and experiment with my own techniques + style. That’s why I want to keep growing and exploring like an artist and creative. And that’s why I want to help you do the same.

Hope you liked this video/post! IF so, please give it a thumbs up, share it with your friends, and subscribe to know when more videos are coming. Bye!

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(With LOVE!)

What to do When You don’t Know What to do

Do you want to start learning a new skill or a bunch? Or do you want to start creating a new fashion collection or a new illustration, but you don’t know what to do first?

Have you ever wondered what to do when you don’t know what to do?

This is one of the biggest struggles my students and people sending me emails are having. They want to do a bunch of amazing things, but they don’t know where to start.

They get paralyzed by the options, the possibilities, and the what-ifs that they get stuck for a while.

And it’s happened to me too, more often than what I’d like to admit, so today I want to help you get started when you don’t know what to do whether because you have too many options, or because you’re afraid of the outcome…

So let’s start!

You can watch the video or read the post, whatever you prefer 😉

Okay, the best way to start doing anything when you don’t know what to do is to start with play.

Yep, that easy.

When you don’t know where to start, then start with what makes you feel the happiest + most joyful. Start playing around, or start with what’s easier, but always start with joy.

When you do things from a place of joy and play, you remove all the fears and judgment of what you’re doing + the process + the outcomes. And you can completely focus on the task, and the happiness it brings you.

When you focus on starting with play, the options you have in front of you are dramatically reduced. You stop messing around with what you “should” do, and you pour your whole attention to what makes you happy.

And besides feeling joyful and amazing for doing what makes you feel good, you’re also opening yourself up for more opportunities because when you’re doing something out of joy you’re doing it with your heart, and you’re pouring the best of you in it, instead of just delivering meh results, meh creations, and meh everything.

At the beginning of the video I mentioned, I’ve felt stuck not knowing what to do, and this actually happened last month.

I kept myself stuck not knowing what to do for a couple of weeks. I just wrapped up a project with a client, and I started to feel anxious and kinda desperate because I really didn’t know what to do next.

I knew I “should” land more clients
I knew I “should” network with some bloggers and influencers to get the word out about me and my work
I knew I “should” create more videos, blog posts, and Instagram pics because when I work with clients, I get so focused on their work that I can’t keep up with my channels
I knew I “should” revamp my fashion illustration portfolio and create more illustrations and designs
I knew I “should,” I knew I “should”, I knew I “should” do a lot of things.

So, what did I do?

Get up from bed pretty late, get out of the house, watch Netflix, play with my pups, hang out with my husband, and pretty much anything that could distract me from making a decision.

I kept doing that for a couple of weeks, feeling a bit more anxious and more guilty day by day. Until Allan, my husband, told me: “why don’t you just start with what’s more exciting? Wouldn’t that be easier?”

And Oh My GOD! He was so right! (Love you, babe! 😘)

So I ditched everything out of my paper planner, Trello, and my own head. And I started asking myself what’s the most exciting thing for me right now?

“What’s the most exciting thing for me right now?, what’s the most exciting thing for me right now?, what’s the most exciting thing for me right now?”

And it hit me:

I want to create more personal projects
I want to grow this amazing community around FSBS; I want to be of help to them
And I’m excited about moving to Italy this year!

Those are the most exciting things to me at the moment of recording this, and those became my primary focus.

So, I decided to create a printable + illustrated travel planner. I decided to create more videos + posts + illustrations. I decided to set up a Patreon page for everyone eager to get more out of me and this blog + my channel. And that’s what I’m starting to do.

I’m starting with play.

So, it’s time for you to try it now!

Grab a piece of paper and a pen.
Take a deep breath.
And ask yourself “what’s the most exciting thing for me right now?”
Now write it down.

Sometimes the answer is not as clear as we’d like because there’re so many things in our heads. But keep writing what’s the most exciting thing to you at this moment, and take note of patterns or repeating words.

Then go and do the thing with all your heart and trusting yourself 😉

To finish…

Okay, that’s it for today! I really hope this video and this little tip have inspired you to take action right now.

And, now I’d love you to tell me in the comments:

What’s the most exciting thing for you right now? How will you start with play?

If you liked this video + post share it with your friends!

Also, if you want to support me in the creation of more videos like this, and more illustrations like those in my Instagram, now you can become a Patreon! I have some great goodies for everyone pledging and helping me make more of what I love – so, head to my Patreon page to learn all about it and join 😀

See you on the next video…. Bye!!

P.S: Want some free resources?

Sign up with your email, and get all the videos + posts + news + offers directly in your inbox, plus an EXCLUSIVE-ONLY-FOR-SUBSCRIBERS DISCOUNT 😆

Just add your name + email below 😉

(With LOVE!)

How to Overcome Comparison, Perfectionism, and Feeling not Good Enough

The most harmful obstacles we face as creatives and artists come from ourselves as comparison, perfectionism, and feeling not good enough.

I know it’s really hard to feel those feelings, so today I want to share with you the most effective tips to combat this little sneaky bugs. 😉

Are you ready??

You can watch the video or read the post, whatever is most convenient for you 😉

Well, by now you’ve may felt or got to know that comparison + perfectionism + feeling not good enough are the worst enemies for us artist and creatives.

These sneaky feelings take away all the joy of creating your art and work, and make it a painful quest to finish just one design or one illustration.

And I’m here to tell you that that’s got to finish.

You’re here to create all the beautiful and amazing work that you crave for, all the great and gorgeous designs and illustrations that you imagine, and you’re here to become the artist and creative that you want to be.

