Artist Spotlight: Hotchocbunni
In our Artist Spotlight posts, we chat to some of our amazing artists about their work, what inspires them and whether they have any top tips to share with us! In our last post, we spoke to the lovely Amanda Summers of Half Pint Print. Today, we have the pleasure of hearing from Amanda Lincoln, the creative mind behind Hotchocbunni.
Who are you and what do you do?
Hi, I’m Amanda the designer/illustrator behind Hotchocbunni. I work from my studio at home in the garden surrounded by my 6 bunnies and my black Labrador Poppy when I feel up to it – I suffer with M.E & Fibromyalgia so can’t work full time I just like to keep my hand in and designing cards for Wuzci is such fun, I also sell other products via a few other sites Society6 and Zazzle.
Where did your creative journey start? Did you always want to do this?
I have always been creative – as is my mum, so she encouraged me to try so many different creative hobbies when I was young. I never intended to go for a creative career as I was to work for the family business (Tyres & Exhausts!) in an office doing book keeping and reception work but that really wasn’t for me. I was there around 2 years after I left school and used to love painting wildlife in my spare time. I used to take my paintings to a copy shop nearby and they offered me a job as a graphic designer because they liked my work. However, I didn’t have the confidence to take the job, but it drove me to apply for art college and that’s how my journey began. Since college my career history spans from designing licensed product for companies such as Disney, Warner Bros etc, to running my own handmade wedding stationery business. I have always preferred working in design for kids or pretty girlie stuff and I think my style today portrays my love for both.
Do you think greetings cards are important in the world today?
Yes definitely! I have worked (in one way or another) in the greetings card & stationery industry for over 20 years and haven’t seen any decline in demand. I think every one loves to receive ‘happy mail’ in the post especially around special occasions, after all, who doesn’t like to know that they are being thought about at those times.
What inspires you to keep creating? How do you get past drawing block or boredom with your work?
One of my good friends Tina is a constant inspiration to me, she is so talented and as much as I know I will never be as good as her. We often meet up and she encourages me in a way that no one else does. I also love to look on Pinterest at kawaii products, Sanrio in particular have been a love of mine since I was a teenager.
Who are your favourite artists/creators at the moment?
I follow a lot of artists on insta and am currently loving the work of aidazamorailustacion and hope to be as good as Crafter of cute one day.
Can you tell us a little bit about your process? How do you create your work?
I keep a digital scrapbook of past work, other artists work and general images from the world around me which always gets me inspired. I work digitally, drawing in Adobe Illustrator and occasionally adding textures in Procreate or Photoshop. I find this is the best medium for me because my physical difficulties sometimes mean that I cannot sit at a desk for long so instead I can sit with my laptop on the sofa and keep going.
If there was one piece of advice you could give to a creator at the beginning of their journey, what would it be?
Practice, practice, practice! I’d suggest looking up ‘Draw this in your style’ challenges on Insta where other artists illustrate something and ask you to draw it in your style, that way you build up your skills, gain confidence and make friends with other creatives. Also enter competitions, for example Spoonflower have ongoing surface pattern competitions that anyone can enter, however be warned that there are usually A LOT of entries so don’t be down hearted if you don’t win, it is just a bit of fun and great for building your portfolio and becoming a more accomplished artist. Also always make sure that you check the T’s & C’s as some comps require you to hand over your copyright which is totally not acceptable. Over all I’d say ‘Have fun’, ‘work hard’, ‘have confidence in your work’ and ‘don’t give up’.
Finally, do you have any projects in the works or exciting things you would like to plug?
I have in the past licensed my own children’s wallpaper, scrap-booking and sticker ranges (amongst others) through large companies which I’d love to do again, but my health limitations currently mean that I can’t guarantee meeting strict deadlines etc so for now I am concentrating on my Wuzci shop and those mentioned above and hope to sell fabric via Spoonflower in the future.
Thanks to Amanda for sharing her words of wisdom and giving us a lovely bit of insight into her brand. If you’d like to see more of her collection on Wuzci, then check out the below button!
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