/ic/ - Artwork/Critique

>Realistically speaking, how hard is it to find work online as an illustrator?

If you are good, it's very easy. Unfortunately your image shows you can't draw decently. It's full of structural flaws and it looks like this was just a photostudy where you had a reference right in front of you, which makes it even worse. If this image is representative of your current skill level, then you won't be able to make a living with your art anytime soon.

>I can draw decently
That's not whet your pic says, the forms and perspective fall apart even in the thumbnail.

Make a portfolio and start looking on ca.org and other freelancing websites, that will tell you better than we can.

>>2140051
Could you post some original work that isn't based on a photo?

>>2140051
you don't know enough about anatomy, values, lighting and composition yet. focus on getting actually good, and work will come to you. the main issues i'm seeing in your image are: the left eye (which wasn't in the original) is not in perspective and too far from the base of the nose (itself being too close to the right eye), the color transition on the hat isn't saturated enough and the left part of the jaw is missing. this is enough for me to assume that you do not know how to draw a face accurately from memory and that your knowledge of color is limited. also, you color picked the entire image. and you might have traced, too. if that takes you 6 hours (saw your post on da), you have a few years in front of you before you'll be working online.

i'm not saying this to discourage you, i'm just telling you the reality of things. right now don't focus on selling your work, focus on reading the sticky.


also 4chan is 18+

>>2140069

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>>2140064
>perspective fall apart even in the thumbnail.

Kek. I guess the perspective falls apart in your opinion in the photo he copied it from as well no?

anoncrit/10

>>2140129
you forgot the other anon claiming he color picked the whole thing, this entire thread is hilarious.

yes OP needs help, and is no where near ready for the big leagues, but some of this crit is downright awful.

>>2140069
>>2140051
>look at reference
>look at draw pic
>yfw OP made the eyelashes freakishly long because it's touching the rim of the hat

You suck at common sense, OP. And art.

>>2140129
Him copying it doesn't mean he copied it well. You have a comparison one post above yours, see for yourself.

The left side of her face is twice as big as the right in op's pic.

>>2140051
>>2140113

Even by /ic/ standards, this thread turned into a trainwreck pretty darn quick. Still, an actual answer may help.

Finding work online as an illustrator isn't as difficult as people would make it seem, but it does take a very different set of skills that you'll need to develop. I think the biggest part of that misconception is that people are very afraid to send their work out there out of fear of not being good enough, and that honing these skills involves a social risk that can be uncomfortable for a lot of artists.

As far as finding work, it's all about sending your work to the right clients, and regularly. Keeping clients involves at least two of the following three things; being skilled, being a pleasure to deal with, and being consistent.

Hope this helps.

>>2140143
>As far as finding work, it's all about sending your work to the right clients, and regularly
>keeping clients involves at least two of the following three things; being skilled, being a pleasure to deal with, and being consistent.
>oh, that guy who's regularly sending me shitty drawings is such a pleasure to deal with

>>2140150
I know you're trying to be a dick and funny, but sending your portfolio every few months is a good idea as long as you are improving and putting new work into it. Some ADs have said they enjoy seeing that persistence and ability to improve.

>>2140157
>trying to be a dick
That's hurtful, I never did anything to you.

Seriously, though, OP's got a long way to go before dealing with AD's in the strictest sense. Assuming the pic's the best he has to offer, he'll be chasing small one-off jobs for a good while, and even that will take much effort on his part.

>persistence and ability to improve
Getting from decent technical ability to an appealing and recognizable style isn't quite the same thing as getting from nowhere to entry-level understanding of fundamentals and no idea what to do with it.

>>2140143
Out of everyone on this fucking board youre the last person I'd expect to not have a problem with that painting.

>>2140143
Thank you, you are the first person who actually stuck to the questions asked, gave me more hope
And to the rest, thanks as well, had a laugh and motivated me to practice more

>>2140170

good luck.

>>2140170

Don't worry about it. If you have any more questions feel free to bother me over tumblr or something.

>>2140150

I suppose I should clarify that you have to get clients before you can keep them.

>>2140169

He didn't ask for critique, silly goose.

>>2140180
Yo Sprias, just out of curiosity--do you support yourself with art right now? How much work do you get? What type of pay?

>>2140180
>I suppose I should clarify that you have to get clients before you can keep them.

confirmed for being a cheeky fuk

>>2140182

Howdy, and yeah, I have been for about a year now. I've nestled myself in with a few larger clients, so I sometimes have more than I can do - but at the same time, it doesn't mean that all the jobs I get are amazing. Still, it's work and I make enough to be comfortable, so it's all lovely.

Also, can't answer how much I make for business-like reasons, but I charge daily and half-daily rates, since I think flat rates are rather heavily imbalanced against the artist.

Thread's dead, so this'll most likely be my last post. Got to get to work besides. Bother me over on tumblr if you need anything else, though.

