From Freelance to Studio: Amanda Duarte’s Artistic Journey

Entertainment Design, Inspiration, Podcast

From Freelance to Studio: Amanda Duarte’s Artistic Journey

Amanda “Din” Duarte discusses with Chris Oatley, her transition from freelance artist to running Mad Boogie Creations, a virtual studio employing over 40 creatives. She reflects on pandemic-induced burnout, highlights the complexities of managing a team, and shares insights on work-life balance, pivoting in business, and the importance of professionalism over technical skill.

December 15, 2025

3–4 minutes

chris oatley, concept art, visual development

From Chris Oatley newsletter I came across this post on Amanda “Din about starting a studio and dealing with burnout from the pandemic.

Hearing her story its not easy to run a studio but it can have its own reward. She also explored the realities of doing art for a living and pivoting to something else.

The podcast interveiw discusses the ups and downs on running a studio, fear of letting others down, business pressures of doing art and business together.

On today’s episode of You’re A Better Artist Than You Think, illustrator Amanda “Din” Duarte (Disney Lorcana, Ubisoft, Blizzard) on how and why she left her solo freelance career to form a virtual studio that now employs over 40 creative professionals.

00:00 Episode Start
08:52 Freelancing Vs. Running A Studio
10:26 “The Fear Of Failing Everyone”
13:25 Knowing When To Pivot
17:00 Finding The Right Artist For The Job
21:52 Best/ Worst Advice
26:41 Who Is Your Favorite Muppet And Why?
27:26 The Magic Feather

Summary from Gemini AI

This video features an interview with Amanda “Din” Duarte, co-founder of Mad Boogie Creations, a virtual studio specializing in 2D artwork for games, animation, editorial, and advertising.

Here’s a summary of the key points:

Introduction and Background (0:33-2:42): Amanda introduces herself as a partner and co-founder of Mad Boogie Creations, an outsourcing studio that has grown from two freelancers (herself and her husband, Gus) to nearly 40 creative professionals. They’ve worked with major clients like Disney Lorcana, Marvel Snap, Bethesda, Overwatch, Adobe, and Amazon.
Transition from Freelance to Studio (3:31-7:55): Amanda explains that the decision to scale up from a successful freelance career to running a studio was driven by several factors, including burnout during the pandemic (4:09). She was diagnosed with bipolar type two, realizing her extreme work ethic was often a hypomania episode. The pandemic’s entertainment market boom led to her working on 12-16 projects simultaneously, resulting in severe depression and a multi-year inability to draw. This personal crisis led her to step back from art production and focus on the administrative, executive, and business development aspects of the studio.
Differences Between Freelancing and Running a Studio (8:52-10:25): Amanda highlights that running a studio means more complexity and responsibility. It’s harder to dismiss difficult clients, requiring constant negotiation and educating clients about scope creep. Her life now involves “a lot more talking” and meetings, and she’s become adept at de-escalation.
The Hardest Part of Running a Team (10:26-13:24): The greatest challenge is the “fear of failing everyone” (10:33) who depends on her to bring in clients. Interestingly, she notes that this professional pressure doesn’t come with the same self-sabotage and self-esteem issues she experienced as a full-time artist. She emphasizes the importance of dissociating one’s identity from their work (11:58).
Knowing When to Pivot (13:25-16:58): Amanda discusses the “sunken cost fallacy” and the importance of knowing when to pivot from something that isn’t working. She shares how taking out the “external motivation” (14:37) of making a living from art allowed her to reconnect with drawing on a personal level.
Finding the Right Artist for the Job (Casting) (17:00-20:48): When building teams, Amanda learned that it’s impossible to find 40 people exactly like you. They use a “test trial” approach with low-risk jobs to assess artists’ strengths, work styles, and personalities. While technical skill is important, she prioritizes good professionalism and a positive attitude (19:22), as it’s easier to train someone technically than to change their character.
Best and Worst Advice (21:52-26:39):
- Best Advice (22:25): From a teacher named Kayn Chalk in 2015, who told her not to try and fit a specific mold like Blizzard’s style, emphasizing that being relevant doesn’t mean being the “top 10” and that there’s enough work to go around.
- Worst Advice (24:51): The “draw until you can’t take it anymore and then draw some more” mentality, which fostered an unhealthy relationship with work and unrealistic expectations, leading to self-blame and burnout.
The Magic Feather (27:26-29:58): Amanda’s “magic feather”—something she thought she needed to succeed but realized she could “fly without”—was the belief that she had to be among the “top 10 digital painters in the world to be able to say I’m successful” (28:22). She learned that “being good is relative” and that “there’s enough work to go around.”