Amy Lesko Answers

Hey Izzy!

Thanks for thinking of me for your project, find the answers to your questions below :)

How did you find your personal style?
It took a looooong time to finally find my "style". To be honest I still don't think I'm even there yet, as i'm always introducing new ways of working or altering illustrations all the time! But i'm somewhat happy with where I am now within the way my work looks. For me, I just created work that I wanted to make, and use colours I wanted to use and so on and so forth, it's amazing how naturally a style will evolve, it's just a matter of time!

How do you balance the ratio of work to life?Oh gosh I don't! Not really! It's hard because for me, my work is also my life. I work full time as a designer / illustrator, and then I come home and work as myself being a designer / illustrator so it's very rare I get to take a creative "break" as it were. I do find this makes me 10000x more stressed as my brain NEVER turns off, but I think thats the bug bear of being a creative soul? (I hope!)

When you get stressed from work what do you do to take a break?I really enjoy a good old boogie. As a total escape from my desk I love to head to music festivals in the summer months, and participate in the odd House event. I love funky tunes! This total detachment from work is lovely, i'm not one to go on a tranquil escape in the country; I want strobe lights, killer festival outfits and to dance with all my friends until the sun comes up!

How did you find the transition from education to becoming a professional?I would say....a lot faster paced! In uni for some reason you have to put EVERYTHING in your sketchbook and work your way through the process in as much detail as possible. However in a studio environment, I bring up AI, and in a matter of minutes we have a final file ready for sign off. I understand that side to education, and trust me thumbnails are important, but maybe 200 thumbnails is a bit overkill 😅I've also learnt to not be afraid to speak out, as working in a studio is a super supportive environment and an idea is never too dumb!

How do you try to overcome the problem of loneliness which might occur when being freelance?Luckily I work for myself purely on weekends and evenings, so I don't have this feeling of separation. Being in a studio with people all week....it makes a nice change! However, with the world at our fingertips, and social media being seconds away, even when i'm doodling at home, I can post something on social and get some great comments back. You're never really alone when you have such a wonderful and supportive online community to be your hype men!

What has been your biggest challenge thus far in you career?I'd have to say London Fashion Week 2018! I had to live illustrate peoples portraits right in-front of them for a selection of influencers and bloggers and I was so nervous! Drawing in-front of people on Photoshop is stressful enough, but what will I do without the power of CMD+ Z?! Turns out, I was fine and I can speed through with no hesitation, and if you're confident enough with your lines, people don't notice you've gone wrong 😂I ended that day with so much confidence, a huge smile on my face and a shooting pain in my hand as I had drawn over 100 faces and had not had a break all day!

Whats your advice to a designer starting a freelance career in the industry today?
For me working in-house has taught me inVALUABLE experience. You know how pricing works, how to talk to clients, the demand of timescales, software, rough work etc etc. To anyone I would suggest working in-house for (at the bare minimum) a year before going freelance. This way you build up your skillset, your confidence and can put a bit of money away before going solo.

Whats your essentials when working?
A cup of tea, some groovy music (hey even a nice vlog on Youtube sometimes) and my Wacom tablet. 

Hope that's good enough for you Izzy!

Cheers,

Amy Lesko