ABOUT PENNY

Hi there. I'm Penelope Dullaghan -- freelance illustrator, artist, designer, wannabe yogi (I'm working at it), health nut, bit-of-a loner, vegetarian, soul searcher, sacred-finder, stumbler and dust-self-off-and-get-back-upper.

I started off my career as an art director for an ad agency, which I really liked (and still miss), but five years in I took the leap to becoming a full-time freelance artist. Almost five more years have passed since then. This blog chronicles my journey with that, and all the other messy beautiful life stuff that comes along with it.

I live and work with my incredibly brilliant, handsome, nerdy writer husband Colin, my dog Vince, two cats (who I don't really like all that much) and baby Veda (pronounced Vay-da) who was just born February 09.

To learn more about me you can read some interviews I've done here, here, here and here. Or look at my pics here.

Oh, I also run a site called Illustration Friday with my partner Brianna Privett. This has been going on for over four years now (wow). It's a site chock full of inspiration, on-going artwork and good, non-competitive fun. Check it out.

If you are a student or an aspiring artist and have questions, please see the FAQ below. Oftentimes I am asked the same questions, so I thought I'd just put them out there for you to make it easier. :)

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Thank you for reading my site and leaving comments. I love to hear from you about what resonates with you. Makes me feel like I'm not quite alone (being a work-at-home freelancer can be a bit much on the solitude scale sometimes). I read all comments and emails and try to respond to questions in the comments at the end of the day. Doesn't always happen, but at least you know I'm making an effort!

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I thought I'd show you some of my favorite posts from over the years... just for fun. They include:
The Corners of your Mouth
You Are Good
What Can You Soften?
Start Over. Start Over. Start Over.
bubble gum = antidote to gray skies

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FAQ:

How did you decide to become a professional artist?
I started my career working as an art director in an advertising agency. As an art director, I worked with illustrators on a few projects and got a lot of fun promos across my desk every day. And eventually I thought: "Hey, I can do that!" So I started using my own illustration for projects at work, and working on the side during nights and weekends to get established as an illustrator. A year later, I quit my job and made the leap to full-time illustrator.

How did you start getting work as an illustrator?
I started off small by doing artwork for people I knew (friends and family) and asked them to spread the word. Word of mouth is so so good. And it kind of blossomed from there. Doing work for local businesses. Then not-so-local businesses. It was gradual and once you build up your portfolio, work comes more easily.

How do you keep from burning out or getting frustrated creatively?
Actually, I don't. I definitely burn out and get frustrated sometimes and want to quit. But the key is realizing that it'll pass. So I take some time off and chill out for a while and my creativity and drive to do it always comes back.

I have a lot of little techniques I use to start generating ideas. The best one I've found is to change up my environment. Get out of the studio and take a walk, go to the library or a cafe, or watch a movie. Just to let the pressure go and let my mind work on the assignment without my head interfering. I also am a big fan of talking about the assignment I'm stuck on with my husband or a friend. For some reason saying the core ideas of the project out loud help to solidify thoughts about it. Another way to get ideas is to do a brain drain... write out every and any idea as quickly as possible. Even variations or thoughts that might possibly go along with it without censoring myself. That tends to work too. The biggest thing is trusting that "this too shall pass" and eventually a good idea will come.

I posted these and some other helpful hints on generating ideas and getting out of ruts here.

What medium do you use to make your art?
For most illustration assignments, I do a base painting in acrylic on paper and then my linework on a different paper and then combine them digitally. I find I can work pretty quickly this way so I can be very prolific.

But it does vary somewhat based on the project... sometimes I'll use things I find in nature, colored pencils, scans of different textures, smudgy ink. Whatever the piece calls for. And same for design work. Medium varies based on the client and assignment. Logos, for instance, are totally different from illustration work because they function so differently. Same with website design.

Do you have any advice for an artist getting ready to get a job in the real world?
My advice would probably be to understand that being an illustrator takes a lot of work. It's easy to get the misconception that all an illustrator does is sit around and make pretty pictures all day. I guess that's partly true, but it's a business and there's a lot of thinking, planning and work to do everyday too! Also... in the same breath: don't forget to take downtime for yourself to refill the creative well. (I constantly need a reminder to do this.)