We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Friederike Ablang. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Friederike below.
Alright, Friederike thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Do you take vacations? How do you keep things going – any advice for entrepreneurs who feel like they can’t step away from their business for a short vacation?
Oh yes, I do take vacations!
Starting a business often means to have very little money and time, because one is constantly working to acquire projects or to work on the ones one already has.
This often means that you don’t allow yourself a vacation, that you think you have to use every free minute to work and can’t take a break in order not to miss anything or to get everything done, to be ready for customers at all times.
But it’s absolutely essential to allow yourself these breaks, otherwise sooner or later you’ll be burnt out, overtired and running out of ideas.
There are wonderful ways to build small getaways with little money: Staying with friends for a weekend, an Airbnb in another city, a hike in the woods, camping … .
Better are long vacations, I read somewhere that the true recreation starts after 17 days, so if you can, take three weeks! Let your clients know well in advance, you’ll be surprised how understanding people are and how almost any project can be planned around your time off.
Take your mental and physical health seriously, because you can’t work without them.
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?
Thank you for the opportunity to talk a little bit about myself and my work here, CanvasRebel, I truly appreciate it.
My name is Friederike Ablang. I’ve been an illustrator for almost 20 years. I can hardly believe that I can write that down like this, because there was a time when I didn’t want this profession at all, under any circumstances, ever!
I grew up in an artists’ household and as a rebellious teenager I naturally didn’t want to go in that direction. Instead I wanted to study biology and chain myself to oil tankers for Greenpeace.
But life had other plans and via basic art studies in England, a year as a photo assistant and then studies in graphic design, it led me directly into the world of illustration. At first I worked intensively in the school book industry, still do but then gradually children’s books trickled into my life. I love it both.
People keep telling me that I have a special and fine sense of humor in my drawings and that I am good at rendering emotions, even very delicate ones, also the in-between tones. I myself can’t really see or judge that however – I simply try to give my best in any job, put as much of me as possible into my work, draw as well as I can.
But drawing well is only part of what is important in my job. You also have to be dependable, meet deadlines, respond quickly to inquiries and emails, reliably implement correction requests, read briefings carefully and work according to them, put yourself in the shoes of the client if they are not sure what they want, try to help them along.
We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.
I don’t have a great or special talent, I had to practice very very very much to get to a point where I felt I could show and use my work in a professional setting.
There was a time when I thought I would never get anywhere and never get better or ever be satisfied with my work. Although I always drew a lot, I hadn’t understood that you also had to draw and practice specifically to achieve proper development.
There were always desperate moments when I thought I was going to quit everything. But I love love love this profession and couldn’t imagine doing anything else. I don’t just draw to make money, I draw to be happy, even if it made me unhappy for a long time because I wasn’t satisfied with my work.
I then started to look closely at other illustrators’ work, to study it with a keen eye, to find what I found special about it, admirable, impressive. I drew even more and searched through many many books, practiced and practiced, went to even more exhibitions, almost pressed my nose flat against pictures to be able to recognise how the hand, the foot, the nose was drawn, how the brushstroke had been done.
Doubts still knock on my door, maybe that comes with the profession, the inner critic never shuts up and I am still dissatisfied again and again, but it has all become quieter, milder, friendlier, it no longer drowns out the happiness about my work and the critic has become an advisory companion – annoying and depressing at times, but very useful more often.
What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?
Mission
I had mentioned that I wanted to join Greenpeace. That the earth is not doing well, I had already understood as a teenager and wanted to help.
Now I use social media to show my own work, exercises and practice, studies and the like; to have a kind of little private gallery for myself, to give potential customers first impressions.
I also use these private channels to address my own concerns (which really should be everyone’s concerns!): Environmental protection, the desire for peace, for the healing of the world and the peaceful coexistence of people, for example, that is a mission for my private work.
The things one can do to change something within society are small, very small. So I draw. If it reaches just one person, if just one person rethinks their life and doings, maybe makes more of an effort through a drawing of mine, I am happy and grateful.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.friederikeablang.com
- Instagram: @friederikeablang
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ablangillustration
- Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/friederike-ablang-b8417516
- Twitter: @rikeablang
- Youtube: Friederike Ablang Illustration
- Other: TikTok: @rikeablang