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

Hi Alessandra Liane, thanks for joining us today. Can you talk to us about a project that’s meant a lot to you?

The most meaningful projects that I have worked on have been the children’s novel series and picture books that I have illustrated for author C.Anne. Together we have worked on a children’s novel series as well as one picture book, and we have a second picture book that will be releasing towards the end of spring. Book illustration was something I always envisioned doing when I was a child, so to be doing it now is just an amazing feeling.

The children’s novel series is called A Home Called Haven (Book 1: The Lower World, Book 2: The Upper World, with a third book on the way Fall 2024) and it has been a really special thing to be a part of. The series follows two children in the foster care system who end up living with an old mysterious woman in the woods. The series showcases the adventures they go on while living at “Haven” as well as overcoming their own personal blockades within themselves and the conflicts the two children have with each other. With both of the main characters coming from the foster care system and both of them being neurodivergent, I truly believe that these books can change lives for some children. It really matters to children when they can find a bit of themselves in characters – whether it be in books, TV, or movies so to help be a part of something where children can feel less alone in the world (and especially groups like these that aren’t commonly represented) is really incredible. I had the honor of doing a pencil illustration for each chapter, as well as the cover art and book layout for each of the books in the series.

The picture book that me and author C.Anne worked on together is called Give You The World. This was also a very special experience. The book was originally a poem that the author wrote when her first child was born. The author is a great friend of mine, so it was such a good feeling to help her bring a project that was over 10 years on hold, to life. Each page is a sweet wish from parent to child – how parents truly want to “give the world” and everything beautiful the world has to offer to their child. That book I painted in acrylic inks, and I can’t help but take great pride in the illustrations I created for it each time I look through it.

I truly believe that childhood is the most important part in a persons life. Childhood is what shapes you into the adult that you become. So when I’m a part of books that can help a child either feel less alone, or help them understand others, or just put a smile on their face it makes me feel like I’m making a difference in the world. And looking at it from an artists perspective, if I can inspire a child to love art – that is something I will always cherish. When I was a kid, I loved picture books, animation, all things art related. I loved to absorb art as much as I loved to create it. And when you expose yourself to other art, you make better art yourself. So if a child can look at my illustrations with wonder the same way I did when I was a kid, that really makes my love for art feel full circle.

Alessandra Liane, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

So for anyone who doesn’t know my story, it goes back a long way. I have always loved to draw for as far back as I can remember. I was always drawing, or doing coloring books, or trying to draw characters from different TV shows that I loved. Middle school was where I knew that art was something I was going to take serious and focus on getting as a career. Throughout middle and high school I always took as many art-classes as the schools offered. When college came around, I had decided to study graphic design. In May of 2020 I graduated from Farmingdale State College with a Bachelors of Technology in Visual Communications. 2021 is where my art career really started. That’s when I got my first graphic design job and when I had also started doing illustrations for author C.Anne’s books. Right now I work full time as a Senior Graphic Designer at a digital marketing agency and I do some freelance graphic design work as well. And as of right now, I am only doing Illustration work for C.Anne’s books.

As far as the type of work I do – when it comes to graphic design there is not much I would say no to doing. Between college and the graphic design jobs I have done, I have worked on all sorts of different projects. What I currently do the most of right now is marketing design (email, social, ads) and t-shirt design as well as digital mockups. I also do all the book cover art and layout for the books I have done.

With illustration, I love character design, book illustration, as well as pretty much anything fantasy based. I primarily do traditional illustration – working with pencil, acrylic inks, and alcohol markers, but I do digital drawing on my tablet as well.

I think what sets me apart from others is I am very fast at what I do. From what I can tell working with clients, I think the pace I set is faster than what most can do. Also, I think my attitude is what also really sets me apart. Anyone can teach themselves how to draw or use art programs, but the second you become egotistical – it suddenly doesn’t matter how good of an artist you are. I’ve always been a pretty down to earth person, and at the end of the day I just want my clients to feel good with what they asked for.

What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?

The best thing society can do to support artists, is to support REAL artists, real PEOPLE. Not a computer that steals images from all across the internet. AI art is theft – plain and simple. If you support AI, you support stealing and you don’t support real artists. To support real artists, you can go to galleries, follow artists on social media, buy artworks or prints or other merchandise from artists you follow online or see at craft fairs. Hire real people if your business needs creative work.

As a creative person, it is so heartbreaking to see art, music, and writing being taken over by algorithms and theft. Right now it is still easy enough for most people to tell if something is not genuine, but my fear is that some day there will not be anyway to tell the difference.

People need to advocate for honesty on social media and other online sources. People need to support that any kind of AI generated material, must be made known that it is AI generated material. I think some social media platforms are trying to put in place that images that are created with AI be labeled as such, and it is important that people advocate for those rules. If we stop supporting real people, then people lose jobs. It may not be your field of work today, but as technology advances who’s to say at what point a computer or machine can’t replace the line of work you do. Advancement sounds great, but you have to think at what cost.

Are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?

If there is one thing I wish I knew about earlier in my creative journey – it’s how important social media would become and to have started it a lot earlier than I did, and to have been open to more platforms as they were released. I was always the type of person to reject social media because I thought it consumed people’s lives. I was correct, but that decision has hurt my online presence ( or lack thereof for that matter).

I didn’t start my art instagram until I was midway through college – and my involvement was very sporadic in the beginning since I didn’t have much time to create personal art. I really wish I had joined when I was in high school. At that point, instagram was pretty new and it didn’t have the restrictive algorithm it does now – so I know my following would be higher now if I had joined earlier. When I had graduated college I didn’t find my first job for over a year, so during that time I had tried building my social media presence. I was literally putting in as much work as a full time job, and it just didn’t have the outcome I was hoping for. I think by not joining at a time when it was easier to get noticed, and having my account not be consistent for the first few years really hurt. And then by the time I got my first full time job, I didn’t have time to contribute anymore, and now that I am trying to return to instagram, my reach is even less than the pity amount I was getting when my account was consistent.

And when TikTok came along, I made the exact same mistake with Instagram. I tried to reject it, and then by the time I joined and tried to do it – it was already too popular and I wasn’t consistent enough at the beginning – so my presence was just too hard to get noticed. I had the opportunity to start over with a brand new app, and I failed it just the same.

While social media can feel like a mental burden, it feels like the only source for artists to easily put their work out into the world on their own. It’s free, you don’t have to have an agent or anything to use it – but it’s a very tricky thing to navigate now. But at the end of the day, it is still an open resource that artists should try and take advantage of – as early and as consistently as they can.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.alessandralianearts.com/
• Instagram: @a_li_arts