Hi, my name is Vera. I’m a 25-year-old illustrator, artist, and designer based in Siberia. I’m also the owner of the Creative Market shop Michlomop.
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Photo copyright: Nata Vasina
An Artistic Family
Everyone in my family is into art in some way or another, whether it’s drawing, painting, or doing crafts. It was my grandfather who started this family tradition; he was an amateur oil painter throughout his life, and he painted landscapes for himself and for people around him.
While my father initially got a non-art education, he now makes a living as a designer. Following in these footsteps, my sister and I have both chosen to get an art education. Art truly has been passed down through my family, generation by generation.
Planning for the Future
Given this background, choosing to pursue a creative profession wasn’t really a difficult decision at all. However, when it was time to narrow my choices down and focus on something more specific, things started getting tough. My family members had incredibly high hopes for me, and I knew I wanted my future job to be something I enjoyed, and something that would be sustainable.
To be honest, I should have known right away that I wanted to become an illustrator. I’ve been drawing constantly ever since I was a child. In fact, while my style changes and develops with every new project and product, I think a lot of the consistencies in my work stem all the way back to my childhood. Even then, I always liked the black outlines in pictures, whether I was looking at coloring books, paper dolls, anime, or Disney cartoons. I actually still have two of my favorite childhood books that are full of black ink and watercolors illustrations, and these types of images strongly inspire my style to this day.
Unfortunately, when I was deciding what to study in school, it seemed as though my country was full of talented artists and illustrators, while simultaneously lacking customers who were ready to pay for those artists’ work. So, I decided to major in clothing design. This artistic area united my love for both drawing and crafts, while also being practical enough to put food on the table–or so I thought.
Sadly, soon after graduating with a degree in clothing design, I found out there wasn’t a whole lot of money in this area. Worse still, I realized sewing wasn’t something I really wanted to do. Sure, when I sewed, I could create clothing, but I wanted to create entire worlds and even universes! For that, I needed the freedom to work on my illustrations.
A New Option
Luckily, I discovered the option of selling my ready-made art online to customers throughout the world. Finally, I’d found a way to make my dreams a reality! I’m so proud of myself for not giving up, even when times got hard. I persevered, continued doing what I love, and now I get to enjoy pursuing that same passion as a career.
Now that I’ve given myself the freedom to work on my illustrations daily, things are going really well! I have a huge list of ideas for my future illustrations. Lately I’ve been really inspired by movement and change, as well as by things that are new or mysterious. I’ve got thoughts about topics that range from science to fashion, and space travel to politics.
A Cozy Community
Before joining Creative Market, I had heard great things about the community here. Now I know what a cozy place it really is. I’m excited that my Creative Market shop is officially opened, it’s definitely something special to me. I’m very glad to be a part of this wonderful creative community, and I hope we’ll have a wonderful future together!
This post was written by Vera, owner and creator of the Creative Market shop Michlomop
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I’m an ex-schoolmarm who is excited about all things creative. Photography makes me smile and when I find a new-to-me dress that fits just right, it makes my day.
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