Something exciting happened this week — I licensed my first digital artwork. Not a design, not a song, not a commission, just art — made for art’s sake, that someone liked enough to license. To tell the whole story, I need to go right back to May of this year, when I started a new project called Lionheart.
Still in the throes of the global pandemic, I was looking for yet another side project to fill my evenings and weekends. For a while, I’d been thinking about getting back into creating in a visual medium — I’ve spent the last few years making music and writing copy for a day job — but without a specific project or a brief, I wasn’t feeling keen about embarking on anything design-related.
In the past I’ve worked as an illustrator and created digital art for pleasure but never in a truly intentional way.
I got inspired looking at stunning digital art on Instagram and it got me thinking about how to approach my own project. As I often do, I started with a name, a domain, and a “big idea” and then I got to work.
I wasn’t sure what kind of art to create so I started experimenting — my first few posts were a mixed bag of robots, whales and weird textures. Then I started noticing patterns in the artwork that really captured my attention online and tried experimenting with those themes — surrealism, space, retrofuturism and what I’ve come to affectionately call “weird art”. The whole thing sounds incredibly pretentious when I write it down but it’s really just a creative outlet, a way to make something with as few restrictions as possible — something that’s become surprisingly illusive in recent years.
Initially I was determined not to try and monetize this project — I’ve done this with almost all my other interests and I thought it might be a welcome change — but after getting some great feedback on the artwork online, I couldn’t resist giving it a go.
I came across ART grab, a nifty little artist run site that makes licensing your artwork super simple. I didn’t have high expectations but it couldn’t hurt to at least have them out there so I listed a few of my pieces.
Fast forward seven months and sixty pieces of art later and I sold my first license. I realise it’s not much and, as someone who’s been creating and selling music for more than a decade, I should be accustomed to the feeling of sharing my art like this but there’s just such an incredible thrill in creating something and finding an audience for it.
I didn’t make a fortune but I did sell something I created simply for the pure joy of it and that feels like it has powerful potential.
The Lionheart project continues (though posts are sporadic, as I find time to create) and I have some exciting plans for it that I’ll share here soon.
It’s been a real joy exploring a new creative outlet and finding new ways to express myself.
If you like “weird art”, and you’re Instagram, please give me a follow. I can’t wait to share what I’m working on next!
DD