We were lucky to catch up with Danae O. recently and have shared our conversation below.

Danae, appreciate you joining us today. Did you always know you wanted to pursue a creative or artistic career? When did you first know?

Well, the very first time was as a child. We had class journals in the second grade, and every day we were given a prompt to write about, and I always drew pictures to go along with my entries. I remember one prompt specifically was “What job would you like to have when you grow up?” Immediately I knew my answer and wrote, “When I grow up, I want to move to Paris and become a French painter.” I was really into Claude Monet at the time and my family was really encouraging my love of the arts, and at the time I thought all you had to do to be a painter was live in France and paint. Now, as an adult, I know that all you have to do to be a painter is to live anywhere and paint. So its always been a dream of mine, but it got put on the back burner as I grew up and tried to find other ways to be creative, but I always came back to making art. I finally took the plunge to do it professionally once I hit my mid 20s, it was really on a spur of the moment whim, and figured I owed it to myself to see if that dream could be my reality, minus living in Paris.

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?

I’m Danae, and Danae Illustrations is the business I’ve been slowly growing the last few years, but its also 100% me figuratively and literally. I’ve been creating artwork since I could hold a crayon, and it was only natural to find a way to bring that part of my life out into the world to share with others. I love being able to create paintings and illustrations that people can enjoy, relate to, or find a piece of themselves in. Since I’m self taught and self promoting for the most part, and my business is very localized at this point in time, my clients are all people who get to know me on a personal level and can progress with me in a natural way. I’ve grown my business by going out and meeting face to face with my audience and letting them see the artist behind the art, and I think a lot of people appreciate that opportunity to get to know one another beyond the wall of social media. Art is something that there’s no right or wrong way to do, its meant to bridge people through their different perspectives, and I always try to cultivate that kind of mentality with my brand and audience.

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

This is such an important topic right now with the introduction of AI rendered art. Unfortunately, artists and creatives are struggling to maintain their identities online due to the heavy usage of AI programs by big media companies and social networking sites. AI generative art can only exist by programs copying source material from artists who have already put their original works online. As of now, there’s no restrictions or laws put in place that can navigate this muddy grey area or protect artists and their work. I think what we creatives need from society right now is the support and assistance to protect our art from unethical uses and the encouragement to keep creating. A lot of artists are feeling the pressure to stay relevant, and I think it would do a lot of good if we could see that we’re valued by society for what we can provide.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

A lesson I had to unlearn is that you have to create art for your audience or an algorithm. You absolutely don’t have to cater to anyone or anything beyond yourself. It can be frustrating when you’re growing your audience or following and its easy to fall victim to videos that say “10 ways you’re using social media wrong” or “This is the only way to be a successful artist online” and yes, those might have a few helpful tips, but there’s no clear cut path or foolproof strategy into becoming a “successful” artist or creative business. In reality, following trends and jumping through hoops to gain views causes burnout faster than anything I’ve ever seen. Especially when you’re still not seeing growth online. It took me a long time to come to terms with my small audience. I have yet to go viral online for anything. And that’s okay. I feel fulfilled by being myself online and not catering to the whims of anyone or anything but my own creative compass, and gaining my small but genuine audience through my passion projects makes me grateful to see that you can still reach who you’re meant to reach by just being you.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://danaeillustrations.square.site/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/danae.illustrations/
• Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/@danae.illustrations

Image Credits

All image credits belong to myself