But first, we gotta get rid of comparison + perfectionism + the feeling of not being good enough.

1 | Stop making assumptions.

Making assumptions about the people we see all over social media, blogs, and youtube channels is quite easy because most of the times we only see the good stuff, the good news, the Instagram-worthy picture of their lives.

But, in reality, we don’t even know.

We don’t know how long they have been working + pushing + taking action towards their dreams. These persons may seem like an overnight success or just like lucky people, but they might’ve been doing their thing for years before you’ve discovered them.

They may appear like the super amazing ultra talented artists that came out of the blue when actually they‘ve been learning, fine-tuning their skills, exploring and experimenting, and creating artwork for YEARS.

This is a truth bomb that I wasn’t aware of, but it truly changed my way of viewing myself and other people.

So, I really hope you can stop making assumptions because you don’t deserve to compare your journey to anyone else’s, all you would do with that is to diminish the worth of your work + your talent, and at the same time, you’d be blocking all sorts of opportunities.

2 | Allow yourself to learn + grow.

The antidote to perfectionism is to allow yourself to learn and grow.

Your journey and your work are all about learning, making progress, making improvements, and growing as an artist.

If you just want to create all the masterpieces from the get-go, from the beginning, you’re missing a lot along the way. You would miss all the knowledge and experiences of going from total newbie to amazing expert; you’d miss the opportunity to learn from your mistakes, make tweaks from your observations, and get to know yourself as the artist and creative you are.

There wouldn’t be any growth.

Your job as an artist and as a fashion creative is to learn and grow. There’s no space for perfection or perfectionism. Just allow yourself to learn and grow.

3 | Show yourself some grace for all the things you’ve learned and created

Your journey so far has brought you all kinds of experiences and lessons, you’ve probably made some mistakes, and you’ve created great things as well.

Then, honor all those lessons + experiences + creations. Show yourself some grace and let yourself know that you’re awesome at what you do because of all the things that you’ve created.

Because no one else made them, it was you pouring your heart and mind, moving your hands, and making your vision real.

Let yourself feel proud of the steps you’ve given, happy about the work you’ve created, and good enough to keep moving forward.

To finish…

Making use of these tactics takes time and diligence, just as everything else, but with practice, you’ll notice you enjoy more and more your creation process. You’ll see how you stop caring about perfection and change your focus to growth + progress. You’ll start seeing yourself as someone as good and creative as all the people you admire. And you’ll LOVE your journey so far, and every step of the way 🙂

That’s it for today! I really hope this video and theses tips have inspired you to knock these feelings out of your life.

And, now I’d love you to tell me in the comments:

How comparison, perfectionism, and feeling not good enough have affected you as an artist and fashion creative?
And what are your tips to fight these bugs?

If you liked this video + post share it with your friends!

See you on the next video…. Bye!!

P.S: Want some free resources?

Sign up with your email, and get all the videos + posts + news + offers directly in your inbox, plus an EXCLUSIVE-ONLY-FOR-SUBSCRIBERS DISCOUNT 😆

Just add your name + email below 😉

(With LOVE!)

Fashion Design + Fashion Illustration Tutorials

Oh my goodness! I’m so excited for today’s post because today starts a NEW SEASON here at Fashion Step-by-Step!!

So, today I just want to share the ways I’m here to help youhere on the blog and over the Fashion School 😉

You can watch the video or read the post, whatever is most convenient for you 😉

If you want to become a fashion designer, a fashion illustrator, or a surface pattern designer + be profitable + do what you love for a living, you are in the right place!

My journey began ten years ago when I started teaching myself all things about fashion, illustration, and surface pattern design. And before even graduating from industrial design, a little over eight years ago, I landed my first project as a fashion designer.

Now, I have nine years working in fashion and five years teaching. And, during this time, I’ve realized that to become a fashion creative you only need three things:

Grow your skills
Discover your authentic style
Show up and share your work.

It doesn’t matter how you do that; with formal education, books, internships, workshops, or online courses. What is important is that you give your all every step of the way.

But, when I started teaching other people, I noticed that persons in a similar situation like mine when I began learning fashion were lacking two things:

Step-by-step and in-depth resources that helped them grow their skills and discover their authentic style.
And confidence in their skills and their dreams to show up and share their work.

Actually, this wasn’t new to me. I didn’t have lots of how-to resources at my disposal; only a couple of books, and the tools I could afford at a certain time. And, I was always afraid that people wouldn’t take me seriously because of being self-taught in fashion.

And that’s why I founded Fashion Step-by-Step, to help you grow your skills and discover your authentic style with step-by-step tools and resources. And to help you show up and share your work with confidence because it doesn’t matter how you obtain your knowledge + experience, what matters is your talent + your ideas + the things you can create.

I’m here to encourage you to follow your dreams and to bring you everything you need to make them happen.

So, how can I help you?

Well, I know how lonely, confusing, and stressful it can be to learn + try to make a name for yourself as a fashion creative. And I know that having someone who could help me in my journey would’ve been fantastic and crazy helpful.

So, instead of going alone and figuring it all out by yourself (like I did), now you can use the free and premium resources that I’ve created, and that I’m creating on a consistent basis, to help you in every step of the way. Whether you’re just starting out growing your skills, trying to figure out and discovering your authentic style, or making the leap and building your business.

