Adobe Illustrator with Danielle B.

Hey friends! I've been an artist my entire life..even though I didn't call myself one til after college. As a kid, I led a wild life of constant art classes and running around with 4 younger siblings in the Southern California sun. When I eventually got to college, I decided that although I didn't see a clear path to success or career with studying art, I had to go with my gut. A handful of years later I emerged from college with a BA in Illustration, and a BS in Interior Design. I felt confident as an artist, but lost on where to take my next step. I worked as an in house graphic designer for a web design company in Los Angeles, and assisted with some fancy HGTV interior designers and architects, but nothing was quite clicking yet. I decided to get out of town and try to make it on my own. I moved to San Francisco and started a textile company where I designed patterns in Illustrator, carved them out into rubber, and block printed them onto fabric. The fabric became products like pillows and wall hangings that I'd sell at shows. Since then (about 8 years ago!) I've: - worked with interior designers who use my fabrics in client's homes as upholstery, drapes, and pillows - taught my printmaking process to hundreds of students in person through companies like Groupon, Gilt City, and Airbnb Experiences - provided on site art events to companies like Facebook, Evernote, Salesforce, Timberland, and more. - been featured in prominent publications such as the Wall St Journal Blog, and DailyCandy What does this all have to do with Adobe Illustrator? Illustrator has been quietly working behind the scenes my entire self-made career. Adobe Creative Suite gave me the tools to express my art quickly and graphically, and opened up my world to creating art for websites, paper goods, and even handmade art. Without Illustrator I'm not sure I would have found such success. Every pattern I design either starts in this program, or as a sketch that eventually gets scanned in to become more defined. Learning this technology, as hard as it was at first, has completely changed the way I create for the better and I urge any artist of any medium to take the time to learn it. That's where I can help :)