The fishing net analogy made a lot of sense to me. I do have one question. The hardest part for me is reaching out to clients, can you recommend a few things to say, as a standard, in an email to any client.? This will make things easier so that we don't have to rethink every email I send to clients.
"dont fall sleep !"😅🤣 we wont James! its so hard "rolexing up " my style, but im, indeed, trying to have a portfolio with more options. Thanks for the video.
I would be curious about your opinion on this ; I think I have two styles - one with funny characters and the others is a little more elevated (and attracts clients that pay more, less often). I'm wondering if I should focus on only one, but if both work kinda well, keep both? I wonder if you know illustrators that offer "two" styles or approach. Anyways, great video! :)
Hey, if they're both working well, i think it's fine. Do you think you could develop the elevated style more so it attracted better paying clients more often?
Really enjoying your videos! I understand the importance of standing out in a niche, but where I struggle is figuring out where my work fits. I know what I like to make, but I'm not exactly sure which clients would hire me for it because it's so specific (I like illustrating detailed and whimsical creatures). Any tips for actually finding the clients for really specific niches?
Thank you, and i understand where you're coming from. A niche that is good at getting followers and selling prints may not translate to finding commercial clients. Fantasy, whimsical creatures is a very niche area, even within children's publishing. You have a beautiful style and great skills though, so with small adjustments you could open up more opportunities. i have no doubt you could do it, but whether you want to do it is another matter. It would require a mindset shift from drawing what you like and your IG followers like to like to drawing what clients want to pay for. It would mean compromising slightly and zooming out of your very specific niche to find clients who might want regular creatures, or general nature illustrations. There's still plenty of joy to be had there, and if you make some work that's more broadly commercial, it doesn't mean you have to stop the other work. I don't know where i would place your work with clients outside of publishing: children's, mythology and folk tales. But there are plenty of opportunities for a skilled nature artist who can draw woodland creatures, plants and fruits and veg etc. Would that seem boring to you?
@@TheIllustratorsGuide Thanks for the reply! I'm definitely interested in painting all things nature-related too, specifically birds. I guess I've been focusing on the creatures to stand out among a lot of nature artists that I see on IG-- which has been good for followers, but I think you're right and it's not translating to client-work. Any recommendations for pathways specific to whimsical nature illustration?
As i mentioned: kids publishing, mythology or folky stuff spring to mind. Perhaps you could look at more commonly recognisable whimsical creatures? Creatures from mythology, or things like trolls and goblins and gnomes etc. Maybe whimsical creatures from movies, computer games & TV. They're still fantasy creatures, but they're more commonly recognised and not from your own imagination. They're more likely to connect with a broader audience. Honestly though, i think these suggestions are more likely to appeal to the social media audience than commercial clients. It's a tough one! What if you were to pick a commercial product, that often uses whimsical elements and draw something from your imagination but apply it to a real product: a wine label for example. then your whimsical creatures appear in a context that a client could appreciate. Google 'creature inspired wine label' for examples.
Do you have advice for finding where you want your positioning to focus if you’re not quite sure yet? For example right now in my portfolio I have book related work, editorial work, and comic book work, I’m unsure if this is too broad and I should tighten my positioning at all!
Good question. What do clients hire you for the most? What do you enjoy the most? If there's an answer to those questions, you could choose to focus on the part where the answers cross over. If there isn't a clear answer yet, maybe it's too early to focus on positioning and you can keep your options open for now.
@@TheIllustratorsGuide thank you so much for the response! After reflecting I think it just might be a bit early for me! So I’ll stay open for now and keep an eye out for finding the solid answers for those questions !
That is a tough question to answer, and I don't think i can answer it for you. I think there definitely is an answer because some people do try for years and years and never get anywhere - i don't know that it's worth spending years over if you're not enjoying it. Sometimes quitting is the right decision because it frees you up to find out what you're really good at. Maybe it's not about quitting completely, but turning it into a hobby, taking the pressure off for a while and learning to enjoy it again.
