Ashley Ronning’s illustrations—colorful, playful, and very much relatable— are the meaning of “good vibes”, and come 2020, you know we’re all about those good vibes. “I don’t think people in our industry need to be competitive at all,” Ronning remarked once in an interview with The Design Kids. “We can all support each other and build each other up,” she says.
But of course, keeping a positive mindset, especially as an independent artist, is easier said than done, and Ronning admits she had to push hard to overcome her fears and self-doubt. “I was so stressed out about finding my style for so many years – it’s hard when there’s so many fantastic and totally unique styles out there,” she says. “I just kept drawing through it and tried to not let anyone else’s style influence mine, but I soon found that when I drew things I love with mediums I loved to use, a style developed from there.”
Her advice to other struggling creatives? “You have to push through the self-doubt, draw and draw and draw, try out a whole bunch of tools, and one day you’ll surprise yourself with your own special style!” Continuously pushing ahead, Ronning can be found in her studio drawing, risograph printing or working on her next zine.
And with more than 20k fans on Instagram, her hard work clearly paid off. Take note!
