Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Lana Lot. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Hi Lana, thanks for joining us today. Did you always know you wanted to pursue a creative or artistic career? When did you first know?

Although it is true that I have drawn all my life and even as a child I liked to participate in drawing competitions at school. I would be lying if I told you that I have always dreamed of being an illustrator.

I have dreamt of as many professions as my memory can remember, hairdresser, veterinarian, lawyer, singer, dancer… I wanted to be everything my imagination allowed me to dream of, but it was not until I was studying for my degree (I am a fashion designer) that I realised I loved illustration.

Specifically, during the last year I was lucky enough to take an illustration course and be able to study some of the work and ways of drawing of illustrators that I still admire today, and it was then that something ‘’clicked’’ inside me and I realised that this was my path.

But don’t think that everything is an easy path and when I realised that this was what I really liked, I just started to do it.

After that moment I spent a few years trying to study for a civil service exam to become a civil servant for the Spanish state, and although at that time I was combining it with studies of photography, languages and some watercolours in my free time, it wasn’t until years later that my boyfriend pushed me to follow my dream, to become an illustrator. Therefore, with a bit of fear, we bought our first iPad and that’s when I decided to take the plunge.

Lana, 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! I’m Lana, I’m a self-taught illustrator from the southeast of Spain.

I ventured into this beautiful profession at the beginning of 2021 and since then I haven’t stopped drawing a single day.

When I had been drawing for a while, I wanted to open a shop and although at first, I was very excited about it, soon I realised that first I had to develop my own style of drawing so that it would be recognisable. Besides, as I am a very self-demanding person, I couldn’t have a shop that looked like a hotchpotch of styles, other than that, a shop requires a lot of involvement and work, so with all my regret I had to close it and continue developing my skills to this day.

And after these years, several online courses and quite a few commissions, I have realized that what I really like and what I feel more comfortable with is editorial illustration, specifically children’s illustrations.

Hence now, I’m trying to develop my portfolio to see if there’s any luck and one day you can see my illustrations in a book!

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

I could say that there is one goal that drives every aspect of my life but, to be honest, these goals have changed and evolved as I have, and whether they have been achieved or not, I have always felt very proud of all that I have been able to do by trying.

Regardless of this, the main goal of my life will always be to be able to make a living from art until my hands or my mind can’t do it anymore, and even though I don’t know if in the future these small goals that come up along the way will change and I will want to have a shop again, make illustrated t-shirts or simply dedicate myself to making commissions, right now I would love to dedicate myself fully to children’s illustration.

I can’t imagine how beautiful it must be to be able to illustrate a story that reaches the hands of a child who will treasure it as much as a I treasure many of my books from when I was little.

I’ve also always loved writing stories and texts, so maybe a bigger goal would be to bring out my own books, but for now I think that’s dreaming too big.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

Wow, let me think for a moment…

I would say that one of the most rewarding things about illustration is being able to express what I feel through art, even if it is just for myself. Having such a valuable therapy at my fingertips is one of the best feelings I’ve ever had.
Any stress I might feel related to my daily life melts away when I’m between canvases and I can spend hours and hours illustrating without even realising it. The bad thing about this, as you can imagine, is that the days become very short, hahaha. But for me it’s worth ‘’wasting’’ the days like this.

Another thing that makes me feel very happy and gratified is having been able to meet, thanks to social networks, so many other illustrators who share with me much more than just work.

I think it’s very enriching to see yourself reflected in others and to see how they face problems that you might also face at work from a totally different perspective of yours.

Finally, another aspect that makes me feel very gratified is that it is a very free job, in the sense that there is no fixed place where you must go to work every day and you don’t have a fixed schedule, only the one you impose on yourself. And that makes me feel a freedom that I personally need.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lanalotthings/

Image Credits
All images are my own, Lana Lot.