We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Sasha Kolesnik a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Sasha, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. When did you first know you wanted to pursue a creative/artistic path professionally?
The prospect of choosing a future career once felt both scary and boring to me during my school days. I didn’t have any inspiring role models among grown-ups who would be happy and fulfilled with their career (fun post-Soviet times in Russia…). But one thing I always loved was drawing. I remember selling my sketches of Sailor Moon characters to classmates for pocket money — those were my humble beginnings as an artist, haha!
So, when the time came to choose my path for further education, I picked graphic and communication design, which was a trendy new thing back then. It felt a bit like cheating. I still got to draw, and they said I could make money doing it!
After a few years working as a designer, I realized that I wasn’t able to express myself fully in that role. My favorite part of the job was creating small illustrations for websites and other projects I designed. I wished that could be my main job! But I had no idea how to break into the field. Where to begin? How to get work as an illustrator?
Then life took a turn. I became a mom and moved to Sweden. Why stop there, I thought. Time to change careers too! I started drawing a lot again, sharing my work on Instagram, started my own company, made a portfolio website (initially filled with only personal projects), slowly started getting clients, and even signed up with an agent!
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
I’m a freelance illustrator, born in Russia and currently based in Stockholm, Sweden. With a background in graphic and interface design, I’m now focused on creating illustrations for a diverse range of international clients, including book publishers, magazines, brands, passionate individuals, and organizations that want to add something warm and friendly to their image. My style is often described as soft and quirky, speaking to children and adults alike. My work is inspired by both real and imaginary atmospheric places, nature, and simple everyday moments. I mainly work digitally, but I always have my sketchbook with me and enjoy experimenting with different art supplies.
What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?
There’s a lot I love about my creative job: freedom, self-expression, happy clients, etc. But I think the most rewarding aspect is hearing from others that they are inspired by something I made. Social media can be a toxic thing, but I’m still on Instagram a lot, mainly for this reason. To get inspired myself and to inspire other people to create.
Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?
The biggest part of my Instagram followers came from one sketchbook reel that went viral. I would say that’s partly luck and partly due to the regular posting I maintained for a while. My best advice would be to figure out how to use social media in a way that feels natural to you and continue consistently. You don’t need to post talking head videos if that’s not your thing, and you don’t need to post every day. Show up, share, and engage with other creatives. Join (and maybe host) some drawing challenges. But remember, the number of likes/followers doesn’t say much about the quality of one’s work or how many paid jobs one gets! :)
Contact Info:
- Website: https://sashakolesnik.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/_sashakolesnik/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sasha-kolesnik-05888b145/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/_sashakolesnik
- Other: https://dribbble.com/sashakolesnik https://www.tiktok.com/@_sashakolesnik