>>2140194
OP here, trying to message you through tumbler but I'm not getting the e-mail for confirming my e-mail address and can't message you, I sent you a message through deviant art though, waiting your response

>>2140143

Why did you cut that picture in half with light and shadow? It's literally hurting my eyes trying to look at it. Use those plants or whatever they are to guide the eye up to the ship.

>>2140237

>>2140051
holy shit, in the thumbnail, that hair going across her nose, makes it look like she has a massive jew nose

>>2140206

Oh, alright, will do. If you have more than a few then just ask on here though, I doubt i'll check my dA again in the next... few months, or so.

>>2140444

No, he has a point. Given it's a nightly sketch, but I should've solved this before moving on to anything rendered.

>>2140237

I see what you mean, and I agree with the problem, but not the solution. In most work, I don't feel like anything can really guide the viewer's eye besides areas of contrasting elements, visible eyelines or spokewheeling the first focal point. It's just an issue of balance that's thankfully not as pronounced because it's not a horizontal divide, but having a light area on the left hand side, in the shadow, would have helped immensely.

>>2140130
>big leagues
What about the small ones?

>>2140837
well, can you draw? Can you paint? A single badly made study shows absolutely nothing. Your work from imagination is what matters.

>>2140051
If you're good, not too hard. It's competitive as fuck but there is a ton of work. If you check out sites like eLance and LinkedIn you'll see that Illustrators and Graphic Designers are very much in demand.

>>2140803
Sprias do you take students/apprentices? Do you have rates for such a thing? I would assume you are likely too busy with other stuff but figure I'd ask.

>>2140840
I wasn't the one who asked (op)
But I can, I'll upload an original image later

/ic/ is an awful place to ask for advice when it comes to running your freelance illustration business.

So many people want to be freelance illustrators, but most folks focus on practicing their illustration and not their freelancing. Very few people here know how to market themselves as an artists. People aren't willing to believe that making a living with illustration has much less to do with your skills, but rather how hard & smart you market yourself. Grinding anatomy and perspective is never, ever, ever going to automatically bring you work.

Never take marketing advice from /ic/.

>>2140871
I know what you mean, this applies to everything really. This explains how less skilled artist can have more work that a better talented one

Do you have to be a digital Artist to make money with illustration these days?
Can a traditional man like me have a chance?

>>2140906
Traditional can and does work.You're at a disadvantage though to those who can make revisions much more quickly.

You'll absolutely have to have an understanding of Photoshop though, because even if you make your work traditionally, it will always end up as a digital file regardless and will need to be edited and prepped before delivery.

>>2140871
>making a living with illustration has much less to do with your skills, but rather how hard & smart you market yourself

Marketing is obviously important, but think what marketing actually is. It is advertizing yourself. If you can not deliver what you are advertizing, you are fucked. If you constantly overpromise and underdeliver then you will not have a very prosperous long-term career.

Reputable clients aren't charity organizations, they want a product from you. A product that often times directly influences the monetary success of their project. If you suck at your job, no big client that employs competent art directors will hire you and those smaller clients that you can fool into hiring you thanks to your amazing marketing skils will never touch you again once you fail to deliver what you promised.

>>2140929
Let's imagine that you have skillz that are level 10 competence.

If your advertising skillz are level 1, then people aren't gonna buy because most won't realize you're actually level 10.

If your advertising skillz are level 20, then people will buy because it paints your level 10 skills in a better light and most clients won't know the difference anyway.

People want to work with capable people. Your ability to work with people is more important for a career in artistic fields then your actual skills. You have to have god-like art skills, shit-tons of money, or serious connections to make it in the industry if you are shit at marketing yourself.

Remember, marketing yourself = making a brand. Making a brand = the work you do. The work you do = how clients perceive you + your work. If you're an unreliable, unprofessional person, you have an unreliable, unprofessional brand.

You're the product. You're the brand. How you present yourself and work with people is marketing.

>>2140929
I do agree with you. Perhaps I should have clarified a bit. You absolutely have to have some sort of skill.

The point I failed to make is that while you have to be a good illustrator to get work, you don't have to be some godly master of the fundamentals to get work. Just keep your eyes open and look for illustration work used in the world. Loads of illustrators get published even though they are not very good.

I think a lot of folks here have an unreasonable expectation of what 'good' illustration is. It's not all about the fundamentals. A career in illustration depends on being able to make the right work, not the best work. I think style is a big factor in that case.

The idea of making stylized work is shunned around here, but style is very important for most fields of illustration outside of fantasy/sci-fi/concept art.

>>2140937
>You're the product. You're the brand. How you present yourself and work with people is marketing.

That is completely and utterly wrong. You might be confusing all this patreon stuff with actual client work. The general public doesn't give a shit about commercial artists and their "brand". The company or client that hires you to paint a marketing illustration, video game promo art, book cover, movie poster, card illustrations, comic book cover etc need art that catches the eyes of people who don't give any fuck about who you are. If your art doesn't speak for itself, they directly lose money because of you.

If you are hired as a professional, you are expected to BE a fucking professional at your craft. Once again, the entertainment industry is not a charity organization, they hire you because they think your art will make them money. Nothing more, nothing less.

