I began making Stray Curls comics sometime in June 2017.

Little did I know that these comics would take off, and I would find myself with a full-fledged Brand that now creates ebooks and accessories all under the name of Stray Curls.

I really have Domestika to thank for that. It helped me understand how to make money as an artist. I recently switched from Skillshare to Domestika because I found more drawing classes. Check it out and change your life.

So, in case you’re wondering what’s the story behind Stray Curls or who exactly is this woman behind those little comics and blog posts… you’re going to find out.

You’re also going to need a lot of patience to read it all. So, here’s to you!

My origin

 

I was born on 17th August 1992 in Abu Dhabi, UAE. I am Indian by origin.

As a curly-haired toddler, I loved drawing on every piece of paper I could find. My father was a Stationery Manager, so I had no trouble accessing color pencils, crayons, and paper. I was an only child and a very hyper one indeed. I loved two things – toys and making messes.

READ MORE: 7 STATIONERY BRANDS NO WOMAN CAN RESIST

I was a very quiet child in school, though. I did not mingle much with other children (a not so desirable trait) and was quite satisfied drawing and doodling in my little notebooks that my father gave me.

Watching cartoons and reading were my whole world. I loved reading Enid Blyton’s books. This led to me talking to my stuffed animals. I’d have make-believe tea parties with them. I also developed a fascination for storybooks, coloring books, and Barbie Dolls.

READ MORE: 35 THINGS TO DO WITH A BLANK NOTEBOOK

Growing up

Growing up, I spent a lot of time listening to rock, metal, and sometimes the blues. I had a special place in my heart for Country Music of the 60s and 70s, and I would listen to songs on the way to school, church, and grocery shopping.

I was bullied for having curly hair. Nothing serious, just the regular teasing and finger-pointing. It wasn’t just in school. Some of my relatives poked fun too.

Between the ages of 13 – 17 (when I should have been making friends and dating), I delved into the world of video games. I played every PC game I could get my hands on – Need for Speed, Devil May Cry, Harry Potter, Sims, Tomb Raider – I loved them all.

I was a computer geek. This was also when my eyesight weakened, and I needed to get myself a pair of glasses – really thick ones.

My parents never had a problem with the amount of time I spent on the computer or watching TV because I brought home excellent grades.

I always managed to finish my studying and homework on the bus to spend every waking minute either playing on the computer or drawing in my sketchbooks.

 

Leaving Abu Dhabi

When I finished 12th grade, the time had come to make a critical decision. I had to choose what I wanted to do with my future.

A tiny part of me wanted to join Arts because drawing was my passion. But since everyone in my Batch was taking up either Engineering or Medicine, I decided to go with the flow and take up Engineering (not my finest decision).

I moved to India and took up a room in a dorm. The next four years of my life became a turning point for me. I made friends. I actually ventured out and began to talk to people.

I realized I quite enjoyed it. I never knew I was a talker – to be honest. Staying in a dorm made me realize that. Girls would gather in my room after curfew to listen to my stories. I told them ghost stories, stories about movies I watched with my mum, and so much more.

And that’s when I realized that I had a knack for story-telling.

I made some of my best friends in this college. I was blessed to have a genius roommate who took me under her wing and taught me about life. The course itself proved to be challenging. I met lots of nice people and some not-so-nice people.

Shifting my focus to drawing

I was bullied quite a lot in my first year for having curly hair, and being a 5’8″ girl in an Asian country, didn’t help much either.

I stood out like a sore thumb. The bullying bothered me for a bit, but eventually, I got used to it. Every time I was sad, I drew a picture. Every time I was overly happy, I drew a picture. Drawing was my consolation and, at the same time, my joy. The very act of drawing proved to be my biggest solace.

READ MORE: 10 SIGNS YOU ARE A NATURAL-BORN ARTIST

 

I learned how to handle my finances, how to wash my own clothes manually (we didn’t have washing machines because it was part of the curriculum to teach students how to be patient), how to catch a city bus (I had never done this my whole life either), how to cross the street (again, I had never stepped out of my apartment by myself so this was all quite new to me) and how to live in the real world.

Life was hard but, at the same time, fascinating. I fell in love with India. I fell in love with the rain, the trees, and the adorable stray dogs.

This was also when I couldn’t really carry all my pencils to some classes, so; I made do with pens. And I started using ballpoint pens to create art.

 

Moving to Bangalore

After my Engineering, I moved to Bangalore and got a sweet little puppy.

I decided to call her Maria, and she is my whole world. It took me some time to adjust to Bangalore. I missed my parents dearly.

But I kept making trips back and forth to keep the distance short.

Taking the big leap

I knew then that taking up a job in Computer Science was not what I wanted to do. I wanted to stay at home and be with my dog. As you can tell from this story, I’m quite a little home-bird who loves to stay indoors.

This was a huge decision for me because I knew I needed to pay rent. I learned to make websites.

But after a whole year of building standard websites for either men or small Indian companies, I started to grow restless.

I wanted an outlet where I could draw or write – basically do something more creative and colorful. So, I started my blog on the side (this blog no longer exists, but you can read my NEW blog right here) – Mary Angela’s Blog, where I published a post weekly.

READ MORE: 50 WAYS TO FIRE UP YOUR CREATIVITY

This blog attracted my first woman client from the US. This was a big moment for me because I got to create design elements that were feminine and more in my field of work. I’d create hand-drawn logos with my black ink pen and color them using Photoshop.

 

At first, it was 1 – 2 clients a month. But slowly, word started to spread, and I began getting more clients that wanted Illustrated Portraits, Business Cards, and Websites.