1 | Free Resources + Content (AKA Fashion Design + Fashion Illustration + Surface Pattern Design Tutorials)

I share all kinds of free training + tools + resources on my Blog, my YouTube channel, and my Newsletter. Things like guides, mini-ebooks, video series, preview lessons, and articles teaching you how to do something fashion related, and sharing my own journey and my work as a fashion creative.

2 | Fashion School + Fashion Courses

And, the Fashion School is the platform I built within Fashion Step-by-Step to host all the premium courses I’ve created for you. Each course is carefully and specially designed to hand-hold you step-by-step through all the lessons. Making easy what seemed hard, and encouraging you every step of the way.

My goal is to help you discover your talents, nurture and harness your skills, and feel proud and confident about your work, so you follow your dreams and make a living as a fashion creative.

To finish…

I invite you to grab a new notebook and go to the blog, read + watch each post + video, take notes, and follow the action steps given.

Then, visit the fashion school here at Fashion Step-by-Step, take a look at the available courses, watch the free preview lessons, and sign up to the course that you need the most right now to move forward in your fashion journey.

Great, so now you know all the different ways I’m here to help you, you can find the links to all of them below – I’m eager to see you on the other side!

Thank you so much for stopping by, and see you on the next video… Byeee!!

The cure to moving past an inspiration block + the inspiration behind my new collection.

Have you dealt with inspiration blocks? Have you feel super eager + excited to create some fashion work, but when you take the time to do it nothing happens? Or have you had tons and tons of ideas, but can’t decide and you don’t do anything anyway?

This was me every time I wanted to start creating my personal projects and the products of my new shop at www.heartsoulme.com, and every time I ended up frustrated + overwhelmed + burnt out. But, over the last couple of weeks, I discovered this kind of blocks has nothing to do with a lack of talent, creativity, or passion. And I found out the cure to moving past any inspiration + creativity block.

So, if you’ve ever felt inspiration kinda hates you, keep reading 🙂

Last week, I told you I’d begin a new collection of fashion illustrations and surface pattern designs, and I couldn’t be more excited about it. I just finished my little research, created a mood board, and picked my color palette – and I’m LOVING the theme!

I’ve wanted to do this, for years! A collection out of pure joy, for myself (not my freelance clients), and to be featured in (drumroll please!) a gorgeous calendar and maybe be sold as separate art prints as well (also something I’ve envisioned for three years!). OMG, OMG, OMG I’m so excited, can you notice? 😛

But, why it took me so long?

Well, the short answer would be:

I’ve been super busy, with lots of client work, creating courses, and creating free content.

But, the truth is that I had months all for myself without client work, and weeks I spent over thinking about this project. And over thinking led me to feel overwhelmed, and that drained my will + my desire to make this happen.

So, the more thoughtful answer would be:

I was paralyzed, yeah, I wanted to find the perfect theme + the perfect colors + the perfect ideas + the perfect subjects + the perfect compositions + the perfect E-V-E-R-Y-T-H-I-N-G, and I missed my own advice 🙁

All this wasted time could’ve been saved with a little dose of courage + bravery, and a bit of trust in myself + my intuition. I refused to the joy and fulfillment just because I was too worried + afraid, but worried + afraid of what?

Yeah, it’s silly, but it was worry + fear of being rejected, hearing crickets while sharing my work, and messing up. And, if you dig deeper, at the end I was just avoiding GROWTH. I wasn’t putting myself in a safe place, but putting myself in a stagnant situation.

The cure to moving past an inspiration block + getting started?

Gather courage + trust, pick your favorite inspiration theme, and just take action.

You don’t have to wait another day to come up with the perfect idea because we both know that if you’re super stressed about that, it won’t happen.

You don’t have to wait until your skills are on point because if you don’t create anything, you won’t improve anything, you won’t grow, and your skills will remain the same.

And you don’t have to wait until you feel confident about your work because practice claims confidence. The more you create, the better you become. And the better you become, the more confident you feel.

Seriously, this is what worked for me. It took me three years to finally begin this project, and I just had to take some courage and trust myself – believing that no matter the results, they’d bring me experience + growth + a deeper understanding of myself as an artist and my work.

Your work is not supposed to be perfect; it is supposed to take you somewhere new.

You aren’t supposed to feel afraid + stressed + overwhelmed about creating your fashion work, you’re supposed to feel free + happy + energized. You’re supposed to enjoy every second of working on your art.

I SEE you, and I FEEL you!

I know how hard it is to get rid of the worry + fear dementors, but you can do this. You can stop being stagnant and you can start creating with joy + freedom + confidence. You just have to decide it.

Coming up with my inspiration theme

Once I took some courage + decided to trust myself and my intuition to take action, I jot down a few theme ideas. I was writing the third one when I saw it clear.

We’re all diminishing our skills + talents + strengths. We’re all looking at everyone else, and comparing ourselves, our lives, and our everything with them – minimizing our progress + wins + uniqueness. We’re all suffocating our true self, our dreams, and our improvement.
We’re living a life full of worry + fear + uncertainty thinking and asking ourselves: will I ever make it happen? Will I ever be good enough? Will I ever be happy?
We feel we’re running out of time to make our dreams happen, be fitter + look prettier, and demonstrate our worthiness.

But, it doesn’t have to be that way.

We’re all talented + beautiful + worthy. We all deserve to acknowledge that to be happy and create a life we love. And we all can unstoppably + unmistakably become the best version of ourselves.

How?

Owning ourselves. Embracing who we are. And celebrating our progress through our life journey.

