Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Sierra Eston. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Hi Sierra, thanks for joining us today. When did you first know you wanted to pursue a creative/artistic path professionally?

I’ve spent my entire life creating and growing in my art, and throughout the years, well-meaning and supportive friends and family would always say I should pursue art as a career. I had no desire to do so. For so long, I’d only ever visualized a career in art for myself as doing nothing but commission work full-time, and while I have no objection to making custom pieces for others, I also wanted to create what /I/ wanted to create.

In 2019, something clicked.

Some friends and I had ordered a batch of car stickers, and I seriously wondered if that was something I could do as well. So I began gathering resources and equipment, and started doing my art digitally to streamline my process, and from there, everything began to fall together. I’m still only part time, but now my goal is to be full-time as an artist.

Sierra, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

So, foremost, my business is comics INK!, and I specialize in digital media art, stickers, and related print paraphernalia. I offer custom works, and I am busy in the comic/anime convention “artist alley” scene as a vending artist, where I sell my handmade products. Originally, my intent was to only focus on stickers, and the theme was hobbies as pinup girls, but I’m a creature of whim and the theme has expanded beyond pinups and beyond only stickers.

Being a solo act in the creative industry is tough– we need to be our own manager, balance social media, understand finances and tax nuances, know current trends, understand algorithms, and still find time and inspiration to create. To that end, I am proud of how far I’ve come, even if it isn’t very far by others’ standards. I feel like I do have something to offer in my art; I have a vibrant and animated style and have learned to be flexible with it.

In your view, what can society to do to best support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem?

I find that largely, people enjoy art, but don’t fully appreciate what is involved in making art, and don’t take into consideration just how much of their entertainment IS art.

This rise of artificial intelligence invading creative spaces has highlighted the areas I think society tends to take for granted. We are seeing a massive purge of human creativity in favor of a bottom line, in favor of efficiency, which still serves the bottom line. I’m witnessing in real time, animation industry legends having to do gig work to survive and so many others in the industry left begging for any work. I feel like the real support needs to come from the top if we’re to ever thrive in our art. Support from general consumers does matter, yes, but the people in charge, the people making these decisions to gut entire studios, shelf projects in favor of tax write-offs, and even essentially REMOVE previous projects from access, these are the people we need to truly appreciate and nurture the arts.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

It is very easily the reactions and interactions I have with people who view my art or even purchase art from me. Knowing I’ve impacted someone with what I’ve made (a small piece of myself) absolutely keeps me going. I love talking with new people at markets and conventions, I love the chats I have with clients during commission work.

A lot of my subjects address queer themes and cover a variety of types of people, and that’s very important to me because I like being able to fill in a niche that needs more representation, and I’ve had people remark that it means a lot to them to see it in my work.

Sometimes I want to pull back and keep my art only for myself, but then I have these lovely chats with people and remember why I do share my creations.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.comics-ink.net
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/comics.ink
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/comicsink
• Other: https://comics-ink.carrd.co/