Could you tell us about yourself? Where are you from, what do you do, etc.?
Hi! My name is Gulnara Sabirova (JuliyaS) and I’m from Russia. I’m a mother of one funny little boy. He inspires me to draw cute illustrations and characters in a childlike style.
How did your design journey begin?
When I was a child I really liked drawing. However, my parents thought becoming an artist was not a secure job. As an obedient child, I listened to my parents and forwent my dream of drawing. Following the advice of my parents, I became an economist. But it did not bring me happiness. At that time I met my future husband. He was a programmer. He advised me to try learning HTML-coding. So I began to work as a HTML-developer. Although I liked it at first, I still wanted to do something more creative. I then got married and had my son. After my son was born, I could no longer plan my time properly, making it hard to work with clients as I had to be on call for my son. As I seemed to have free time whenever my son fell asleep, I decided to recall my past and started drawing again. At first, I was just drawing on paper. Then I decided to post my drawings online and see if anyone was interested in purchasing them. That was how I discovered TheHungryJpeg and I came to really like it! I already had some skills in Illustrator as well as Photoshop, and so I quickly learned how to turn my drawings into vector art. With my newfound freedom in creating and selling my art on TheHungryJpeg, my childhood dream of becoming an artist has come true! I hope my illustrations bring joy to others, as much as it brings joy to me whilst creating.
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Where do you usually find your inspiration?
I usually find my inspiration playing with my son.This inspires me to want to draw more cute illustrations for children; patterns for their clothes, cards or posters, funny alphabets and many others.
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Any favorite design references that you can share that might be helpful for other designers as well?
One of my favorite illustrators is Elise Gravel. She is an inspiring illustrator who has been drawing all her life, and her drawings are a big influence on mine. Looking at her illustrations, I want to learn more and put my heart and soul into my work like her.
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What are the most common design problems that you face?
My biggest problem is not having enough time. I have a lot of ideas in my head and I want to draw everything at once. However, I do not have enough time.
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Final question, do you have any advice or tips for anyone starting to sell their designs?
Never be afraid to try and create your designs or products. If you do not try, you’ll never know. But the most important rule is that you should like what you are doing. Then you will certainly achieve success!
Featured product: Watercolor Owls