Let me tell you once more (because if you’ve been here for a while, you’ve heard me say it a lot):

You are UNSTOPPABLE
You are BEAUTIFUL
You are TALENTED
You are SMART
You are BRAVE
You are WORTHY
You are SPECIAL
You are CAPABLE
You are MORE THAN GOOD ENOUGH
You are VIBRANT
You are WONDERFUL
You are STRONG
You are FREE
You are DIFFERENT (and that’s actually something good 😉 )
You are SO MUCH MORE THAN THAT!

And that’s what I want to remind you + evoke you with my new collection.

I want you to know you’re already everything you’ve ever wanted to be, and everything you’ll ever need. Only you can be you, and that’s FANTASTIC!

Own yourself – All year round

the-cure-to-moving-past-an-inspiration-block-how-to-get-inspired-3

This is my mood board + color palette. Man, I can’t get rid of these deep blue + bright pink + gorgeous lavender, they’re becoming kind of my signature colors because they remind me to be mindful + joyful + strong without forgetting who I really am. I LOVE them!!

mood-board The women are the inspiration models for my illustrations (and there are more), I believe each and every one of them is just as different and unique as we all are. And although, I know they don’t represent the vast beauty of this immense world, I hope they bring you the message I wish to spread: Owning yourself all year round to be yourself + live a life you love + feel crazy happy!

Lately, I’ve felt drawn to abstract paintings, so I want to experiment with my acrylics to create the backgrounds and surface pattern designs that will accompany this collection.

And the navy blue dishes are a reminder that even though we’re not perfect, we’re still beautiful.

At this point all my inspiration + research + reference images are all ready to use. Now I’ll start sketching and creating some color explorations. After that, I’ll create the final illustrations in my authentic (and re-discovered) style, mixing it with the abstract painting experiments (can’t wait!). And finally, I’ll put it all together in Adobe Illustrator to create a beautiful + physical calendar (ptss, which will be part of my new shop 😆).

So, this is the first post + update of this project. I’m super thrilled + eager to share the whole process with you. And can’t wait to know your thoughts!

To Finish…

My hope for this post, and actually my whole new collection is to encourage you and motivate you to:

Create something.
Start today.
Get some courage + trust yourself.
Leave behind the door all fear + worry, and let your intuition help you grow
Own yourself, your life, your progress, your talents, your journey and everything you are + have + do. All you and all that are valuable.

And, if you’re ready to move past your inspiration block + start creating some work + learn while you grow and improve your skills, I have some resources for you:

If you’re struggling with fashion figures, this is the course you need. It comes with a comprehensive workbook + step-by-step videos + cheat-sheets ready to use. You’ll learn how to create fashion figures the easy way, and you’ll build your brain muscle so that drawing figures becomes second nature to you.

If you want to give life to your designs + illustrations with texture, in Fashion Markers I teach you how to render 46 different fabric textures. Your designs + illustrations won’t look flat and dull anymore 😉

If you want to start using watercolors, but they’re kinda scary, Watercolors for Fashion Illustration is a step-by-step course that shows you how to get started with watercolors to create your fashion designs + illustrations. You’ll learn 24 techniques, how to illustrate clothing + accessories + skin + hair in 34 videos!

Or if you want to get a glimpse on fashion illustration, and get started with the basics, then this course is for you.

From the 10 of October, all courses will have access to a private community to get all your questions answered + share your progress + keep you motivated!

With LOVE!

Top 7 Mistakes

The other day I was reflecting and thinking about my journey in fashion, and about my journey here in Fashion Step-by-Step. I was thinking about all the mistakes I made and the obstacles I overcame. And I couldn’t stop thinking ‘this could’ve taken me less time to achieve‘, and ‘oh gosh! If I knew this, everything would’ve been easier‘.

I know I can’t get back on time (yet 😛 ), but how would it be for you, if you could avoid all the mistakes I made?

How would it be if your journey could be as easy and smooth as possible?

How would you feel if someone could tell you the things you must try, the things you must avoid, and the things I wish someone would tell me?

I know for me, it would’ve been AMAZING! So, today I want to share with you the top 7 mistakes we tend to make on our way to becoming fashion artists (fashion designers, fashion illustrators, and textile pattern designers) and business owners.

And without further ado, here are the 7 mistakes 🙂

1 | You don’t TRUST yourself

This mistake is BIG, and I believe it’s the most important and the first you should tackle. Because, if you don’t feel confident (if you don’t trust yourself, your skills, and that you can become what you want to be), you’ll sabotage yourself.

When you lack confidence, you’ll let the time pass you by, you won’t practice, and you won’t improve, you’ll turn down opportunities, or you won’t even see them.

It’s easy to identify if you’re making this mistake, your mind keeps thinking things like these:

Maybe I’m not good enough
I don’t like this thing I did
Other people do it way better than me
What if I’m not talented?
What if I can’t?
I’m not super creative

Needless to say, those thoughts are harmful, and they won’t take you anywhere but to a hopeless place.

How do you get rid of it? How do you gain confidence in your work and trust in yourself?

It’s actually pretty easy!

Learn and practice. There are tons of things you can learn in fashion. The more you learn, the better. And, the more you practice, it’s way better.
Create new things, new designs, new collections, new garments, new illustrations. Whatever you want to create, make it!
When you sit down to work, do it with an open mind and an open heart, knowing that you’re doing your best with the knowledge and practice you have. Let the criticism and comparison behind the door – this makes magic, I promise.
Embrace your work, love it because you made it, and acknowledge that your talents + skills have no limits.
If something doesn’t feel right (or doesn’t look good), know that you can change it and improve it. Know that every time you learn something new, and every time you practice + create you’re growing – and your talents and skills are growing with you.

