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

Eva, appreciate you joining us today. Are you happy as a creative professional? Do you sometimes wonder what it would be like to work for someone else?

Well, all the other topics were so incredibly interesting to respond, but I will go with this one because I have wondered many times about it, and the question continues to be really relevant in my life right now:

The truth is it’s hard, very uncertain and stressfull at times. But yes, I am one of those kind of people that (due to my strong values and sense of social justice, etcetera) thrives way more happily working like this, and having the ultimate say about everything I do, or how I do it, or don’t do it at all.

I consider I am still starting out, though. 4 years into it as a freelancer (considering also the extra business/financial knowledge needed to develop a career of this kind). And occasionally taking eventual jobs here and there too. The first two years were full of anxiety and sessions with my therapist, to be honest, plus the pandemic didn’t help at all. But the last couple of years, especially since I started diving into the tattooing world, my self-confidence has grown considerably! It feels like when you jump into the frozen sea or pool, and start swimming. It’s freezing cold, and it’s hard and tiring to stay afloat. But with each stroke of your arms and feet, it gets easier, your body warms up, and you start to slide though the waters more at ease, every time.

I also have to say (and this links to the “what your parents did right” topic), all of this has been thanks to them from the start. They not only supported (financially and emotionally) most of my education, but continue to back up all of my decisions. I am currently on my own with my partner and cats, and although they have educated me on responsible finances and the importance of savings growing up, I know they are there for us whenever we may need it if anything goes wrong with my projects. So that means an immense peace of mind that not every independent professional can enjoy, and I a thankful everyday for it.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

So I am an independent artist, (mainly illustrator and tattooer), born and currently living in the seaside town of A Coruña (Northern Spain). I have my private studio here at home, close to my parents, but I always loved to move around, travel as much as I can with any excuse, and work from abroad from time to time (that is one of the great reasons I got into tattooing too!).

I think I got into the “visual arts” discipline pretty much since I was born! I was always drawing and painting since I could hold a pencil, and all my family saw and celebrated that passion from year 1, that is the best I can say. About the industry, professionally, I started to work more seriously with clients and companies since my Fine Arts degree, in the Complutense University in Madrid, getting in contact for different art commissions through family, friends, contests and open calls, etcetera. Then jobs on freelancer platforms online like Upwork fueled my career considerably too.

What I offer nowadays as a professional is basically: most kinds of editorial and advertising illustration, personal painting comissions (I do both traditional and digital media), and “sketch/expressive” style tattoos. With that last line of work, I am open to learn from all styles of tattoing in the wide History of that precious art, but with the intention of ultimately translating my “branded style” of drawing, to people’s skin. And I am happy that so far, to see that costumers are enjoying it!

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

I think in the beggining there wasn’t much of a goal or mission. As for any student I guess, its all experimenting, an outlet for feelings and thoughts, searching for a personal universe, a creative language.

Now I feel I gained more clarity on that. What drives my journey I think is drawing attention and expressing things about important subject matters that are crucial to the world nowadays. From my own perspective and vision, of course. With my own distinctive brushstroke. I guess subjects mainly like feminism, social and environmental justice. I aim to make people stop for a little, reflect, and most importantly listen to each other.

Also, in my illustration and tattoo practice I enjoy expressing my admiration for the cultures I love the most, like the Spanish and more precisely in Galicia, my home region. That kind of feelings of belonging to something beautiful, that wholesome and non-excluding pride, I think brings people together in joy, and only good things and initiatives come from that.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

The lesson I definetly had to unlearn (and am still doing it everyday and struggle to adapt and elevate prices) is everything related to that demonization of money/marketing in constant conflict with the notion of “artist”.

It takes years (and lots of inner work) to fully realize and integrate that most of the great artists in History of the world had to “sell out” for their work to reach us, our time. That these days unless you are born in a wealthy household, in order to keep creating, evolving and growing you NEED TO make at least a decent income from your creations, and there is no way around it. To realize that there is nothing wrong, and the artist is actually being generous, by selling the results of their creative vision -expressed with your curated skills- to the world. Simply because if the work is honest and has truth, there is nobody else in the entire Universe that can do it the same way, it enriches people’s lives, and ultimately needs to be retributed.

I talk about this with many artist and non-artist friends, and it is thanks to them, to my own clients, and to authors like Amy Mcnee (@inspiredtowrite on Instagram) or Julia Cameron (“The artist’s Way”) that my selfconfidence is growing little by little in that sense too!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.evacarballeirabunal.com
• Instagram: @evesketches @evetattooes

Image Credits

No need, all taken by friends and partner.