Today we’d like to introduce you to Erica Ostrowski.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
My comic/illustration career started taking off two years ago, as I got my first colorist gig from a dear friend of mine. She had been writing a story called “Bait and Switch” for the past ten years and was dying to turn it into a graphic novel. With the first issue done and ready, we will be pitching the comic within this year. I’m also in the process of writing, inking, and coloring two comics of my own that I will be pitching in 2022.
As far as illustration goes, I had started in 2014 doing small custom-made pieces of pet and family portraits that slowly grew into a small business by the beginning of 2019.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
The road I went down to get where I am today was bumpy and full of potholes.
Two words that would best describe this journey would be anxiety and fear. I’ve always been interested in drawing and creating comics since I was 6 or 7 years old. My Mom would play her disco CD’s in our sunny dining room while I drew little comics to the beat of the music. High anxiety disorders run in my family and I knew something was different about me from an early age. I was scared to take risks and afraid of most things other kids weren’t. This bled heavily into my art especially during and after college. After graduating MICA in 2014, I kept changing my interests in the art industry due to fear of success. For the past six years, I’ve struggled and fought my anxiety that wanted me to do everything but what I loved. I’m pretty proud to say that this past year I’ve been a huge risk taker with pushing myself to take more opportunities that I would have run from.
Fighting my self-doubt has been a massive struggle but one of the greatest lessons I’ve ever learned. I’m very thankful for the new tools on my belt that will help me in my next chapter of life.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I’m best known for my color and that’s why I became a comic colorist in 2019, that and my love for graphic novels. I’m known for using bright and vibrant palettes in my pieces. I have a very whimsical and energetic art style thats full of emotion and humor that sets me apart from other illustrators.
What also makes me unique is my fight with mental illness. I do my best to inspire other artists and creatives who struggle with anxiety or depression to keep going and keep making art. I express myself no matter how vulnerable I feel which keeps my art honest and full of emotion.
Can you talk to us about how you think about risk?
There’s nothing healthier than a big helping of risk taking. To someone with high anxiety, risk taking is absolutely terrifying and the last thing on Earth I would be caught doing. But If you don’t get out there in the world and try, you end up caging your talents and self-esteem. The past seven years, I’ve been pushing myself to get out there and take all kinds of art opportunities. I’ve dealt with quite a mixed bag of clients trying to steal my work to clients trying to manipulate me to lower my prices.
I’m very thankful for every encounter I’ve had, bad clients and all because it made me come out so much stronger and with more awareness of my self-worth. I now stand up for myself and feel confident writing freelance contracts and handling larger clients.
Pricing:
- Full Illustration starting at $150-400
- Colorist rate $50 per page
Contact Info:
- Email: [email protected]
- Website: https://eostrowskee.wixsite.com/my-site
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/glamour_cryptid00/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BearMoonStudios
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/Bearskee
- Other: https://www.twitch.tv/bearmoonstudios
Image Credits:
Rachel Roth, Elisa Feliz