The only way to gain confidence is allowing it into your life, and you can allow yourself to feel it by following the simple steps above 😉

2 | You have so MANY EXCUSES

How many times have you said (at least one of this)…

… I’m too young
… I’m too old
… I don’t have money
… I don’t have time
… I can’t
… I’m not in a very creative place right now
… my job is consuming my creativity
… I’ll be able to do it once I get rid of this dreading job
… I don’t know how to do it
… I didn’t go to college
… my career is totally different than fashion, I won’t make it
… it’s not that easy

I can go on and on; I’ve heard all the excuses in the world on why it’s not possible to become a fashion artist and business owner. Heck, I’ve even said some of those. But, they’ll keep true as long as you give them the power.

I know that’s true, and I know you’ll say ‘but Karen, it’s not that easy!‘.

Well, I understand some things aren’t completely under your control, but other are easier to change. For example, after I started freelancing I wanted (so bad) to start creating fashion illustrations as part of a personal project, many years passed while I was repeating myself ‘I don’t have time’, ‘well, maybe after this project’, ‘uhmmm I wish it could be easier, but not this month’. Seven years went by! Seven! I can’t even believe it myself. But it was until I realize I was watching too much Netflix after having a “hard day”, that I could prioritize my time, and suddenly I have more time than ever before – and I do quite more things than ever before!

Many of the excuses will only require a soft shift in your mindset, while other will need a big change in your routine. But know that you can beat them, know that you can make your dreams + goals happen. Don’t let those crappy excuses keep you from living the life you crave for – the life you’re meant to have.

3 | You EXPECT things to change all of a sudden

This mistake goes hand in hand with the previous one. It’s easy to fall into the routine of making excuses, and it’s way easier to fall into the trap of expecting that things will change all of a sudden – without doing anything to change it.

We tend to repeat ourselves the same boring + useless excuses, and say ‘but one of these days, this will change.’

Well, that’s not true, and you know it. You know that nothing will happen until you make it happen.

So, stop expecting that like Cinderella all your life will change and become better just because of the charming prince. Stop expecting magical results without input from your part.

Do I believe in magic + miracles + great things? Yes, I do! But, I don’t believe dreaming is enough. I believe you have to go for what you want. I believe you have to do what it takes. And I believe that what you give, you receive – the effort you put in is equal to the results you get.

Now do things differently, ditch those excuses, and start moving towards your goal. All the small steps count and all of them add up 😉

4 | Rely on other people’s BAD OPINIONS

Have this happened to you…?

You’re utterly excited about your new choice; you want to become a fashion artist, and you want to build your own business. Then you go and tell everyone about this new adventure; you’re excited, and you want to let the world know about it. But, someone you told your big news is having a bad day (or has a different mindset than yours, or simply don’t believe is a good idea), she/he shares why you shouldn’t do it, why you’re not prepared, or whatever. That opinion hurts you; you were so happy about your choice, and now you’re so doubtful. And then, you do the worst you could do: you stop thinking about it, you stop doing anything about it, and you pause your dream.

This is the saddest thing I’ve ever heard about a dream, and I’ve heard it a lot.

I understand our need of receiving people’s approval to our dreams + goals; this need is even bigger if the approval we seek is from our family. But, no one knows you better than yourself, no one will ever know what’s the best for you (only yourself), and no one can ever tell you what you should do.

You’re here to experience life the way you want. You’re here to be happy, and choosing a career path is part of life, and it’s part of being happy.

So, choose what makes you happy. Rely on your own opinions. Listen to what you want.

5 | You do RANDOM THINGS randomly

I said before that every single thing adds up, and every single thing will take you closer. That’s right. But, doing random things (reading a post + watching a video) will not do anything for you, if you don’t apply what you learn from them. And doing those things without a plan will take you longer to get where you want to be than doing things intentionally + purposefully.

On my FREE email course Become a Profitable Fashion Illustrator, I share with you the step-by-step of all the things you got to do before launching your business; it is a time saver, and also a stress reliever.

You don’t need to do random things randomly because when you sign up to the free email course, I will guide you and help you along the way, making your journey towards your dream more fun + easier + faster 😉

6 | You don’t INVEST in yourself and your goal

Yes, this is a huge mistake. You can invest in yourself and your goal with time + effort + money. When you don’t have a lot of one of them, you can put more of the other. But you always must invest, or you won’t get any return.

We’re now living in a culture of free + I don’t have the time.

But, to really explore + experiment + realize how great you’re at designing and illustrating you must invest your precious time to practice + evaluate + improve your skills. You must invest your effort to do your best every time you create something new. And you must invest money to acquire the tools + materials + knowledge you need to create and become what you want.

When you don’t invest any of these three factors, you miss out. You delay your progress and growth. And, you deny yourself the opportunities to come.

When I started learning fashion, the time and monetary resources were somewhat limited, but every single penny I earned was to learn something new + buy new materials to try with. And every single free minute I had was to practice what I was learning.

Once I got my first gig as a freelance fashion designer, all my earnings were to improve my skills, learn new stuff, and build my business. As I mentioned earlier, at this point my time was “limited”, but I never stopped investing in myself and my goal, whether it was with time, effort, or money.

When you add those factors, when you invest in your dream with them, something changes inside your head. You don’t want your time, effort or money go to waste, so you do absolutely everything you can to get the results you want. It’s different than downloading a free ebook, and forgetting about it. It’s different than having someone else doing the work for you. Has this happened to you?

