Thank you for reminding this for all of us. People just forgotten what's really important and what's not. People should arrange what's the number 1, 2 or more to do the work
You are correct...I have realized from my own experience that most people on social media will admire, ignore, hate and even become jealous. Most of my clients have been through word of mouth. Other times it was through friends. Even friends recommending my skills to other people. At times I am creating and someone becomes interested and they ask for me to create for them.
Thank you. This was very informative. I have a fine arts background, grad in 2021. And I am starting to reevaluate my approach to my art and building a client base. I also agreed regarding social media. For me personally, I think it'd be best to focus on one platform at a time. It can be terribly distracting if you let it.
Hi there, just want to drop a thanks for your channel-- I'm a former inhouse designer/illustrator for some retail companies and was displaced out of the industry due to covid and other personal reasons so I'm pretty new to freelancing as an illustrator. Your videos are really informative and encouraged me to take the jump and try to apply to an agency. I got wonderful feedback from them on things to work on :) and have your videos to find further useful advice from!
We can't ask about what we don't know about, when we don't know that we don't know about it 😂 Thanks for another insightful video, I must say I may be guilty of feeling I need to be on so many platforms, when I barely keep a single one updated. I will definitely try keep note of any questions that pop up and bring them over here.
So spot on!!!! As an illustrator (motion designer/creative director) and running my own one-man shop, these distractions are always there and it's always tough to say no. The larger you build your network, the more you have to say no.
Thank you for being so transparent in sharing your knowledge - I'm at the beginning of going out on my own after many years as an illustrator/artist for someone else's brand. You are helping me to see the path ahead.
Absolutely love the honnesty, straight to the point. I have a full time job to pay the bills and I am working to become a full time illustrator and I have to say Thank you for the sense of direction.
THANK YOU for your videos!! i’m a university lecturer about to teach an illustration major senior thesis class, where i will also teach a lot of professional / career development. i’m a working artist/writer in the picture book/children’s book world and I am researching to give good advice to young rising illustrators in other industries than my own. i’ve been watching a lot of your videos and your advice is simple, direct and clear. i especially love this advice of just working on the work and on contacting clients directly, that’s it. i’ll pass that along to my students. thanks!!
I'm so happy I found your videos. This is definitely an advice I really needed, as I was one who though I have to improve my social media with hopes to get some work. Thank you for time you take to make this videos
Thanks for breaking down the industry with some real talk and real advice in your videos. I'm someone who kind of worked backwards. I worked for years as a print-based Art Director in Manhattan and then moved on to a career as a Digital Project Manager. I'm doing Med-Legal Compliance now because the City has a large industry vertical for Big Pharma, and I decided to go back to fine art and illustration for fun... and now I'm starting to think... "Well, might as well start up career #4 to retire with." I LOVE watching the videos from industry professionals and laugh as I can visualize the target demographic you're speaking to. I ran into it from the other side of the desk as an Art Director for years. It's not meant to be discouraging. Talent of all sorts, Illustration as well, tends to need a little 'seasoning' to pick up on the "business aspects" of what's happening with their applications. You can be an excellent Illustrator, but if the designs and Creative direction need cutesy and light and you're doing tortured soul aesthetic then you can be the very best at your jam, but you won't be getting the gig. Nothing personal. It's purely aesthetic. There's less spotlight than for the 'peacocks', but far more work exists for the 'chameleons'. Someone who commands rock star booking fees will only be used for high budget projects. Someone who is reasonably priced, has a relationship from past work, and who has demonstrated basic competence along with a willingness to negotiate for salary and keep a good attitude while delivering a good product... well, those are golden resources that get gig after gig after gig after gig. I have a lot of wisdom of my own from my own professional experience on the other side of the hiring decisions, but just in case... do you have any advice or tips for folks who are older in life, and may be returning to art or launching this career with more solid experience of the past of the industry, but not necessarily all of the familiarity with the ways that the digital marketplace has changed the Old Path of bootstrapping through networking and portfolio submissions and cold call after cold call?
