We were lucky to catch up with Ayanna Niambi recently and have shared our conversation below.
Ayanna, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. We’d love to hear about when you first realized that you wanted to pursue a creative path professionally.
When I was growing up, I had a ton of creative hobbies – drawing, sewing, writing, creating music, the list goes on. I always tell people that it’s actually funny I pursued illustration because I hated art classes as a kid. I would’ve taken up some kind of creative career path (I actually planned to go into fashion design), but up until I graduated high school I hated the idea of other people telling me what to draw or paint. I wanted to illustrate whatever I wanted, whenever I felt like it. The other thing about it then was that I could only draw or paint my best when a very specific feeling hit me. It’d be so overwhelming sometimes that I would immediately put down whatever I’d been doing to illustrate what came to me. And not only that, but I couldn’t get up and walk away from it until it was done. There were all these strange subconscious criteria that my mind and body went through when it came to illustration, but none of my other hobbies were ever like that.
I never really stopped drawing but I did begin to do it much more frequently leading into high school. I ended up attending a career center starting junior year, and soon had an opportunity to take these short drawing classes with an instructor from a design school. The sessions weren’t long, but I learned a lot. For the first time, my perception of illustration as a career was entirely different. Everything about my experiences while at the career center really shifted my perspective about working as a creative, and I can’t help but be grateful for the passion and challenges that went into every lesson I learned.
Something important to know though is that I made a choice to take those drawing classes. I didn’t have to. My mom is really to thank for that because she engrained in me the importance of returning to things for another try even though you didn’t like it before. It doesn’t do any harm to give it a shot. The worst that can happen is you still don’t like it.
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?
Since finishing college, and a little before, I’ve been really committed to continuing freelance work as an artist. I love to work with clients to take their vision to the next level and help them to shine. My first big project was to illustrate a children’s book, and slowly but surely the work kept showing up. I’ve been blessed to get work through a lot of word of mouth and floating business cards I’ve given out at events.
Some services I provide include illustration, storyboarding, character design, graphic design, photography/videography, and photo/video editing. I also love doing commissions for décor art. Recently, I’ve been on a mission to finally build up my own online shop. Currently, I have some prints, stickers, and keychains available!
My niche is . . . I don’t have a niche! As a multifaceted artist, I use whatever medium is most appropriate for a project. My ultimate goal is to bring others’ visions to life and be open to the best methods for each project. I feel like if I tried to create one specific style for myself, I wouldn’t be very authentic (like I said, I had and still have a ton of hobbies). My work is, at its core, still an expression of who I am.
What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?
The most rewarding part about being an artist, for me, is growth. Creating is a language through which I can challenge myself and learn areas that I still need work. And that’s not just about the creative process itself, but also myself as a person. Designing, illustrating, writing – all of those are actions that require thought and development. I think you can learn a lot about yourself through the process of a project from start to finish. Every time I finish a commission, I reflect on what I thought and felt through the process. What challenged me? What did I spend the most time on? What am I most proud of and what could I have done or handled better? As an artist, it can be easy to get overwhelmed, overworked, and lose sight of the goal. A self check-in is always beneficial after a time-consuming process.
How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?
I think society has come quite a ways with supporting artists and creatives, but we’ve also created a lot of obstacles. For example, everything going on with AI “art.” It’s sad that when tools like AI are created that there’s always a negative side to things. I think we as a society need to be more understanding of each other and the work that goes into creating art. There’s this constant misconception that artists just magically start out with maxed out skills and make things for fun, but that’s not the case. Recognizing the work that goes into each craft is such an important part of appreciating and valuing the final outcome. If we can take the work of artists and creatives more seriously and appreciate the process as much as the final product, I think we’ll be off to a far better environment to thrive.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.AyannaNiambiArt.com
- Instagram: ayannaniambi_art
- Facebook: ayannaniambiart
- Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/ayanna-niambi
- Youtube: ayannaniambiart