Now pick how you want to invest in yourself and your dream today and this week. Remember, it can be with time, effort, or money. Once you know how you want to invest and what will you do, just do it 😉

7 | You don’t SHOW UP

Finally, this is another big mistake I see most people doing. And it’s as harmful as the others.

Don’t showing up and don’t sharing your work prevents people from knowing you and what you do. Prevents people to like your work, and hire or buy from you.

Sometimes is confidence what keeps you from showing up. Sometimes are excuses. And sometimes is someone else’s opinion.

But, if you want to do what you love and get paid for that, you have to let the world know about you and your work. Take baby steps, show your work to a loving family member or a kind friend. When you feel more secure, you can post on your FB profile or open an Instagram account.

There’s beauty in sharing your progress, and there’s beauty in feeling good about it. Besides, while you create + grow + improve, you might be discovered! – Or connected to someone, you never know 😉

Now you know what you MUST AVOID. If you don’t know where to start, pick one mistake and do your best to eliminate it off your day-to-day.

Once that mistake is completely out of your life, take another mistake and ditch it.

You can do this!

With LOVE!

P.S: Are you an aspiring fashion illustrator? Have you ever struggled with ‘how the heck will I do what I love for a living?!’

Become a Profitable Fashion Illustrator is your step-by-step quick start guide to making money doing what you love.

You’ll get to know what you need to do, and what you need to get rid of, if you really want to become profitable + be successful + feel fulfilled as a fashion illustrator.

Join me clicking the button below.

I WANNA JOIN!

Freelancing is the easiest, fastest, and best way to start working as a fashion illustrator

10 Reasons to Start Freelancing as Fashion Illustrator

Yes! Freelancing is the easiest + fastest + best way to start working as a fashion illustrator.

It is perfect for you if you want to:

Change your career path, and can’t wait to start working as a fashion illustrator.
Dip your toe in what’s like to be a fashion illustrator and manage a business.
And even if you’re afraid of leaving your job and the security it gives you for something unknown (but extremely exciting + meaningful + fulfilling!).

If you’ve been following me for a while, then you know how I started working in fashion, and you also know I’m all into freelancing (especially if you’re in my free email course Become a Profitable Fashion Illustrator).

But, in just in case you’re new here, here’s a summary…

I was in college (studying industrial design), and I was SO SUPER eager to work in fashion. I wanted to spend my days designing and illustrating, and creating fashion products. Really, I couldn’t wait any longer, so I started designing and creating my own handbags. It was my very first fashion business; it started small selling to my friends, and then to the friends of my friends. Then, I stumbled into a big and huge wall: the time and money I was investing in my handbags business weren’t returning as much as I needed to make it survive.

So, I started searching for a new way to make money doing something that I ENJOYED, to help me grow my handbags business.

That’s when I found out about freelancing. The first ever time I realized I could illustrate fashion from my home, in my spare time, and be paid whatever I wanted I fell in LOVE. I saw a small announcement on a marketplace platform, and I couldn’t believe it! During the whole week, I returned to that website only to read that announcement over and over again.

I was stoked, happy, and ultra motivated. And, after a little research about what I needed to sell my services as a fashion designer and illustrator, I implemented all that, and I set up my profile and little portfolio. Then, my fashion freelance business began right there.

In the beginning, I just wanted money to keep designing and making my bags, but over time my new business was growing, evolving, and taking me to places I never thought before. It became something I LOVED and CHERISHED, then something I kind of hated, and then again something I truly LOVE and ENJOY 😁

In my latest post I talked about how to become a fashion illustrator, (a profitable fashion illustrator!), and today I want to tell you about the easiest + fastest + best way to start doing what you love and getting paid for it: which is selling your services, aka freelancing.

FOR THOSE OF YOU WONDERING, WHAT’S FREELANCING?

Generally, freelancing is offering and selling your services to people or businesses that need them. You can work from wherever you want (from your home, traveling, or from your fave coffee shop). You set your prices, you set the rules, and you work on your own schedule. You’re not considered as an employee, so you don’t get the benefits of working full time in a company, but you get lots of more great benefits.

As I see it, freelancing is the freedom to work with people and projects you love, doing what you enjoy, and doing it in your own terms. It is being your own boss, and more importantly, it is being in charge of your life.

But, why is FREELANCING the easiest + fastest + best way to start working as a fashion illustrator?

I landed my first ever project after less than a month of publishing my small portfolio and reaching to prospective clients. This first project was designing and taking care of the sample production of a footwear collection that was presented in a show in Milan. In my proposal I included pics of a pair of shoes that I designed in school and their patterns, I mentioned the design process, the production process, and how we could work together.

Although I created fashion illustrations for the shoes I designed during that project, the whole project was mainly about design. Yet, my first project in fashion illustration arrived a couple of weeks after that.

I want to emphasize that I had no testimonials, I had no recommendations, I had no referrals, I knew no one, and no one knew me. I just had a tiny portfolio and lots of passion + enthusiasm. And I got my first paid fashion freelance project, one that I truly loved and enjoyed, one that opened up a lot and huge learning + growth opportunities, and one that allowed me to work on my own terms.

So, becoming a freelance fashion illustrator is the easiest + fastest + best way to start making a living from your talent because:

1 | You don’t need a big investment in time and money

This is the most frequent concern among my students + mentees that want to start making a living as fashion illustrators:

How much money will I have to invest before I start earning?
How much time do I need to put in to be successful?
What if I don’t have a lot of money?
And what if my time is sort of limited?

