Hello, I'm Daryl - named after actress Daryl Hannah (hence my obsession with mermaids). I'm a pure Albertan, born in Calgary and later moving to Red Deer with my awesome husband, Rob. I became interested in drawing when I was just a toddler, starting by drawing odd things like penises on my coloring books, and pizzas with sunshine eyes. Despite that, my mum saw potential in my art and encouraged me to blossom. In the mid-90s, I saw reruns of Bob Ross, painting 'happy little trees' and that encouraged me to take an art career seriously. I blossomed via art classes in school. 

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In 2009, I earned my Art Diploma (after a 2-year study of techniques and art history) from SCI in Quebec. Since then, I have done random paid artwork, ranging from sketches of people and logo design, to CD covers and custom tee decals. I've even been an artist's model for a few years and got to see things from 'the other' perspective (which made me take figure drawing more seriously and my cartoons more realistic).

*In 2018, I took a cartooning course at Red Deer College and got the privilege of being instructed by the one & only Gerry Rasmussen, the illustrator of the Betty  comics. I'm humbled in that I learned a lot about cartooning, that I didn't know I needed to know :)  At 30 years old, my work's begun to improve.

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"Why would you want to be an artist for a living?"

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It pains my heart to know, even in today's world, how many people truly believe that someone who choses to draw, paint, design, or sculpt - won't make any money from it. This mindset has been proven time & again to be false, and possibly created by outdated fear propaganda. To see more about how boring our world would be without creative thinkers and designers, read this LinkedIn Article.

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    I chose to be an artist because self expression is very dear to me. I love the idea that I can make something, out of any material available, that speaks something to a viewer and it's a connection they want to pay for. The connection between artist and client is something I don't take lightly. And yes, it is absolutely true that an artist deserves to be paid for their product. Why? Because of the supplies' cost, the time & effort (labor), and all the redo's as requested, to ensure a satisfied client. It is a job, a provided service.

   When people ask how it's possible for an artist to make any money at it, that blows my mind. Look at the CDs, DVDs, books, etc. with covers - someone was commissioned to create those. Look at the fashion we wear - someone was paid to design that. People are paid by big companies to design products as well as advertising for them. Personally, I make *most of my income from commission work for clients. I also make a little from sales on print-on-demand sites and Etsy, where I specialize in adult coloring books.

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From July 10, 2016 - July 10, 2017 I completed a year-long art challenge, dubbed #Kawaii365. It was actually inspired by a book I won at an adult coloring event (the idea of my awesome hubs). The book was called 'Unstuck' by the Skull-A-Day author, Noah Scalin. I became inspired to create a #365 project of my own after reading it - I chose the kawaii style (cute art with a Japanese twist), because I'm basically a weeaboo who grew up on anime and fell in love with Hello Kitty at age 12. This opened the door to professional cartooning, primarily with the characters from Zoo'd Animal Hybrid Friends (see, The Animals, above). At the end of the 365 kawaii art projects, I got featured in local publications which felt awesome! 

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RD News Now! - https://rdnewsnow.com/article/544797/year-long-art-project-brings-out-best-local-woman

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Red Deer Express - https://www.reddeerexpress.com/home/red-deer-artist-creates-365-projects-for-365-days/

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I have been a professional for many years now, with a current interest in drawing adult coloring books since 2015, and all available on my Etsy shop (see, The Merch, above). I also design greeting cards, fridge magnets, bookmarks, and do apparel designs for my RedBubble shop. Oh, and I run a Zazzle shop as well. 

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Being a professional artist (with a series of living cartoon animals to take care of) can be very busy, and sometimes stressful. Totally worth it though. One of the things I live for is awesome comments from fans. You make my life. However, there are days (even with lots of love) that it's not as lucrative as other days. Such is life, right?

 

So if you like the Zoo'd animals - or anything you see here - please check out our

Patreon page here: https://www.patreon.com/helpakawaiiartist

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My deviantArt page shows some of my earlier works: https://daryl-the-cartoonist.deviantart.com/

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Or, if you'd like to connect on LinkedIn and learn more, or collaborate on a job: https://ca.linkedin.com/in/daryljanuszewski

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I'm also a beloved member of the Red Deer Arts Council, right here in the city! So you can check me out there too, if you'd like: https://www.reddeerartscouncil.ca/arts-directory/artist-directory/daryl-deroche-januszewski

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In my spare time I enjoy doing yoga, drinking coffee, eating endless sweets, dancing (including disco and bellydance), writing, reading how-to books, doing crossword puzzles, playing keyboard, learning Spanish (hablo un poco), collecting Hello Kitty, or watching older TV shows such as ALF or Frasier. I'm also obsessed with the awesomeness that is Stranger Things.