Making good on my illustration goals - hello!

alliemackie

Hey everyone! I'm Allie, and I'm a part-time freelance illustrator & cartoonist from Ottawa, Canada. In the other part-time, I hold down a day job as a communications coordinator to keep the lights on.

I've drawn my whole life, though I never took art school outside of drop-in life drawing classes. I've been freelancing since 2006 in one form or another, but I took a big art hiatus from 2010-2013 while I worked full-time and managed a bad home life. I've bounced back with a better life and have successfully returned to freelancing, but my art has never quite gone back to what it was, let alone really improved.

So, here I am! I've been a member of the SCBWI for a year now, and it's inspired me to make the switch from a jill-of-all-trades illustrator to a focus on illustrating and sequential storytelling for children/young adults. I really want to bear down on the fundamentals of art that I never took the time to learn, and in the process improve my art at its core.

I have a goal to flesh out my portfolio to be more focused on comics and kidlit by the end of summer, and from there I hope to start working towards a career in children's illustration! It took me until age 35 to finally find a career path I'm passionate about. Don't give up.

Plus I love forums. So, hello! I hope to engage with this community along the way and share my progress.

Cheers!

braden H

@alliemackie Welcome fellow Canadian! I'm out in BC. This place is great for support and critiques and the videos sure helped me to improve, so I'm sure they'll do the same for you.

NessIllustration

@alliemackie Welcome Allie! OMGBBQ you're from Ottawa??? I'm in Ottawa too!!
Okay sorry, I need to dial down the excitement haha... But I moved here from Montreal last summer and I'm working as an illustrator from home so I still know no one here
Welcome to the forums and best of luck in your art goals! And maybe we'll meet one day, that would be cool!

alliemackie

@Braden-Hallett Thanks so much! I see you have a webcomic - awesome! I'll have to read it.

alliemackie

@NessIllustration OMG! We definitely should meet up! I don't have many artist friends in Ottawa, and I'm actively trying to get out and network more!

NessIllustration

@alliemackie Holy guacamole, really?? I'd love to!!

Chip Valecek

@alliemackie welcome to the forums! I am no where near you or @NessIllustration but I would like to hang out as well. Looking forward to seeing your work.

alliemackie

@Chip-Valecek Thanks very much!

Joen Söderholm

Welcome Allie! I hang out in Sweden, so it feels like I'm quite far from just about anyone in these forums. I really liked your instagram and felt particularly happy to see dinosaurs that actually have their feathers, haha.