Well, you can start very small. The family’s laptop + scanner, my fashion illustration tools (paper, watercolors, pencils…), and an internet connection was everything I needed at the beginning. And now on some projects, that’s all I need.

But, let’s break down what you need:

Website + Portfolio. If you use Squarespace, you can have a beautiful website + portfolio + blog for $12 per month, and if you opt for WordPress you’ll invest less than that.
Social Media Accounts like Instagram + Pinterest + Facebook + Twitter. They’re FREE.
Tools + Materials. You can start with whatever you have already, and buy more stuff as over the time. But, watercolors start at $20 per set of 24 pieces, paper is around $15 per block, and you can get a set of brushes from $10 in Amazon.
Laptop + Scanner. Use what you already have, you don’t need the latest Mac, nor the best scanner in the world. I use my laptop to enhance the color and brightness of my illustrations with Photoshop, and I also use my laptop to communicate with clients. You’ll also need it to promote and market your work online. If you don’t have a scanner you can go to a photocopy center, and they’ll scan your illustrations for less than one buck.
Internet + Electricity. You already pay for them, so it won’t be an extra expense.

See? You don’t need extravagant amounts of money to get started, and you definitely don’t need endless hours to begin working as a fashion illustrator.

You need to set aside some time to set up your website and create your portfolio. And if you have 12-15 free hours per week, you can use them to create one or two fashion illustrations, create content for your marketing efforts (one blog post + social media for the week), and start building your audience. That’s all you need to start getting the ball rolling, you can begin growing from there, and once you feel secure to leave your job, then you can do it – if you want.

It took me a month to land my first project (and it gave me $5,500). Everything – my portfolio and my profile page – was very basic; I didn’t even have a website (although it’s a must, I didn’t know I could have one 😛 ).

The time and the money you invest in freelancing as a fashion illustrator is a tiny fraction compared to the time and money you have to spend to create a product based business. For the latter, the money investment is above the five figures, and the time you need to set up, launch, and start making money is at least ten months.

How long or how easy is it to get a regular job? I don’t know, I’ve never worked full-time in fashion – and I never will! That’s really not my thing, but I’m sure it’s more difficult and restrictive than becoming a freelance fashion illustrator.

If you’re serious about becoming a fashion illustrator, and if you want to start freelancing ask yourself:

How many hours per day or week can I set aside to devote to my fashion illustration business?
How many dollars per week can I set aside to make my fashion illustration business grow?

2 | You can do it anywhere

Yes, this is for REAL!

When I started working as a freelancer, I did the work on my home’s dinner table, at school between classes, at my boyfriend’s house, and at the coffee shop.

And over the years, I’ve been able to work from home, from my studio, from the beach, from the hotel pool, from Starbucks, from whenever I’ve wanted.

Seriously, you can work from wherever you are, and from wherever you want. It also applies to the city or place you live. You don’t have to wait until you move to New York or Milan, you can start working from wherever you are now.

Once, I had to send some quick drafts when I was on vacation at Los Cabos, Mexico. I drafted them watching the sea, and when I arrived at the hotel, I took some pics, and sent them. – I don’t recommend working on your vacations; that’s sacred time, but I care so much about my client’s and their needs (ok, maybe I’m a bit workaholic too), and that was super easy to do 😉

Ask yourself:

From where would you like to work?
Do you want to work while you travel, or would you rather work from home?

3 | You can do it according to your schedule

We covered a little of this on point number one, but I think it’s quite important to clarify that you can work as a freelance fashion illustrator according to the schedule you already have. A lot of people wait months and even years thinking they’ll have more time later, ‘maybe next week, or maybe next month’, but that time never comes.

And if you really want to make a change in your life and work as a fashion illustrator, I’m sure you can make it happen because you can use your free time or free up time to do the work you have to do.

Once I began my first freelance project I couldn’t stop, more clients started to come, and I was still in school. I had to make time for school, for homework, for family, for my lovely boyfriend, and for my own rest.

A regular full-time job could have never EVER ever fitted into my busy schedule at that time.

Now I take the amount of clients that gives me the time + money freedom I want. I work the hours I want to work during the week, and I take care of other things (and persons!) I love.

If I want to take the day off and go to the lake, I can. If I want to visit family and spend the weekend or more days with them, I can. If I want to take a whole week on the beach, I can. If there’s a special occasion I don’t want to miss, I can go. And if I feel tired or sick, I can slow down and adjust my schedule.

There’s SO MUCH FREEDOM!

Ask yourself:

What things are important to you that you wish you were able to do but you can’t with a full-time job?
What things are important to you that you want to keep doing even when you work as a fashion illustrator?

4 | You can start with the skills you already have

A lot of people wait until they learn how to create illustrations with watercolors, and acrylics, and oils, and markers, and digital mediums, and, and, and….

That’s only another way to procrastinate your dreams.

If your skills are already strong in one art medium (watercolors, markers, digital, or whatever), and if you already see signs of what could be your style, then you’re ready to go.

You can start marketing and on the skills you already have.

Of course, you can still learn, explore, and master other things, but you don’t have to wait until you do it to start working as a fashion illustrator.

Ask yourself:

What are the fashion illustration skills that I already have?
Do I feel confident about them, would I feel comfortable offering them?
Is my style as fashion illustrator starting to show up?

