Hi, I'm Miranda!

• I’ve always been super crafty and into making details look pretty. My first look into that was going to cosmetology school for hair and nails at 17. I got married to my high school sweetheart and he joined the military. That took me to Japan for 3 years. That’s where got my Shiba Inu puppies, and a divorce. I moved back to Missouri and started over in makeup, at Ulta Beauty as a Benefit Brow Expert. It was by far my favorite job until a new manager changed that. I got my real estate license, and found out it was way too stressful for my non-social self. I love to build miniatures, craft, paint, play the sims and listen to music. Last year I started experimenting with digital art and all I can say is I now know what my dream job would be. Just to be by myself, in my own world to create all day. I don’t know much else or if that is too much haha.

  • Oh my goodness! You've only been experimenting with digital art since last year?? You're so good!! What made you want to explore that medium?

• Thank you! I really appreciate it! I just see really cool album covers and images of beautiful women. I wanted to combine images, like hip hop, women, marijuana. I love the female figure, it’s my favorite thing to draw. I like to add a little grit to them, like tattoos of my favorite rap artist, lyrics, and album colors. Adding details of things I like, that make people recognize them subtly. Thought it would be something I could get lost in, and I do!

• Makeup too, I have always loved makeup!
   

  • (Okay...pause...how much would you charge to do a book cover? I'm actually writing a series about a female rapper and what you said just gave me chills)

  • How long have you been drawing in general?

• That sounds really fun!! Totally down my alley. ️Currently, I’m charging $13 an hour! 

• Eh since I can remember. When I really got into it I’d say middle school- high school. I had an art teacher for three years that I learned so much from. I loved her class. Also because I am a little uncomfortable in crowds or around people I don’t know and it was wayy worse then. She would let me eat my lunch in her classroom, just me. I hated going into the lunchroom. She encouraged my art a lot.

  • All it takes is that one special teacher. 

  • That's incredible! 

  • It's funny how those moments end up to be our true power. 

  • How long do you usually spend on a piece?

• It really is! It’s also good learning to grow out of awkwardness haha.

• Eh usually around 5-9 hrs. Depends a lot on the details!

  • What is your favorite style so far? More detailed with a lot of work put in or simplified? I was doing a deep dive on your IG and am super impressed with your range.

• I really dig the faceless style just because it’s easier to see yourself in it. Buttt I do love details, mostly hilights and curls/braids. I even love my pieces as sketches, color book style. Thank you! I like to have a wide range!

  • "I really dig the faceless style just because it's easier to see yourself in it" I have never thought of it that way before! That's beautiful.

  • When did you discover that (or is it common art knowledge?)

• I’m glad you asked! There is an artist I am really inspired by, (I’ve bought a few art prints and stickers from her website, super cute) her name is @dxpegirlsociety. She said that is the reason her art is faceless. She is so very right, it works beautifully for her brand. Winnie. Weston also does similar work.

  • Oh wow. Her work is amazing! As an up-and-coming artist, how has IG/social media helped you grow?

• Yes, it is! I think it’s helped quite a bit, although I believe TikTok is what a lot of artists are using to get their work out there. I might give it a try. Instagram/social media is great to get your work out there, however, it can make you be a little hard on yourself. Say you work on a piece for 7+ hours and you are so proud of it and your growths, to only get sometimes 30 likes. It can be a little rough but I try to remind myself that likes are nice to have, but they don’t determine the quality of your work. All I can do is push forward, keep drawing and maybe one day open a shop!

  • Have you considered YouTube at all? That vanity metric grind is a little taxing at times, keep building your community and you'll succeed likes only go so far anyway.

• I feel like the oldest young woman haha, I know a lot of artists use YouTube. It’s something helpful I need to look into! Very true, I’m just going to keep drawing and keep learning. It’s the nicest feeling to know that people really like my art enough to have a custom piece done. I’ve met (on IG) some really nice people which is a great aspect of social media too.