READ MORE: 17 WAYS TO EASILY GAIN CLIENTS ONLINE + FREE WORKBOOK!

In June 2016, I got my first physical commission. I realized it was getting serious, and I needed to take this up seriously.

So, I saved up for 3 whole months before investing in a digital tablet in November 2016.

I had zero experience, and I was eager to learn. So, every day, I created an illustration. They were pretty amateurish in the beginning, but my work started improving with practice.

I started learning how to illustrate. Since drawing was a passion of mine, it wasn’t too hard to learn. I explain how to become an illustrator in this post. 

Stray Curls Domestika Coupon

READ MORE: 10 THINGS I WISH I KNEW BEFORE BECOMING AN ILLUSTRATOR

I was earning a living with my blog through ads and commissions. It wasn’t great money, but it helped keep the pot boiling. I even got a bigger apartment with a home office (away from the city) to be more comfortable.

 

Maria was beyond thrilled.

Another venture – oh boy!

In May, I created an online course that teaches how to create illustrations because I received questions every day regarding my illustrating journey. You can get it here if you’re interested in learning how to illustrate like this.

Again, I was too shy to market it, so I didn’t spend too much time trying to spread the word.

 

A friend of mine (a Blogging Buddy of mine and a Social Media Goddess – Jaimie) then suggested I start an Instagram account. An account where I upload all my illustrations. So I did. It was to pass the time, mind you. This was also a great way to monitor my progress and see how far I came. I started this account in December 2016.

 

stray curls instagramI wasn’t posting regularly, just once now and then. And to spice things up, I created my first comic on the 12th of February, 2017.

At first, I didn’t know what I’d make my comic about. I was confused. I wanted my comic to be about an issue that was very much real but at the same time not so serious.

My very first Stray Curls comic

And I thought to myself, why not make my comic about my biggest frustration – something I have to deal with daily – my curly hair. I had just had a horrible salon experience and decided to illustrate it with a funny black and white comic.

stray curls comicThis was intended to be a one-time thing, but I created 2-3 more before moving back to illustrations. I didn’t think of it for quite some time until the end of May, when I once again decided to create another Stray Curls comic.

I was going through some old photos, and I realized that having curly hair was one of my biggest topsy-turvy adventures. With time, my skills developed, and my comic style evolved.

And I got another puppy!

Angela and Chloe Puppy

And that’s when I realized this particular thing I was doing – making comics was helping me promote my services as an Illustrator.

I realized that this was my staircase to marketing myself without having actually to do it. Stray Curls was my stairway to success.

READ MORE: THE ULTIMATE GUIDE TO GAINING 100K FOLLOWERS ON INSTAGRAM AS AN ARTIST

Where Stray Curls is now…

Stray Curls has been featured on several websites like Scoop Whoop, Bored Panda, India Times, and so many more. My comics and illustrations have come a long way in the past year.

And I’ve even opened my own store, which focuses on starting an online business and growing it from scratch, which you can visit here.

Thanks to my Stray Curls blog, I can earn a living and support my 2 dogs doing something I love and adore. This journey has been such a long and necessary one.

This is my story.

Now, you may think, why in the world is this woman sharing her story with us? What is the point in all this?

Well, the main reason why I’ve shared this story about Stray Curls is that a lot of people ask me how I’m so lucky or how nice I have it because I’m getting to do my dream job.

But it’s not so simple.

Sometimes, to achieve the things you want, you need to spend a lifetime figuring out what exactly you’re good at and what exactly you want to do.

These things don’t happen overnight. It takes a lot of work to push something off the ground.

READ MORE: HOW TO BE A CONFIDENT ARTIST AND KEEP DRAWING NO MATTER WHAT

I’ve been drawing my whole life; I’ve painted, sketched with pencils and charcoal, used ballpoint pens, and finally moved to illustrating and making comics. I never attended art school, I never took a course, and I’ve never had lessons.

I’ve wasted four years learning Engineering, but it taught me to be patient, resilient and most importantly – it made me realize that I was born to do something else entirely.

So, if you’re not where you want to be right now, don’t worry. Take it easy. Nothing (and I repeat – nothing) happens in one day.

You can read my post on how to become an illustrator here. 

Things take time.

No one becomes an artist in one night. It takes months, years, decades to figure out what you’re meant to do. And after that, the journey begins with you taking the first step toward your dreams.

As you’re nearing your goal, there are going to be a lot of obstacles – obstacles so ugly and so huge that you’re going to have to summon all the strength you can muster to overcome them.

Don’t let these hardships deter you. Don’t let it stop you from doing what you have to do. You have to fight for your dreams.

READ MORE: HOW TO DEAL WITH NEGATIVE COMMENTS AND TROLLS AS AN ARTIST

And if you want to know who your real friends and supporters are, be who you are.

Those who support you, even if you’re dirt poor and/or extremely unpopular, are the ones that truly love you. Keep your family and friends close. They will never leave your side.

I am not perfect. I’ve made innumerable mistakes.

But I don’t regret any of them because each mistake taught me a valuable lesson and helped me grow. All my life, I’ve been bullied for having curly hair. It was only natural for me to hate my curls.

But the day I embraced my curls and learned to make peace with my hair, life rolled out differently. My curly hair has been my biggest inspiration for Stray Curls.

Remember to embrace what makes you different. It was, is, and always will be your biggest strength. If you have any questions or want to say hi, leave a comment below. I will reply to every single one. <3 Additionally, you can take my free email course to help you hone your creativity and make money with your creative skills.

You might also enjoy reading these posts on the blog:

Make money from home using your creative skills. This creative guide for creatives is the best ebook for creative people who want to earn while working from home. Formerly known as the creative workbook for creatives.

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