It's all began in 2008 while I was working in the office full time as a graphic designer after university graduation. Studio was nice as well as the team and I've learned a lot there. But there was something boring for me to move texts and simple colored shapes on the layouts with working on the photos together. I thought I will not understand and succeed in graphic design and there was no way to grow there for me.
I've started to learn illustration in the studio during my free lunch time or in between different design projects waiting for another task. Sometimes my boss allowed me to illustrate something for the studio clients as well. My first drawings looked so weak I will never share it.
Slowly I've learned the techniques from my friend Gordei and started copying the style of Oksana Grivina. After some time, I've got my first good commercial order for 12 illustrations in a row so I've quit office job and started to draw it.
Fake Project
It was a series of A1 posters about Road Safety for Kids. Client gave me the full freedom. He told me just draw something: I like your Zebras a lot. Can you do something similar but to catch kids awareness for the rules of safety near the road?
Was working for the first time feeling real freedom of freelancing at nights. I was able to choose working time and daily schedule by myself. One illustration in 3-4 days. It was my maximum for that time and it was true art in sense that nobody told me what to do. They just approved everything without a single correction. Ideal clients!
Finally, I showed them all to my friend Gordei asking his opinion cause he already successfully freelanced using Behance for more than a year that time drawing for US Colgate and other cool companies. He told me it's cool but local Soviet logo with Russian poems will not fit there. Jokingly he said you just put any other logo instead. Like Coca-Cola or Pepsi.
It was great idea and it worked! I've used almost all the companies I was dreaming about to work with. I was not fooling anybody. I've added a comment in my project explaining the truth. But nobody reads, you know?
Worldwide commissions
After that project had been featured on the main page of Behance I've started to get my first overseas commissions and gradually such giants like Kinder chocolate, McDonald's, Panasonic and Pepsi, Wrigley reached me out. I've worked with everyone I had been dreaming to work and even much more.
Only because of Behance I've started to work worldwide with big and famous advertising agencies like BBDO, DDB, JWT, LeoBurnett, Lowe Adventa, Prior, Saatchi&Saatchi, Y&R...
Getting 2-3 inquires everyday both Russian and foreign it was actual to hire a manager for me. I've spent more time answering to my potential clients rather drawing.
From that time each and every of my new project at Behance got featured. God, I am so lucky and really grateful! I don't know where I've been now if not the help of Behance.
Almost 223k followers
Once upon a time I woke up seeing enormous activity in my profile. Follower numbers become growing like a crazy. In geometrical progression. My 2000 started to grow to 4k, 16k, 32, 64... Somehow there was a new system Behance was testing and they showed up my profile in the top 3 first list suggesting to follow me for the newly registered users.
Actually this gave nothing but only numbers. Anyway it's nice numbers and some clients thinks there is some meaning behind that. Okay, I don't mind.
10 years of Success
Can't believe 10 years passed! Still feeling I know nothing and can't do anything. Still learning. Still trying to promote myself even on new platforms. Of course I am using different social medias for that but the major number of clients still coming from Behance. And for that 10 years I never had any free day sitting without a work. This is amazing. I know lots of great artists who are drawing much better than me but somehow I always have something to do.
New Breath
When you've got everything you was dreaming for it is hard to keep working being inspired. With Steem I got some sort of a new breath. This blogging platform is like a game. You never know what fish you will catch here. Finally, I can draw anything I like and keep earning. I am gradually transforming my freelance illustration to fulltime art blog work here because it is worth it. Maybe I will start drawing my own children book soon. Thanks to Steem for that.
And I have a plan to tell all of my 220k Behance followers about Steem. Preparing new project there with all new illustrations I've exclusively done for eSteem and Steem. Let more valuable professionals come here. Together we can do much more.
