What’s your background? How did you become an illustrator?

Like many illustrators and artists, I’m a person who’s always been creating things. I was very shy as a kid and used to spend a lot of time drawing and living in/creating my own imaginary worlds.

I always added extra art classes when I could and in high school I started a school focusing on different art programs. After that I studied fine art painting for two years and after some years of traveling and working I studied graphic design at Berghs. The mix of fine art and graphic design became a good foundation for me as I started focusing more and more on illustration and creating digital artworks.

I got a job as a designer/illustrator at a gaming company and worked there for a couple of years while spending a lot of my free time working on developing my skills and finding a way of working that felt natural to me. I also started reaching out to magazines and other companies where I thought my illustrations could fit in and after a while I started receiving smaller freelance projects. After about a year of freelancing part time I quit my job and started freelancing full time.

How did you get an agent?

When it comes to getting an agent I think it’s more common that they reach out to you when they think you’re ready. That said, it’s definitely worth sending your portfolio to some agencies that you admire where you feel like you could fit in.

For me I reached out to some agencies when I was very new in the freelance life, but to be honest I wasn’t really ready then. I only had a few small client projects and was still developing my style. About a year later with a couple of big projects in the books and a more specific style I got a couple of requests from different places and chose to go with Handsome Frank who I felt would suit me best.

What kind of programs/tools do you use?

I work in Photoshop, Illustrator and Procreate.
Photoshop and Illustrator are both programs that I have used for many years while Procreate is a relatively new addition for me that I initially only used for sketching but now sometimes use for final art.

How do you handle admin work?

A thing that is sometimes overlooked when thinking about freelance work is all the work that is done behind the scenes so to say. The admin stuff that doesn’t show up in a IG post.

I plan to do a blog post about this but I want to mention some things that has been important for me to organize my life.

My main advice is to find some tools that helps you stay in control of your work, and if you’re able to, find help for the things you can’t handle yourself. I love making lists and use the Microsoft To Do to keep track of work (current projects, upcoming projects, payments etc) and life stuff. I also have an accountant to make sure that my taxes, VAT etc are paid and registered correctly and at the right time.

How do you chose colors?

I get this question quite often but it’s not very easy to respond to. I’ve been studying color theory in school and that has helped me but now I mostly chose colors based on gut feeling of what will work together and what will work best to give the image the feeling I want it to have. 

I definitely have some go to colors but they have changed over the years. Over all I try to have some dark contrast color, a light more muted color for highlights or backgrounds, something punchy (either as an accent or as a background), something warm (like a deep orange) and something cold like a blue or a pale pink. 

My one advice is to give colors that are right next to each other enough contrast difference so that they don’t melt together (if that’s not the effect you’re after). Otherwise, just have fun and play around. 

Where do you find inspiration?

Inspiration comes from so many different places for me. From nature (pattern on leaves, colors of a landscape), street art or fading facades, movies, books, other artists within different genres, people watching in a busy cafe or digging into how the brain works with a friend.

Inspiration can be found in whatever thing that makes you feel excited and gets your head going. It’s very individual.

What’s the process for creating an illustration?

The process depends a lot on what kind of project it is.
If it’s a personal image, not belonging to any bigger project, I usually just start drawing directly when I have an idea and see where that takes me.

For client projects it’s more complex. I start by reading the brief a couple of times while taking notes. I might write down quick initial ideas and thoughts on colors, emotions etc. These are usually based on pure gut feeling and some previous knowledge on the subject/story.

For other images more research is needed. I’ve dived into that a bit more in my blogpost about Bygone Badass Broads. Sometimes I need to read more about a subject or do specific visual research before getting started.

Once I have gathered enough information I start with some rough small sketches. I usually present 2-3 outlined images to the client as a first round. Once they’ve given me feedback, the usual step is to develop their favorite further; adding colors and reworking the shapes and idea.

After another round of feedback there’s usually just the final polishing left. This often includes making everything cleaner, tighter and adding the final highlights/shadows and textures.