5 | You can start with basic tools

I already mentioned the tools I used on my projects, which are:

Laptop
Scanner
Tools and materials to create my fashion illustrations
Photoshop
Internet connection (to send the files, and communicate with clients).

Now you could tell me ‘but Karen, I don’t have a laptop or Photoshop is too expensive.‘ But, the first laptop I used was my dad’s (well he bought it, but everyone in the house used it 😛 ), I couldn’t use the desktop because it really was too old and super S-L-O-W. And when I couldn’t use my family’s laptop I borrowed one in my school’s library.

Photoshop too expensive? At that time, I acquired a license with the first payment of my freelance project. Now, affordable plans are starting at $10. When you think about the bigger (so MUCH bigger) returns you’re going to get, money excuses begin to vanish away.

No internet connection? You don’t have to be all day all the time on the web. You need it to communicate with your clients and send them results, besides, when you want a thriving and sustainable business, you don’t want to be a slave of your inbox.

I know things sometimes are more difficult to some persons than others, but if you want to do what you love on your own terms, then it’s your job to figure things out. You are the one in charge of your life, and you can make things easier + faster + better to yourself 😉

Ask yourself:

What tools + things do you already have that you can use in your fashion illustration business?
What tools + things would you need to buy?
Can you start with what you already have?

6 | You create + do only the things you want

If you build and launch your fashion illustration business, you can create your own offerings. You don’t have to work doing something you don’t like, or something you don’t feel experienced or comfortable enough.

Do you prefer editorial illustrations over commercial?

Do you want your illustrations to be part of fashion products, clothing, wall art, packaging, branding?

What kind of products do you want to illustrate? Kidswear, Womenswear, Menswear, Accessories?

What illustration techniques do you enjoy the most? Watercolors, markers, color pencils?

You set your rules, and you offer what you want, so you enjoy your whole journey.

7 | You create your own process

You don’t have to follow anyone’s style or process.

You can create, and tweak, and improve your own creative process and style. And also the process you follow to work with clients and delight them, is all up to you.

As you learn new things you can implement them into your process, the more experience you get, the more unique your process will be. And the more unique your style + process are, the more you stand out.

8 | You can charge what you want

Yes! You charge what you want!

Sometimes, particularly in the beginning, you’ll have to negotiate, but I believe that if you want a thriving, successful, and authentic business, you have to stick to your pricing and never undervalue your work.

So, you don’t have to be limited to a salary; it is sad to have dreams and attach those dreams + goals to the amount of money we can spend every month. When you have a freelance business, you are in charge of how much you want to earn and the hours you want to work.

Isn’t it beautiful?

Ask yourself:

How much do you want to earn per month, per week, or per illustration?
How much do you want to earn per day, or per week?

9 | You can work with as many clients as you want – or can handle

Do you want to work in multiple tiny projects at the same time? Or do you prefer only one large project?

Yes, that’s also up to you! Can you see now how the freedom + flexibility + the joy a freelance business can give you?

When I started my business, I used to say ‘the more, the better.’ But, over the time I realized that I rather have quality clients and projects over a large quantity of them. Maybe you think like me, or maybe don’t, but you are the one who sets the rules.

10 | Clients want to work with you because of your style and talent

In many full-time jobs you get hired according to your salary rate, but if you establish yourself as an experienced fashion illustration with a distinct style, and show off your talents, you’ll start attracting raving clients instead of chasing nightmare clients.

This is huge! If you can work on your own schedule, charging what you want, doing what you love, and on top of that you work with delightful + loving clients, then you are in heaven! (me singing with a heavenly voice, haha!)

BUILDING A FREELANCE BUSINESS IS NOT FOR EVERYONE THOUGH

Yes, there’s a disclaimer here.

Despite all the amazing reasons why freelancing is the easiest + fastest + best way to start making money as a fashion illustrator, you have to work hard, you have to be consistent and persistent, you have to hustle, you have to deliver, and you have to delight.

This is not for people that give up easily, not for people that conform with little, even less for people that want overnight success.

Freelancing as a fashion illustrator is for passionate people that want to do what they love on their own terms, but also that want to pour their heart and soul into what they do.

This is for people who want to grow and evolve along the way and help others to grow and evolve with them. This is for hardworking people that are willing to give their best every time, every day, in every project.

To Finish…

My hope for this post is that you can see the awesome benefits + possibilities you have when you decide to become a freelance fashion illustrator. And I hope this post serves + encourages + inspires you to create your thriving fashion illustration business!

One more thing, before I go.

This blog post is part of a series I’ve created to present you the first launch of Thriving as Fashion Creative, an 8-week step-by-step program that’s here to help you turn your passion for fashion illustration into a CRAZY profitable business.

A business that makes you stand out from the crowd so your dream people find you. One that offers services that your dream clients can’t resist loving, sharing, and buying. A business that is all yours, and that allows you to do what you most love + live the life you want.

There are a few spots available, and it starts in September 2016 – find out more this way.

With all my LOVE!

P.S: Will you try freelancing as a fashion illustrator?

If your answer to this questions is ‘yes, yes, yes, I can’t wait!’, I have to invite you and encourage you to:

Sign up to Thriving as Fashion Creative. It’s been created for you, the passionate + talented fashion illustrator who can’t wait to make her dream business happen.

I’ll teach you how to start your business from scratch + make a living doing what you love.
I’ll give you space to learn + implement.
I’ll make it easier for you to plan + show up.

And I’ll be with you along the way, step-by-step, hand-in-hand. Go here to secure your spot.