Bold. Colorful. Fun. The words that Carra Sykes uses to describe her work could also be used to describe the Brenham, Texas–based creative herself. “I’m an illustrator and designer, but I usually just say I make art for a living. I think that sums it up.”

After building a varied client roster that ranges from Target to W Magazine to GLAAD and the Trevor Project, Sykes recently took on an in-house role as a senior designer at social marketing platform Planoly. Meanwhile, she continues to push her personal projects forward. “I like my work to make people think or laugh,” she says. “Most of the time it can be pretty silly, but I also make activism-based art, so it teeters between serious and playful. If I can make art that's approachable, that tells a story in a way that helps make positive change in the world, then I feel like I'm doing my job.”

You were freelance for years but took on full-time work this year. What has that transition been like?

I feel like accepting this job is allowing me to grow further in my own personal art. There’s less stress trying to get clients. I actually feel more like myself, which is a big new step in my illustration career. It's a really interesting switch. I feel like I'm growing into the artist that I always wanted to be.

So art was always part of your plan? 

I’ve always been a dreamer. I'm 32 years old and I still pull from my imagination. I was really lucky as a kid because my mom had a craft box for me that had everything — construction paper, scissors, glue — and I would take any kind of material I could find and make stuff with it. 

I grew up playing soccer, and there was this duality of being an athlete and an artist. I imagined also designing the jerseys we wore, to bring my talents together to this one thing. I originally went to school for fashion, and then quickly realized that graphic design was an outlet where I could really express myself. It wasn't just making websites or logos. As a designer, I felt like I could do anything.

After I graduated, I finally started creating stuff to make myself feel happy.

What kinds of art make you feel most like yourself?

I didn't come out until I was 25. I was a very free-spirited person, but that was something I always had in me that I never shared. When I came out, I started to make art that felt like I was telling that story for the first time. 

Over the past few years, I've seen my own growth beyond just making art for art's sake. Now I share my story with the hope that it might help someone else — to make them feel seen. It’s this idea of creating art and then letting it go. It's no longer fully mine. It’s for everybody. 

How do you organize your ideas?

I daydream a lot — all kinds of thoughts and visuals. I'll either sketch something quickly in one of the 50 sketchbooks I have around, or type something out in the Notes app on my iPhone. That’s my idea bank. 

What kind of notes?

It can really be anything. “Apples sliced differently.” “I’ve never drawn a crab before.” “A western hat that fell on the ground.” “Rainbow pin and hat.” “A blue or a red truck with a Pride sticker on it.”

If I ever have free time — which is not that often — I'll randomly look through to see if there's something I wrote down that I haven't touched on. It's interesting because what I see in my head the first time is different when I revisit it, but I try to be descriptive enough that I can get back to that original place in my mind.


Once you’ve got the idea, what’s next?

I’ll start in my sketchbook or Adobe Fresco, which is so much more efficient than paper! It’s so much easier to copy and paste and work through concepts. Plus, you never run out of ink. You never run out of anything. (Unless your battery dies....)

When I move to Adobe Illustrator on the iPad, the first thing I usually do is bring in a sketch, but recently I’ve also been adding a background color that’s not white — usually something subdued, so I’m not overwhelmed by it. 

I use the Pencil tool a lot — not so much the Pen tool — and I’ll illustrate something and then finesse the lines afterwards.

What are your other go-to tools in the app?

Never in all my years have I used gradients. They were something I wanted to try, not something I ever thought I’d do, but the Gradient tool has been a total game changer; a whole new way of illustrating for me that’s not my typical style. I really like it.

Made with Illustrator on the iPad.


I also love the Radial Repeat tool. Right before the pandemic, when we could still travel, I was on a plane drawing endless patterns as a kind of therapeutic exercise. The interface lets you make decisions that you get to see change in real time, so you feel like you’re a part of every movement.

You regularly livestream on Behance. Has that become an important part of your process?

One of the slightly painful parts of being an artist is that we constantly critique our own work, and try to figure out how it could be better. I’m trying to be more open about this by doing the exercise of live-streaming, and being very public with my process on Behance and Instagram. Most people have commented with nice things so far. It’s really helped me feel better about moving on with pieces.

Check out more from Carra Sykes on Behance and Instagram.

See more inspiring articles about Illustrator on the iPad.

Header image made with Adobe Illustrator on the iPad.