Thanks for your input. I would say it's probably important to stay humble, even if you do have years of experience. You might be getting hired by people half your age, they won't want to work with a know it all. There's a lot to be said for having a student mindset, no matter your level of experience.
This is a really interesting video; thank you James! I've been offered a place on the final year of a BA in Illustration at Arts Uni Bournemouth (just finished a HND in art and design) and I work as a gallery assistant too so I'm kinda already in the art world but your advice sounds like I should definitely be watching your channel so I've subscribed so cheers!
Your channel is so useful! I’m at the beginning of my journey as an illustrator and I really feel you are talking to me. I’m still keeping my job as a graphic designer, although I would really want to be a full time illustrator. I realise more and more that I create excuses for myself not to start, and your videos are pushing me to believe that with the right focus I can do it. I really appreciate your honesty and your “straight to the point” approach.
You hit everything, the stuff no one wants to say. When young illustrators complain about being broke and how the algorithm is ruining their instagram, I ask them when was the last time they contacted a potential client or asked an art director to coffee. People want to avoid the hardest and most essential part of this game - just like you said. Great advice, will be sending people to this channel!
I am really interesting in computer illustration work, but I struggle to come up with good things to draw. I thought about the potential for people to submit their own drawings (gives me ideas), and I can turn them into quality Digital illustrations to then print out. I am very intrigued by the idea, but my designing skills are currently slow, and I run into numerous bugs and issues when designing. It is very time consuming and complicated. Thank you for the video!
Hey, thanks or the comment. The only way to get over these problems is to practice. If you can't think of one good idea, think of 20 bad ones and then figure out which is the best of that bunch and figure out why. Then you can build on that process until you get better and better. If you're not coming up with the ideas, you're only doing half the job of an illustrator. The design and drawing skills are only part of the whole set of skills an illustrator needs. The only way to get faster and more adept at the technical aspects is to practice.
Hi, James! Thank you for another great video! What are your thoughts on beginners joining the AOI? Would it be useful or is it a waste of money in the beginning? Maybe you have some advice on how to use AOI resources properly?
I think joining the AOI is a great idea for new illustrators. There are very few places to get advice on your work but the AOI is a really good, trustworthy organisation that will help you in many ways. However, i think it depends on if you are making money from your illustrations yet. If not, save your money, concentrate on getting your first paying clients yourself, then you can invest some of that money back into an AOI membership. I think you'll get more out of the membership once you are working, because you can apply what you learn from them to your work, otherwise it's theoretical. If you have the money, i would recommend joining, if you don't, it's more important to save the money and find some paying clients. That's my opinion.
Sometimes you need to hear someone else saying this stuff. Thanks again for posting yet another video. Do illustration agents care about the age of an illustrator/ Is it too late to become one? Personally speaking I am an illustration graduate, I did freelance illustration for 3 years (pre computer era illustration) after graduation. Then got into the video game industry. Worked at some good studios, Big name Triple AA titles. Emigrated, the Global Financial crisis hit, I got into the murky Fine Art world, did Pet portraits and am now in a shadow art career I hate and want to get into illustration again. This video really hit home as far as the advice is concerned and I for one really appreciate that you have taken the time to do these videos.
Thank you for the kind words. I don't know how old you are, but i'm going to say no, agents won't care how old you are, neither do clients. Most of them would never even find out how old you are. It is possible that some of the younger agencies might prefer a younger team, but i don't really think they would discriminate based on age. Talent is talent! the age range of artists i work with is about 40 years (mid 20's to mid 60's). I've looked at your work, you have a pretty specialised skillset, you have a pretty unique offering which is great. If you want to branch out into other kinds of work, i don't think it would take much to adjust your portfolio to appeal to a broader range of clients...
@@TheIllustratorsGuide -Hi James thank you so much for the reply. I am sure by following all of your advice thus far I should be able to start picking up work fairly soon. I just need to be a lot more focused. Once again I can't explain how invaluable your videos are. Although I went to a very good art college, alas the course I took was not run the best way and the head lecturer did not impart any knowledge or prepare anyone for the real world.