  • I'm working on getting onto YouTube myself, so I understand how you feel.  it's a lot of work lol. But compared to platforms like IG and TikTok, YouTube adds that searchability aspect so it's a good resource for creators, especially when it comes to driving traffic to your IG page or website.

  • How many custom pieces have you done so far? 

• That is great info! I will check into it.

• I want to say somewhere around 6-7. It’s so exciting when someone reaches out with an idea. I’ve done a few things for @lushbox, @simplykaeinc and my favorite by far was an ep cover for a beautiful R&B artist. The recreation of the famous Blue Monday painting.

  • That is incredible! Congratulations. 

  • How long had you been active on Instagram before people started asking you for custom works?

• Thank you!

• Eh, I’d say just within the past few months. I started this account in June of last year, I believe. I’m happy with the growth. When I was in hs we barely had a typing class, most of our computers were Windows 98  And that was over 10 years ago. I’ve been watching a lot of tutorials recently and starting back with the basics of anatomy, perspective, and lighting.

  • Just so other Goddesses can be inspired by your journey and remember that it's never too late to get started and learn something new, how old are you?

  • Your perspective and lighting is incredible!! You can tell that you work hard on your craft

• Oh no worries at all, I will be 30 on April 1st. Not looking forward to it, haha but everyone says your thirties are your best years.

• Aw, I really appreciate that! There are great resources like Udmey and 21 Draw. I’d recommend 21Draw to every artist!

  • 30 is when you stop being young and dumb and when people start taking you seriously  I am so glad to be on the other side of 25!

  • For those who don't know, what are Udemy and 21Draw?

• I do feel that lol I’ve made a lot of mistakes and nonuseful choices but that’s where we learn! I’ve changed careers many times, and started over a few times. I at least know what I don’t and do want to do. Also having all those past jobs (hairstylist, eyebrow expert, urogynecology receptionist, realtor) to fall back on is nice.

• Udmey is a site you can purchase classes for basically anything you can think of. The teachers are paid by us purchasing the class, so they know their stuff. Udmey can be a little pricey $50-$200 per class, they also give you reading materials/worksheets. 

• 21 Draw I just discovered, it’s amazing. I opted for the $9.99 a month package, you can watch every video they have up and get worksheets too. You can purchase one class for $25. Or like $50 for the year, I believe. The teachers are so helpful.

  • Those both sound like excellent resources! Thank you for sharing!

  • What do you currently do for your main income while you're transitioning to full-time art?

• Absolutely :)

• I’m kind of in a little pause as far as work goes. I’m fortunate enough to do paperwork from home for my mom who is a realtor. I don’t really like it, haha but it pays the bills. I’m just doing it until I could possibly do art full time and open a little online store.

  • It's nice that you get to work from home for sure though. Besides, doing paperwork is almost like active meditation lol.

  • So, you mentioned marrying your hs sweetheart and then getting a divorce. Would you mind talking about that a little bit?

• I’m grateful for it!

• Sure, we were together at 15, got married at 22 I believe, moved to Japan. I think it’s really an odd feeling you get when you move away and only know one person. Especially when it takes you a long to time let someone in as a true friend. I just think you are different at 15 years old than at 24 years old. I think we just had less in common and didn’t really like each other anymore. We are cool and always have been.

• When I moved back to the states with the dogs we talked more frequently about the dogs and now we haven’t talked in a few years. He wasn’t a bad person, just not my person anymore. I was not looking for another relationship after that until one slowly formed with my boyfriend now. We have been together for five years and just recently bought a house. I never thought I would get to this point.

• A weird thing happens when you have to completely start over with like a car, job, and place to live. You feel stuck and like it’s never going to get better, but they really do, you come out stronger and you learn so much from it.
   

  • Thank you for sharing that!

  • I love love and I think that you're right about changing over the course of nearly a decade. What advice would you have for anyone going through that now who feels like it's the end of their world?
     

