One of the most sought after job fields on freelance platforms is illustrator. Illustrator services are needed for various things, such as books, food menus, packaging, posters, and much more.
In Indonesia, there are several famous illustrators whose work has gone global. One of them is Wanda Almira, a young illustrator who graduated from the Faculty of Fine Arts and Design, Bandung Institute of Technology (FSRD ITB) who had a career in Finland.
Interested in seeing Wanda's progress? Read more about the following facts.
Finding Art Style from Your Own Characteristics
Wanda said that she was afraid to draw because she imagined failure. However, he tried to get out of these feelings and continued to look for his style in art . It took about 5 years for Wanda to really find the right art style. Even so, he continued to feel dissatisfied and felt that his work seemed to imitate other people.
As time went by, Wanda realized that her way of finding style was wrong. He only focuses on output, but forgets the question of whether he has known himself well all this time. After waking up, Wanda then made a list of her characteristics which were then made into image elements and combined. He gave an example, his drawings always have thick lines that are somewhat abstract and do not follow the basic drawing. This is a representation of Wanda's stubborn nature and doesn't like to be controlled.
According to Wanda, knowing yourself is the key to finding style in our work. If you just follow other people, the results will be the same.
Won Various Artwork Competitions
As an illustrator, apart from participating in various projects, Wanda is also noted for winning various art competitions. One of them was on Emina Art Day 2016, he managed to become runner up through the packaging design he created for the special Emina edition.
Apart from that, Wanda and the Leboye Design Studio team were also involved in creating packaging illustrations for Martha Tilaar's product "Dewi Sri Spa." In this project, Wanda combines the character of Indonesian art inspired by coastal batik with a new art style.
Building a Career as a Freelancer in Finland
Around December 2018, Wanda moved to Helsinki, Finland, and focused on pursuing a career as a freelance illustrator. He then started digging up various information and tips in the freelance world, one of which was via Holly Exley's YouTube channel entitled "How Do Clients Find Me?" Through these videos, Wanda gained a lot of knowledge about dealing with art directors and creating an attractive portfolio through websites and issuu.com.
According to Wanda, working abroad requires her to adapt to many things that are different from working in Indonesia, such as work culture, environment, and even language. Even though it is difficult at first, if you do it patiently and because you really like the job, it will pay off in the end.
Overcoming Art Block with 'Water' and 'Day Dreaming'
Art block can be interpreted as a sudden feeling of having no ideas or inspiration in the creative process. To overcome this, Wanda has various ways, such as cleaning out clothes in the cupboard, moving places, changing the interior layout of the drawing table, and keeping me time on the move.
Apart from that, if Wanda's art block is relatively mild, she usually overcomes it with 'water', for example bathing, soaking and drinking ginger tea while daydreaming , aka daydreaming for a while.
Continuing Career with Band of Illustration
Since 2021, Wanda has started joining Band of Illustration, a collective platform for illustrators based in Indonesia. Apart from being active as an illustrator, Wanda is also a resource person in various public discussions regarding design.
These are the facts about the young illustrator Wanda Almira that are interesting to know. Every illustrator certainly has his own character in his work. Wanda has proven that her long search for this character has led her to become one of the country's reliable illustrators.