We recently connected with Autumn Mahoney and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Autumn, thanks for joining us today. Can you talk to us about how you learned to do what you do?

As most creatives will say, I have always loved doing art. When I was a kid my mom and I used to spend hours a day practicing drawing all kinds of things like landscapes, birds, faces, and houses. My love for drawing quickly turned into digital painting on Microsoft Paint. I would spend all day at school anxiously counting down the minutes to when I could go home and paint landscapes. As I got older my art evolved in painting with Photoshop and then Procreate. I love telling a story through my illustrations using different colors and lighting that can help my audience connect more with the characters. My love for digital painting wasn’t the only thing I focused on either. I got my first camera when I was in high school. I learned by making a lot of mistakes while shooting manually. I went from taking senior photos to adding on engagement sessions, maternity sessions, family sessions, to weddings. Over time I learned that I preferred to work behind the scenes than behind a camera. Even though I still loved photography I found that I gravitated towards just editing photos. I began to reach out to wedding photographers in 2022 offering my help so they could focus more on clients and I could add in the final touches to tell their story! Throughout this too I have learned so many things about editing software like Lightroom and Photoshop. Plus, I have made such sweet friends! I feel extremely lucky to get to do what I do.

Autumn, 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?

My name is Autumn Mahoney and I am a 26-year-old freelancer based in Tulsa OK. I have a lot of love for digital art like illustrating + photo editing. Things that I enjoy doing for fun are: writing, crocheting, doing self-care, cooking and baking, and spending time with friends at cafes/craft nights. As far as getting into my business, I have always known that art was something I would pursue. In college during any free time I had I would spend my time at cafes illustrating. The start of my twenties felt like a second wave of being a teenager. Only this time I am an adult and am expected to take life more seriously. Throughout my journey of discovering who I am and what I want to do in the world, I began to identify as a children’s book illustrator even without the clients. This decision that no matter what I was going to become a full-time freelancer I made sure to schedule whatever time I could to practice my craft. I practiced character design, background design, and playing with color and lighting. About four years later I ended up landing my first children’s book job and I was thrilled. ‘Career Day,’ By Tia Palmer. The magic behind hearing someone share their passion project with me is indescribable. I am always so honored to have people trust me to bring their vision to life and when I illustrate exactly what they want it’s one of my favorite feelings.

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

My goal as a creative is to inspire others to create no matter what materials they have at home. Take the time to get your ideas out there, even if you set aside thirty minutes a day. Being consistent with your practice whether you are a painter, writer, photographer, etc if you make it a habit to create regularly you are inevitably going to improve. Whether you decide to share your journey publicly or keep it private until you are ready to share keeping everything so you can go back and compare is seriously so fun.

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

For me, the entire process can be so rewarding. Even in moments where I make a mistake, I know it helps me to learn and grow as a creative. From posting on social media and getting to engage with my followers to meeting a follower in real life and hearing how they have been following my art journey for years, to working with clients and them loving the final product. There is something so rewarding about hearing back from clients that they loved the work I spent days to months creating. Oh, and of course when a client tells me they heard about me from another client and that they are that much more excited to work with me because of the things they have heard.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: autumnleafsss
• Other: Patreon: patreon.com/AutumnMahoney

Image Credits
The illustrations are done by me! But the headshot that I shared is taken by Emily Steward