Today we’d like to introduce you to Bri Boitano-Williams
Hi Bri, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I have been drawing ever since I was around 6 years old. I knew from a young age that I wanted to do something related to art whether that meant designing clothes, painting for a living, graphic design, or something to do with lettering. I started getting interested in calligraphy when I was about 9, but kind of let it go since I was much more interested in fashion design, Luckily, I learned after participating in a fashion design internship my senior year of high school that it wasn’t for me.
After that, I decided to go into graphic design in college but by the time I graduated, I was majoring in Art with a concentration in drawing and a minor in business. I continued to take graphic design courses along the way and soon realized that I love typography and design. I have been lucky enough to have been int he design industry full time for 8 years now and love what I do. But, towards the end of 2017, I really started to realize I missed creating for me while I was working as a wine and paint instructor.
In 2018, I started to push myself to draw, paint, watercolor and letter consistently to improve my skills. Probably a year after that, I started having people ask me to create pieces for them. I have been consistently freelancing now since 2020 creating everything from chalkboard art to wedding signage to invitation art to watercolor home portraits to abstract paintings to pet portraits to couple portraits to brand design to murals. I am beyond grateful that I am able to get paid to do something I love and am so excited to see how my business will change over the years!
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
It definitely has not always been a smooth road. I think at the very beginning of me trying new things in art, I really sucked. It’s funny because people say, “oh, I’m sure you didn’t suck,” but I really did when I look at my work now compared to then. I definitely got discouraged frequently at the beginning when I would have this idea of how I wanted something to look and once it was finished, I would be very unhappy with it.
Failure. That is how you get better. You have to suck at something a lot to get to a point where you can say you are good at something. I am not going to say I do not like when someone says I am talented because I know they mean it as a compliment. But, I always think that sure, maybe I am slightly talented or maybe it’s just the years of practice I have put towards something that have really started to pay off.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I work full time as a Senior Designer in advertising. I have worked in marketing design for 8 years and really do love what I do. Over the years, I have started to care more about the strategy and vision of a project rather than the actual design itself. I love to design, but I think it is so interesting understanding of what the client wants, why a design will work best with a certain client, and how it can be made most effective on a specific platform.
I think having such a large love for typography in design has given me an interesting perspective on the art I create. I am very precise with my work whether it is painting a watercolor home portrait or hand lettered mural. Every time I create something, there is something else I learn to improve upon the next time and I love that about the process. The work I am probably most proud of is my mural work. Murals take so much time to make come to life that by the time they are done, there is no way you can’t be proud.
Alright, so to wrap up, is there anything else you’d like to share with us?
Life is too short to worry about whether or not you will be good at something. Take the leap and just start. You will never know if you could succeed at something if you don’t try!
Pricing:
- $1000+ for murals
- $200+ for home/couple portraits
- $250+ wedding signage/invitations
- $700+ branding design
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.brianaboitano.com/
- Instagram: @drawlifefreely
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/drawlifefreely
