Today we’d like to introduce you to Destiny Darcel.
Hi Destiny, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
I started illustrating during quarantine. My Instagram originally started out as a finsta. My intentions were to post cute things and little photoshop projects that I was working on since I had so much spare time. One day I saw an illustration and I thought it would be so cute for my page! Since I was so good in photoshop, I decided to make some tweaks before posting and tagging the original artist. Little did I know that is copyright infringement. The original artist reported me to Instagram and had the post taken down. In that moment, I decided that making illustrations can’t be that hard, lol. And the rest is history. I originally made the piece in photoshop on my computer but it was pretty hard to control the mouse in the way I wanted to. I begged my dad for an iPad and Apple Pencil and started working. I mean working. I was producing huge volumes of work because 1. I had a ton of time on my hands and 2. I was obsessed with figuring out what my style was going to be. I kept posting, studying and trying new things until I got to my current style and brand identity!
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
It has been a lot smoother than I expected. However, there have been ALOT of bumps in the road. Everything from figuring out my worth (way easier said than done), licensing, lawyers, taxes, customer service issues, and even flops in products that I’ve released with my art have been huge learning experiences for me. My current struggle is overcoming the fear of products flopping so that I can release new products.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I am a digital illustrator! I specialize in Black women!!! There are so few of us in art, who have the luxury of focusing on our art entirely, and so few of us depicted in art in all of our glory. I’m most proud of the community I have created. So many women send me messages and a screenshot of the illustration that they feel like embodies them. I love that they see themselves in the illustrations. The only thing that sets me apart is that I’m an it girl just like my pieces, LOL. No really, it has to be my consistency. It’s difficult to be as consistent as I have been. It’s been a blessing to have that luxury.
We all have a different way of looking at and defining success. How do you define success?
Success isn’t a destination. It’s the journey. My success looks like the luxury to wake up every morning and do whatever I want. When I graduated college, I had no idea what I wanted to do. I just kept telling my parents, “I want to be free to do and be.” I had no idea what that meant or what that looked like, lol but I know those were the perfect words to describe what I needed out of life. I create my goals as they come to me, I create plans for them as I’m inspired. That’s what success looks like to me.
Contact Info:
- Email: destinydarcel@gmail.com
- Website: www.destinydarcel.com
- Instagram: destinydarcel
- Other: TikTok: destinydarcel.com
