The story behind SOSORREAL

SOSORREAL

is a word play consisting of my nickname “Soso” and my life being absolutely “surreal”.

However, I have to give credits where credits are due. My younger brother actually came up with that brilliant idea and lo and behold, the handle was free on Instagram too. So SOSORREAL has stuck with me ever since.

I had started with digital illustrations back in 2020. Yes, the year that feels like a blip to most of us. Anyhow, my first tablet was one that I got gifted from my younger brother (He really did kickstart this journey). I now had a Wacom S tablet, a notebook, and a free software called “Krita”.

It all started with lots of enthusiasm and time and quickly fizzled into exhaustion after not creating artworks for the sake of creating them, but for the dream of one day being able to earn money with my passion. When I decided to sign up to become a self-employed artist, I had still earned more money from being a language tutor and event host for multiple years than from selling any of my pieces.

What changed?

I still love illustrating. I also have to admit that this passion ebbs and flows and is not my main priority. There are phases where I catch a train full of inspiration and other times I overslept and missed the train altogether. I am not trying to stress about that too much.

I have changed my gear to an iPad Pro, an Apple Pencil, and Procreate, handy tools to take with you when you’re traveling a lot. Some of my posts on my non-art social media account, also include small hand-drawn details done with Procreate.

The future of SOSORREAL

I will continue to create, because I am an artist. Will it be in the form of illustrations? Not always, not necessarily, but SOSORREAL is still alive, just often hibernating. At one point in my life, being a full-time illustrator was definitely on my bucket list. Perhaps it will be on there again some day