We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Dan Lin. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Dan below.

Alright, Dan thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Can you talk to us about a project that’s meant a lot to you?

Ahhhh good question, my most meaningful project so far is probably my own creative book. Last year a German publisher reached out to me and asked me if I’d like to work on a book with them. The book is about creativity and finding peace in creating. It means a lot to me because it’s my first big project and because I love the idea behind it. I also put a lot of time and heart and soul into the book as it is my first book. Creating brings me so much joy and peace, and I hope readers will feel the same with this book. I really liked the idea of passing on this feeling of peace. The book also had some topics such as how to overcome creative blocks or small ideas to boost creativity. I am happy if I can help other people with my ideas or even get them to discover their creative artistic side

Dan, 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?

Hi, my name is Dani. I am half Vietnamese and half Chinese, born and raised in Germany. My art mainly deals with the sun, moon, and stars, and everything else that inspires me in everyday life. I prefer to draw digitally on my iPad, but I also really enjoy painting with watercolor and gouache. My illustrations are 99% always blue because blue is my favorite color. I find it very calming, and it always reminds me of a starry sky.

When I’m not drawing, I take care of my shop. You can find my art as postcards, stickers, washi tape, and everything that a stationery-heart desires in my shop. As a child, I always loved stationery, and I’m very happy that, years later, I am now designing and selling my own products. It brings me a lot of joy to be fulltime shop owner.

My story of how I got to where I am today goes back a little further. When I was in my last year of school, I started bullet journaling. I loved seeing how others were creating their journal pages on Instagram and the like. So I started with the basics, notebook and pen. Through bullet journaling, I discovered hand lettering and also watercolor painting. I liked trying out different fonts and playing with letters or painting with watercolors. At the same time, I started looking for creative training and study programs. When my sister bought the iPad with apple pencil, I drew digitally with procreate for the first time. since that day, I can’t imagine my life without Procreate.

As I had to submit creative work for my university applications, I started to draw more and more digitally to create a small portfolio of mine. over time, I learned to use Procreate more and more. I also started sharing my digital drawings on Instagram. When I was taking my university classes via Zoom during the pandemic, I opened an Etsy store on the side where I sold my art as postcards and stickers. Over the years, I developed my store further, launched my own site and also started working for client projects. For instance, I was asked to design several products for illumicrate or create illustrations for an event.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

The most rewarding aspect for me is probably the positive feedback on my art. I’m always very happy when, for example, my followers on social media interact with my posts or share them because the image makes them feel something uplifting and they want to share it. I’m also very happy when my customers share photos of their orders in my store. It’s wonderful to see how they hang the prints on their walls or use the stickers in their diaries. Also, it’s very nice to hear when customers are happy with their work and give positive feedback.

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

I started sharing my bullet journal pages on Instagram in 2017. It inspired me to see other similar posts and I thought that my pages could inspire others too. My goal wasn’t to build a big community, but to connect and share with other artists. Over the years, I gained more followers, and when some of my reels went viral, I suddenly had a much wider audience. However, I haven’t actively done anything to gain more followers. My goal is to use my account to share my art, my processes and anything else I like.

For those who want to build a presence on social media these days, I can advise not only to pursue the goal of getting as many followers as possible, even if it may be a bit difficult at the beginning. I have found it helpful to follow similar smaller accounts in the same niche and to support each other by commenting, sharing etc.

Contact Info:

• Website: milkteadani.com
• Instagram: instagram.com/milkteadani
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/milkteadani