October Newsletter

Salaam Art Friends!

Welcome to my first newsletter! To anyone who may be new, I wanted to quickly introduce myself before continuing (feel free to skip this part if you’ve been around for a while!)

My name is Maryam and I am a children’s illustrator/author. I have been drawing since I was a child and have recently achieved a big goal of mine: I have published a children’s book that I wrote and illustrated! It’s called “Eid with Emaan.” And now I am working on my second book. I also have a small business on Etsy where I sell faith inspired children’s prints. I also work on commissioned illustrations for brands and businesses, and occasionally do personal commissions too. I am currently based in Dubai, and I recently moved here from the UK. I also have a very young daughter, so it’s been a bit of a challenge trying to juggle motherhood and running a business, but Alhamdullilah, it has been a blessing.

So why did I decide to start a newsletter? I wanted to provide extra value to those who are particularly interested in the work I do or those who also want to start or develop their art journey or business.  

What to expect from my newsletters:

• Tips and advice on illustration, business or social media growth. Every month I will be sharing a tip on each of these areas.

• My updates and what I’m working on

• What I’ve been loving recently

• Some behind the scenes photos 

• Discount codes for my shop/early access to sales

• Art prompts 

These are some of the ideas I had, but what about you? What would you like to see from these newsletters? 

My most asked question:

Before we get into it, I wanted to briefly answer a question I get asked every day.

What do I use to create my illustrations?

• iPad Air 5th Gen 2022

• Apple pencil 2nd Gen

• Procreate, a paid app on the Apple store

But you don’t necessarily need these for digital illustration. If you have any kind of tablet or stylus, you can download any free drawing app to get started. That’s what I did! When I first started, I used the free Adobe Illustrator Draw app on my (very old) iPad which barely held a charge, and used a very cheap stylus I picked up from a bargain store for about £1. That’s right! We all gotta start somewhere.

But slowly, as I improved and realised I wanted to invest in my art and build a business from it, I upgraded my tools and supplies. I highly recommend Procreate for digital illustration, but there are plenty of alternatives out there.

Here are some great drawing apps:

• Autodesk Sketchbook

• Pixelmator

• Adobe Illustrator

• Adobe Fresco

• Ibis Paint X

MY UPDATES

These days I have been working on my second book and I am almost finished with the illustrations and expect to have the book completed this month. As soon as I have a release date for book 2, you guys will be the first ones to know!

Also I have recently signed a contract to work with a super cool brand - I will be designing products for them which I am excited about! I’m not allowed to say too much yet but more details will be revealed soon. 

And as always, I have been building and growing the collection of children’s prints in my Etsy shop. 

Here’s a little work in progress look at one of the book pages I’m working on:

TIPS 

I get a lot of questions every day about how to get started with illustration or earning an income from art, so I wanted to answer those questions with this and future newsletters to come.

Drawing

I want to start with the basics and build on it month by month. So this month’s drawing tip is very simple: ONLY DRAW IF YOU FEEL LIKE IT. That’s it! If you ever feel creative, motivated or in the mood to draw, do it straight away! Take advantage of the moment and let your creative juices flow. When inspiration strikes, that is the perfect time to get stuck in. If you have the time, those moments of motivation and inspiration are super valuable and sometimes fleeting. If you “strike while the iron’s hot” you might be surprised with what you can create. 

I have tried to draw when I really wasn’t in the mood, and I have never, ever created anything good when I was in that mindset. So now I never force it. If I'm not in the mood for it, I just don’t do it. I focus on something else in my business, and that could be responding to emails or other admin work, fulfilling orders, research etc. And then I return to drawing when I really feel like it. Creativity cannot be forced!

I came across an interest blog post about this by Tanner Christensen which I think is worth a read: Here's the link

Business  

I have been running my art business for a few years now and there are a lot of mistakes I’ve made along the way, along with some good decisions too. But all of this has led me to learn some important lessons which I wanted to share with you each month.

This month’s business tip is: HAVE MULTIPLE STREAMS OF INCOME. And this is especially important for what I do. 

Why? By having multiple ways of making money, you aren’t dependant on a single stream of income, should that income ever reduce or even disappear completely.

So what are the various ways you can make money as an artist? 

• Commissions (they could be personal and casual portraits etc, commissions for brands or even book illustrations!)

• Have a shop (physical or digital products)

• Licensing

• Tutorials or classes, like Skillshare 

• Content creation, like a YouTube channel

• Affiliate marketing

• Sponsorships/brand deals

• Patreon 

And more! If you have any questions about any of these, feel free to reply to this email! 

One of my favourite illustrators, Mimi, made a very useful video all about this. Check it out here:

Social Media  

I want to preface this by saying: social media growth is NOT essential for your business. But it CAN be a powerful tool. After working away on building my Instagram for a few years, I saw very slow but steady growth. But recently it has taken off and I finally have the momentum that I’ve been working towards for years. Trying to work with the algorithm is really difficult and can be pretty demotivating at times, and I really do get tempted to give up pretty much every week! But having an audience online can definitely have its benefits when building a business. 

This month’s social media tip is: BE CONSISTENT. 

The algorithm certainly is a mystery, but as far as I know, if you show up consistently online with valuable content, you will eventually see growth (inshaAllah!) This doesn’t mean you have to post every day or every other day, but be CONSISTENT with how often you post. If you decide to post 1x a week, that’s fine ! Just try and stick with whatever your posting schedule is, if you can. This way, people will want to stick around and maybe give you a follow, because they know they can expect valuable content from you. BUT if you miss a post here or there, not to worry. We all need a break sometimes.

I hope these tips have been useful. I will share more tips in future newsletters!

WHAT I’VE BEEN LOVING

• Autumn themed illustrations

• Chey barton studio vlogs on YouTube. I’ve been rewatching old ones from years ago and I find them so relaxing and comforting to have on in the background when I’m drawing.

• Long walks, now that the weather in Dubai has cooled down! I always find long walks very good for art block. My thoughts get churning and I find myself getting inspired very often.

DRAWING CLUB

And finally, I wanted to create a little drawing club for anyone who is interested in joining. Each month there will be an art prompt for everyone to try out. If you decide to join in and want to share your art on Instagram, use the hashtag #MarzDrawingClub so myself and others can see your beautiful work! 

October’s prompt is: Earth

Happy drawing!

DISCOUNT CODE

Finally, here’s a 10% discount code for my Etsy shop which is especially for you guys!  

Use the code: NEWSLETTER for 10% off.

Here’s the link:

THANK YOU!

I hope you enjoyed my first newsletter! I have big plans for it and hope to get better at it with each passing month. Feel free to reply to this email with your thoughts.

See you in November!