• Absolutely ️

• Just to take it one day at a time. It feels like you will be stuck there forever, but no one can predict their future. At any moment everything you know can change. Do not be so hard on yourself, and do not compare yourself to others on the internet. Take time to remind yourself of facts vs feelings. Therapy is a beautiful process, oh, and always listen to your momma!

  • When you mention therapy is that just the overall healing process or did you turn to traditional therapy/counseling to make it through to the other side?

• Well, I started seeing a therapist a little over a year ago. So it was kinda just everything. (I also had a bad relationship with my dad, that has now passed) I was tired of not understanding how to communicate how I was feeling or why. Even though I was overall happier, I wanted to improve my intrusive thoughts. I’ve learned a lot! It has been so helpful.

  • I feel like a lot of women need to hear that. It seems that our society has pushed this idea that we're supposed to be solving all our issues on our own and that if you ask for help you have failed in some way. Thank you for sharing this.  are you still seeing your therapist?

  • And do you have any advice for those who battle intrusive thoughts and don't know what to do but aren't confident in seeing someone? What tips and tricks have worked for you?

• Absolutely, we don’t know what we don’t know. Yes, I still see her twice a week now. I was doing weekly for a year then went down. It’s helpful too when you really have a bond with them. A few really helpful things I’ve learned and that I share with friends are a feelings wheel, anyone can google it. It is so much easier to cope if you can point out exactly which emotions you are feeling, and break down why you are feeling this way. It’s easier to solve a problem if you know why. We should teach this method to our children too!

• Another thing is (I get really nervous and tense while driving on big highways and places I don’t know) is ask yourself, am I in danger? If the answer is no then you kind of come back to reality and relax. Magical thinking they call it, when you think you see signs of bad things about to happen or play out worst-case scenarios in your head. Know that we can NOT predict the future. 

• If you have spinning thoughts, there is a thing called 5,4,3,2,1. You look for 5 red things you can see right now, 4 blue things, etc. just an example. Facts vs feelings, break down what is a fact and what is a feeling? That one can be used with anything! If you are having a debate, you feel like someone wronged you, etc. Also, she says schedule binds anxiety. Say you have a busy day and you're just anxious and overwhelmed by what you have to do. Write down every little thing you need to get, or every store you need to go to. That helps so you don’t feel overwhelmed or like you are forgetting something.

  • Thank you so much for sharing this as well. I believe it will serve the readers well.

  • What steps are you taking to ensure that your dreams of drawing full time come to fruition? Do you have any kind of plan laid out?

• I really hope so! They are great tips I’ve learned.

• Eh not really, I kinda have no idea as to what I’m doing haha. I just figure once I have a bigger following, I can get a little more serious. I want a nice ($600) printer to be able to sell art prints, I’d love to do coloring books and stickers. I thought about starting with digital prints but my weakness is figuring out the jpeg and pdf files and “zip” files and how to explain to the customer how to download. It’s a bit intimidating, that’s probably the main reason I’m nervous about it. I’ve learned more as I go and watched quite a few YouTube videos but the concept is hard for me to grasp. As soon as someone talks about numbers my brain just zones out.

  • Heeheehee. Yeah, that learning process is a rough one. But you'll get there!! It's just a matter of putting one foot in front of the other.

  • I could talk to you forEVER goddess! So to close, what advice do you have for anyone looking to delve into one of their passions who may be afraid or nervous to do the dang thing?

• Yes! It seems so complicated. Aw haha, this has been fun and I hope it will help others! Hell, all you can do is try it, if you get annoyed take a break. Then get back to it, if you don’t like it that is ok. You will never know what you like and what you don’t like if you don’t try it. Everyone is scared to fail, including myself, but that is where our greatest discoveries come from.

  • Miranda thank you so much! How can our lovely readers keep up with your beautiful journey and incredible artwork?

• You’re very welcome, this was fun ️ Just follow my Instagram account for now, and watch the growth. Hopefully, soon I can figure out TikTok haha. One day soon I will be able to offer prints and stickers and much more!