Let me introduce you to Julia Ockert- watercolor realism painter from Australia.
all photos provided by Julia Ockert
Who is Julia Ockert?
A year or so ago, Julia and I connected on Instagram. I love her work and she was receptive to my messages. It is always wonderful to find a kindred spirit. Since we connected she has been a valuable friend to bounce ideas around with.
Julia is based in Canberra, AUS. She has always been interested in painting but her passion really took off after working as a digital designer for several years. She realized what she really enjoyed was the more traditional medium of painting.
She no longer wanted to do digital design or be an employee. "The rise in social media was crucial for my transition between ”employee” and “artist”, as it allowed me to market and therefore sustain myself financially" said Julia.
She currently has 21k followers on Instagram. She has also had a lot of success marketing on Reddit and selling on platforms such as Society6.
Her success keeps her busy printing and packaging orders. "I generally spend two days a week printing and packaging online orders" Julia says, "Other days I’m working on commissions, creating for fun or learning ways to further market myself." Being a fulltime artist comes with many hats.
The Work
Julia's work caught my eye because she does beautiful watercolors of cocktails. Her attention to detail and use of color wowed me.
She is self taught- learning through practice. She uses several different mediums but watercolor is her favorite: "I find them forgiving and familiar" However, "The medium I have the most fun with however would be oil pastels!"
When I asked Julia what her favorite thing about her art practice is she said: "Creating whatever I want + working for myself from home + the process of watching a fairly detailed painting come together." Freedom to work on what she wants in the comfort of her home are huge blessings to being a fulltime artist. Not to mention the joy of seeing a painting come to life.
Inspiration
Julia is inspired by:
A multitude of other artists - both old and new
Sunlight and shadows
classical music
1970s photography
patterns in nature
When asked what advice she has for other artists, Julia said, " My advice would be to stay true to yourself, don’t be afraid to experiment with new styles and mediums, use social media to your advantage to market yourself and learn what you can from artists you admire."
Struggles & Goals
I deeply relate to Julia's biggest challenge which she confesses is the fluctuation of money during the slow months. It can be "anxiety-inducing." Her best cure is to stay productive and think strategically. "I find that using this time as wisely and productively as possible is the antidote" said Julia.
Her big dreamy goals for the future are vague but in the short run she would love to do larger scale paintings. "I currently create a lot of small-scale, detailed works however, I would love to create large-scale abstract works (haha!)" confessed Julia.
On an unrelated note to art, I'm always curious what people's secret passion is-the thing they admire and if they could have those skills what would they be doing instead of their actual job. For Julia she would be working in a job focused on animal welfare.
Conclusion
Go buy her work right now. Click here.
Follow her on Instagram and subscribe to her mailing list!
Thank you to Julia who agreed to be interviewed for this post :) <3