From 9-5 Job to Professional Artist with Eeva Nikunen

From 9-5 Graphic Designer to Full-Time Fantasy Artist

Eeva Nikunen is painting her own world into being. When she’s not creating amazing art on commission for clients, she’s steadily building her own fantastical cast of characters and the places where they live on canvas and in books, prints and more.

Yes… she’s working harder than she ever did in her 9-5 job as a graphic designer. She was making a good steady paycheck; there was certainty and security… she was getting paid every day to create art.

But. But it wasn’t her art. She was creating art for others and her own portfolio remained lean. Eeva took the plunge into art entrepreneurship three years ago, and has never had a day of regret. Has it been easy? No. Has she “made it” yet as a well known, highly successful artist? Not quite but she’s well on her way, and as Eeva said, her worst day as a freelance artist working for herself from home is better than her best day working for someone else.

Now Eeva is free to paint the visions in her head into being. She’s already published one adult art coloring book and her newest book is a creativity journal, due out near the end of this year.

Eeva still accepts and enjoys commission work. It’s a fun change from her usual day-to-day, plus it helps pay the bills. The rest of the time she’s busy painting and growing her gallery as well as her tribe of fans who love her art.

Eeva’s art has a meticulous yet ethereal quality. Eeva was already an exceptional artist, but her daily dedication to creating has clearly exponentialized her skills, where it seems that each new painting (and she’s currently doing a new one DAILY for her new book), is even better than the previous.

After the interview, a (non-technically oriented) member of our audience wanted to know how to digitize her paintings and here’s what Eeva shared.

How to Digitize Paintings

Well the way I digitize my oil paintings is by taking a photo with my camera. I set it up so I can get the most clear and high resolution photo possible.

Drawings you can scan with a scanner. The only thing you might need photoshop for is to correct the colors or change the size of the digital file.

This, I believe, can be done with other programs as well, for example the free iPhoto app on a Mac. If you want to make prints, the file resolution has to be 300dpi or larger. If it just for the internet, then 72dpi is enough.

Meanwhile, we found another cool resource that we’ll link below.

Tune in and get inspired!

SHOW LINKS

• EevaNikunen.com
• The One Thing, by Gary Keller and Jay Papasan  
• One Fantastic Week Podcast and Conference 
• WorldCon Conference  
• Ropecon Conference  
• PodcastWebsites.com – our podcast hosting platform – Use discount code HOSTME for $10 off for life!]
• FineArtGalleryOnCanvas.com – for digitizing and even for selling your paintings

PLUS:

• 90 Day Goals Journal 
• 90 Day Creator’s Challenge & Mastermind 

LeAura Alderson

Hello! I’m LeAura, owner and co-creator of iCreateDaily.com®.  As an autodidactic philosopher, generalist, personal development advocate, entrepreneur, writer, editor, author, ideator, media publisher, and podcaster, I’m passionate about helping others achieve their best possible life! Our small family of entrepreneurs, writers, investors, educators and creators own and run websites around topics we enjoy, such as gardening, health and fitness, creativity and pets, with more to come.

While my greatest teacher is Life… my formal training includes certifications in mediation, fitness, and strategic intervention coaching, including marriage and family. Today, the synergy of creating websites, articles and podcasts, brings together all my favorite things: family, learning, growth, creating, connecting and contributing. To share these with you is a privilege, that serves my lifelong aspiration to help others.

My personal areas of creativity are in writing, masterminding, ideation, synthesis and bringing ideas to life through business and entrepreneurship, all with a pervasive spiritual foundation with a focus on elevating the lives of others.