>>2140871
>Never take marketing advice from /ic/.
>now listen to my marketing advice

>>2140957
I wonder why Liefeld keeps getting work then.

Joking aside, while you're partially right, you're missing the heart of it. If you have the choice between a competent artist who works will with the team, vs a more competent artist who's a pita, companies will go with someone less competent so that the team as a whole doesn't suffer. Shitty teams don't make them money.

Plus, you have a much better time getting jobs through friends/past coworkers/connections then you do your actual drawing skill. Those connections won't recommend you unless they like you. It's the same kind of marketing. You're the brand.

It's kinda give and take, tho. Obvs if you're shit at your craft, you're gonna have a hard time either way. But if you're semi-pro to pro-level, you are your brand. If you're a shit-person, your brand is shit. Pros are pros because they act like pros, not necessarily because they draw like pros.

>>2140973
Well, I never said you have to be great to find work. The original point that I was arguing against was that you barely need any skill at all and it is all marketing. I think many people look at this statement and confuse the /ic/ standard of shit with being genuinely completely unqualified for a job. Even the shittiest professional artists like Noah Bradley, Dan Warren, Genzoman etc still have a degree of competence that far surpasses what we've seen from OP. That is the kind of "shit tier" that can still get you work if you are good at marketing. If you are truly shit, no amount of marketing will help you.

(OP)Can the people criticizing upload their own work for me to take as an example and to see if they don't just base their condescending talk on things they've read and experienced from their own shitty work?
The only person who actually put up his own work was one of the few who weren't condescending and helpful without being offensive

>>2141004
Good luck with this... I would genuinely love to see it but I highly doubt it will happen.
(note I'm not uploading anything because I didn't talk any shit in this thread and I'm a pleb)

>>2141005
yeah posted that without much hope because I know that they probably can't back it up but still, their advice was helpful

Your illustration says nothing about your capability. If you showed me this I would think "The fuck. 50% of the pic is has no intrinsic value, and the other 50% is a vague outline of a face."

Your piece needs depth and sharpness. Also look up "adobe colors" so you're not fucking your color schemes. Cheers

(Oh and her right cheek and eye is all kinds of fuckered up)

>>2141004
There is absolutely no reason to ever post your work as a way to validate your credentials to strangers on the internet. There is nothing to gain from doing so.

>>2141075
The reason would be to rid of doubt from other anons and then they would have a good idea of where you come from, MOST people would not have a problem with this, the rest, mostly can't back it up thus the request of proof

>>2141075
So you're full of shit is what you are saying

>>2140985
I'll give you that. It's a hard bar for artists to judge themselves by, though. Doesn't help that we're a critical lot. imo you might as well take a shot at self-promotion (starting commissions, tumblr etc) to start learning that side while honing skills. So long as it's not taken to an extreme (which is easy to do), you might as well suck at promoting when you suck as an artist, rather then sucking at promotion when you've actually got something of value.

>>2141082
You have absolutely no idea if anyone can back anything they up with proof of work. But if I'm going to offer advice and not back it up with examples of my own work, then why even post in the first place? That would be a great question, and something I ask myself every time I post something. Even this response. Why even post anything? I have no good answer for this.

I've had some decent success, and I like to share tips about what I've learned. It seems to help people put things into perspective, and I enjoy that. I've seen people repost screenshots of my tips for growing a Tumblr before, and I'm glad to see that people find the information valuable enough to save. Still, I've never felt any reason to post my work to prove that I'm a good artist.

This problem only exists in a community where your work is not tied to your post. Anonymous posting is not a great way to talk to each other on an art board focus on critiquing. This is - IMO - /ic/'s greatest problem.

>>2141084
You're very right for thinking anyone is full of shit. But no one cares - and that's the problem. An art board built around anonymous submissions is fucking doomed.

Now that I think of it, most art boards that are not anonymous are still shit. I can't imagine any large community could ever beat a group of trusted & talented friends that you can do honest 1-on-1 critiques with.

>>2141086
why you post? because you are human
Why not prove it? fear to be criticized the way you criticize others may be?
For the rest, you're just too pessimistic and only can tell from all your responses that you only focus on the things that you don't approve of, that won't allow you to be a good critic

>>2141087
Why aren't you posting your work right now? Are you scared of being criticized the way you criticize others?

>>2141097
Actually I'm OP

>>2141114
Maybe you are, maybe you're not. We're both losers for sitting at home posting bullshit on 4chan on a Friday night.

>>2141116
Not all are like that, I'm very good at socializing, chose not to sometimes, there is more to life that fucking girls and getting together with friends

Much to my parent's dismay, I quit my masters degree 2 years ago to sell my sculptures online and now I'm making more money than both of them combined.

My tip: Be fucking amazing at what you do and people will not hesitate to buy your work.

>>2141168
Good contribution

>>2141116
Not even normies go out every damn Friday night.

>>2141116
Kek

>skipping on mindless pleasures to create art and invest time in your career and improve skills that will sustain you financially for the rest of your life
>"loser"