Amanda knew that she always wanted to do something that would reach internationally and be a full time artist working from home - her dream. I found Amanda on periscope years ago and now she's a full time artist– creating her own artwork from her heart and life experiences. Amanda has been able to fulfill her dream of creating art for a living, and I had the opportunity to sit down with her and chat all about it!

She moved to Las Angeles, knowing she needed to take a leap and move somewhere where she could be understood more and gain more opportunities where the energy really came alive.

“If you feel more accepted and eif you feel like you are around more creatives, then you’re going to flourish.”

“ I was only going to do graphic design temporarily just to learn a couple skills, and I am so glad I did, because of that I was able to later on use it to make money when I was doing photos for this Italian Boutiques and some for Paris Hilton's website and random other people. It was when I was in my first year living in Los Angeles that was really my struggle year, and it was good to just have an extra skill to make money on the side. At one point I had three jobs. because I didn't get the job at working full-time in the internship. It was three months and they either hired you or they let you go, and they let me go. I know why, I didn't go to school for graphic design. It wasn't my passion. I remember the best piece of advice that I got was when I went to school and I went to my counsellor and I was trying to decide what my concentration should be either illustration, painting or graphic design. I automatically assumed graphic design because I could get more work through that and the counsellor said “Are you passionate about graphic design?”, and I said no. And they had said to me that you are going to be competing against other graphic designers who are passionate, so you might as well concentrate on something that you're very passionate about - and that's why I chose illustration.”

How do you go about every project? I know you create illustration and sell you work, do you also do client work still?
“ I don’t do anymore client work, thankfully. You create an illustration and you have to go back and forth with the client to wait for the changes and what you want to add, which can be great, but there is nothing like waking up and creating what you want.” I've been doing these drawings almost everyday and I have over 530 illustrations. I absolutely love painting, I have been p[ainting and drawing and also working on a children's book. I am slo doing workshops, so I am traveling to New York for a workshop, teaching in Palm Springs and Berlin, Germany.

Is this your first venture international?
“ This is my first venture away teaching workshops! When it comes to selling my work and reaching people internationally, it is super cool whenever I look at an order and every week I am shipping to Europe, India, to the Middle East to even Iceland! I am always freaking out. It’s serial, my brain is never going to fully understand it.

When else were you able to share your work so instantly?! Social media has been an incredibly great platform for many creatives, letting people across the world falling in love with your work. Amanda’s work can reach to so many people across the work because her art has no wording, it breaks down the language barriers and allows people to relate to an image that so many of us can relate to and that is truly amazing.

“You start to realize that we are all way more alike than we even think we are.”

Why did you decide to go video and livestream your art and progress where you are at through periscope?
“ People have literally seen me grow up online, it's so crazy to even think about - and embarrassing. I had no idea, but the app had just launched and I was one of the first few to use it. I had no idea what I was doing, I just turned it on and started talking to people. I didn’t know what live streaming was, I had never experienced it before. It felt like I was Face Timing with strangers! I find people so interesting, and when I realized I could Face Time with people all over the world, and that they would just talk to me, it was really cool to just connect with people from all around the world. Within five days, I was the most followed woman on the app. SO WEIRD. That helped my art work a lot, but it really didn't do anything for Instagram. It definitely helped me launch my career, because once I joined brands were reaching out like Seventeen Magazine, Vanity Fair, New York Times - it was SO CRAZY”

Amanada wanted to reach international and she is well on her way! This girl is mind blowing and truly following her passion. Listen here, to the full podcast to someone extremely insightful in following her true creative passion.

Follow along with Amanda:

https://www.instagram.com/amandaoleander/?hl=en
https://www.amandaoleander.com/
https://twitter.com/AmandaOleander

How Amanda Oleander Built Her Career as a Full Time Artist