Make new work, contact clients, make new work, contact clients. It is the same advice william Stout told me, just in his own words, "produce, produce, produce."
Saw your chat with Own Davey at Falmouth today, great stuff, thanks! One question, what are the advantages to having an agent vs. being a freelance illustrator?
Having an agent can be useful for introducing your work to many more clients than you might be able to find by yourself. Agents have big networks of clients they have already worked with. Agents can also take on a lot of the work that you find less interesting: scheduling, negotiating, looking through contracts, etc. I have a whole video on agents if you're interested.
You know, a video explaining what is important while building a portfolio focused on advertising or publishing or editorial, etc fields, would be awesome. Personally, I found myself struggling to find a starting field for my career. Regards
good suggestion. I would usually recommend a portfolio that appeals to all kinds of different clients for new artists, so you have a lot more opportunities, but editorial is likely the easiest way in to the industry. Maybe I'll start there with something specific to editorial. Thanks!
Thanks so much for this video! I chased social media to realise it wasn't serving me much. Could you share some ways on finding new clients? and how to best approach them?
Hi, James, at first thank you for your videos, they clarify many aspects of the illustration career and are a big help for us. So, I have some questions, yes. Actually many, let's just bringing one though. I have seen that agencies are hiring agencies to kinda pre select illustrators for them, I guess it 's a strategy to reduce the time for picking up illustrators and focusing in get clients for the ones that are already part of the agency. Ok, that is totally fair. My point is...I have noticed that some of those agencies that pre select illustrators have agents that... hmm..it's hard to say, and don't get me wrong, I just would like to understand that better...they don't really have so much knowledge of design or art history or art in general, you know. So, my question is, do you think that some, maybe many illustrators are selected by agents, and also ADs, basically because the style that they are using is a big trend? And together with that they have many many followers on social media? If yes, what would be a a rough percentage of them? Thank you, James.
Hi Carla, i'm not sure i understand your question completely, but yes, some illustration styles are selected because they are trendy. A knowledge of art history is not a necessity for illustrators, but it's likely an advantage. Some clients see a large social media following as a mark of success and trust, so they may hire artists with large followings using that as a factor, but it's not necessary to have a large following and be a successful illustrator. And, a large following doesn't necessarily mean a good career or even a skilled artist. Sometimes it's just luck.
"Making work, then finding clients", by that to you mean to make targeted illustrations, drawing etc. creative stuff. Then use that to reel in the targeted client(s)?
This is probably an obvious question- would you suggest it necessary to learn how to use procreate and other digital programs ie adobe creative suite? Again, I know- sounds like a dumb question. Thank you!
It's not a dumb question at all! I think it is necessary to learn some of them. Adobe platforms are pretty standard, but plenty of artists use Procreate and Affinity. Whatever you can access is good, but you have to deliver work to clients in formats they can use, so it's worth learning them.
You ask for a question? Okay, why is there a claim that my province in Canada is full of great artists but I can't find anyone to guide me the way you're doing here?
Hey, I can't speak to specific provinces, but I believe @artbusinesswithness is in Canada, and also @TomFroese. Both on RU-vid, with courses and other content too.
Hey just subscribed... Super useful vedio... As you said if we have any question or problems... We'll yes... My problem is that I'm a new food illustrator and my art style is super realistic... I'm not bragging or anything but I get things really fast I learn too fast even if I don't practice lot a times which is a positive thing but the problem is that I seriously have no idea what my career options are... Or what should I do with all of these food drawings I just painted (digital) or what type of companies should I work for...Would you plz guide me..
If you only illustrate pictures of food, then you are really limited to clients that want pictures of food. That could be quite a lot of different clients: magazines, publishers, packaging, advertising. Where do you see illustrations of food in your day to day life? if your style is very realistic and you learn things fast, why not try out some other subjects, not just food? Your options for work will multiply if you do
Who you are, what you do, what you want, how you can be contacted, and most importantly it should include examples of your work. Don't forget to follow up if you don't get a reply.
