During the second semester of my junior year I took a course that allowed me to focus on an individual project. I decided to dive into learning in-depth compositing techniques while also exploring how to post art effectively on social media.
I made a commitment to post one day a week, no matter what—balancing my jobs, internships, personal life, and coursework. I stuck to this self-imposed deadline every single week. Even after the semester ended, I continued working on this project all throughout summer and this past semester. All it took was one viral post to completely transform my account.
Through extensive research on analytics and art trends, I developed a brand guide that emphasized a light, fun art style. I experimented with interactive posts to encourage engagement and used my compositing skills to add depth and 3D dimension to my pieces, something that hadn’t been widely done yet. That effort paid off. My account grew rapidly, and it all started with a little cat.
This particular post remains my most popular, with 41.7 million views and 1.3 million likes. It even led to a collaboration with Procreate later on, marking a milestone in my journey as both an artist and a content creator.
Through my understanding of analytics, I secured two internships plus brand partnerships focused on social media and content creation. It was incredibly rewarding to see how the skills I developed through my personal project opened doors to these opportunities.
My entire thesis for the project was centered around how social media is an essential tool for artists and how it can be incredibly beneficial in building a career. Seeing my thesis come to life through these collaborations and opportunities felt like a full-circle moment, this showed the importance of embracing social media as part of the artistic journey.
At the end of the day, I didn’t put in all the work or illustrate endless posts about cute animals in fun outfits because I thought it would go viral, I did it because it’s what I love. Drawing has always been my true passion, and sharing that passion with others brings me so much joy. Even in high school, I created a separate art account that gained over 80k followers, simply because I loved making art and connecting with others who appreciated it.
Every piece I create and share is a reflection of that love, and while the opportunities that came from it have been amazing, the heart of it all is my genuine excitement for drawing and storytelling.
