Spend a day with me - the Life of an Illustrator
Hi! I’m Ali and I’m an Illustrator and Surface Designer living in north Northumberland, just 2 miles south of the English border with Scotland.
I’ve been running my business for almost a year now and I thought you might be interested to find out about what I get up to in a day behind-the-scenes running Coostie Illustration and Design.
I’ve also made a short video that shows a typical day - scroll to the bottom to watch it.
Setting up the day
I'm usually a fairly early riser, but in the winter months I find it a bit more difficult to get out of bed. Either way, my first task after waking up the Teenager and saying 'Good Morning' to our dog is to make a cup of tea (fruit or green for my first of the day) and then I write my to-do list.
I'm very goal-orientated as well as a visual thinker, so I need to physically write out my list in my daily planner, which has a daily to-do list spread with tick boxes. It is a Pomelo by Pith, who are a company based here in Berwick-upon-Tweed who are committed to producing high-quality stationery for artists with minimal environmental impact right here in their factory just off Spittal beach.
Fresh air and exercise
Then it's time to walk the dog. I've always loved walking, but having a dog means that I'm out every single day, in all weathers! I've gotten to know the town and countryside where we live intimately, thanks to Mick, a Border Terrier who we got from our local rescue a few years ago now. It means I really get to notice my natural environment and it is lovely seeing the seasons change on a micro level.
After our walk (which can be anything up to 90 minutes) I'll have a cup of coffee and crack-on with my to-do list.
On with the day
As a morning person, I do try to get tasks that need concentration done first, as I find I'm far less productive in the afternoon (and then I have another energy high in the early evening). I also collect together similar-themed tasks on specific days - so Mondays are for marketing where I batch create my content for the following week and get everything scheduled on my website and social media. Tuesdays are for drawing and painting, making and creating. This might be physical if I'm at the start of a project, or digital if I'm creating a technical surface pattern or work for a new collection for a product range.
Everything else!
On Wednesdays, I go to a 90 minute Yoga class first-thing, which has to be followed by a good sit down and then an afternoon of housework. Thursdays are split between more creating and marketing tasks and then I reserve Fridays for learning new things (taking online classes/workshops or practicing techniques from my hefty collection of art books), admin tasks and keeping on top of my finances.
And somewhere in amongst all that there might be packing customer or wholesale orders, pitching for new work, researching potential suppliers and product testing, product styling and photography, image editing, eating lunch, preparing dinner, a bit of food shopping, life admin and significantly more cups of tea and coffee!
The list really does go on and on…
Non-work time
I also volunteer for a few charities and groups, so I might have some sort of committee meeting to attend (in-person or online), papers to read, or a project to progress.
In the evenings I try to make sure I've stopped working by 9pm and then my ambition is always to read a book, progress a crochet project (I've been making a scarf for quite a few months!), do some calligraphy, or practice the piano. Sometimes I do do these things, but some nights I give in to the scroll and just enjoy looking at other peoples' content on social media (which can also be great for inspiring new ideas for my own marketing or business more broadly).