Today we’d like to introduce you to Holly Nichols.
Holly, please kick things off for us by telling us about yourself and your journey so far.
I graduated from Art School not knowing what to do with my career. I started an Instagram (@hnicholsillustration) just as a means to document a portfolio and share my work. I did not expect anything to come out of it and I definitely did not start it with the intention of it becoming a business. Very quickly, however, it did become a business. I grew a following pretty rapidly and I was able to quit my job and becoming a full-time illustrator within a few months. Today, I illustrate for brands like Saks Fifth Avenue, Neiman Marcus, Barneys, Bloomingdales, and more, and my work is shipping globally every day.
Can you give our readers some background on your art?
I sketch whimsical fashion illustrations. I use Copic Markers (alcohol-based illustration markers) as well as the app Procreate on the iPad Pro. I want people (mostly women) to be able to identify with the fashion forward characters I create. My work is a mix of “couture” style but a good portion of it also captures “every day”. I have a lot of illustrations of girls just relaxing drinking coffee in sweat pants, and some of girls with six-inch heels on.
How do you think about success, as an artist, and what do quality do you feel is most helpful?
I think for an artist, “success” is the moment you finally become confident in your work. In speaking with other artists, I found it’s quite common to struggle to find your signature style. I also find that it’s common for artists to be afraid to charge what our time and services are worth out of fear of missing opportunities (from over-charging). It took me a long time to learn how to do both of those things {find my style and create pricing for my work that was fair to my own time}.
What’s the best way for someone to check out your work and provide support?
People can find my most recent work on my Instagram (@hnicholsillustration) and shop my collection of prints, mugs, and more at www.etsy.com/shop/hnillustration!
Contact Info:
- Website: www.hnicholsillustration.com
- Email: info@hnicholsillustration.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/hnicholsillustration
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/hnicholsillustration/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/HNIllustration
- Other: etsy.com/shop/hnillustration
Image Credit:
©Holly Nichols, 2018
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