/ic/ - Artwork/Critique

[Anonymous No.3246761]

For those of you who do art for a living, what's it like? What do you do? How did you get into the art business in the first place?

[Anonymous No.3246762]

>>3246761
No one here does art, much less for a living. Every post below this one is a lie. Except for that one guy, he's a total bro.

[Anonymous No.3246768]

>>3246762

[Anonymous No.3246868]

>>3246761
It's pretty good, I draw porn. But I also have a real job that pays my bills, so drawing porn is a supplemental income.

Art is not a business, it's a hobby or a joy to be in. Anyone who tries to get into the "art business" purely for the money will end up broke and on the street.

Get a job, get your priorities in order, then draw.

[Anonymous No.3246961]

>>3246761
>Every single positive answer is going to say porn

[Anonymous No.3247048]

>>3246761
I’m a freelance comic artist and illustrator. It’s nice to work from home, and work can be very difficult since I’m not exceedingly skilled. I basically got here after leaving art school, posting a fuckload of art online, and making friends. One day a comics publisher’s editor saw one of my comics and I was hired and have been steadily hired for gigs since.

I think it’s fairly easy to get into the comics industry. I’m not very talented at all, and a lot of my peers in my age group/general circles/demographic aren’t extravagantly technically skilled either (I love their work of course but you can tell by looking at it that there’s not much of a grasp on fundamentals). I think we all benefit greatly from the perspective grid tool in CSP.

Also I don’t do porn. Wish I did. Would probably pay more.

[Anonymous No.3247054]

>>3247048
What sort of comics do you draw?

[Anonymous No.3247058]

>>3247054
YA stuff, cartoony stuff. Think, like, liscensed characters, goofy teen shit, Lumberjanes type shit.

[Anonymous No.3247129]

>>3247048
I hate to say this but since you keep bringing up how untalented you are, mind if you share some of your works?

Also what's the salary like at your level? What does an average work week look like?

[Anonymous No.3247310]

>>3247129
I wouldn’t say I’m UNtalented, just not very technically skilled. I can’t figure out proper perspective or scaling to save my life, and my anatomy isn’t very strong. I think what saves me is my expressive characters and storytelling, which, if you want to go into comics, is pretty important.

Salary/pay is ok. I know people who make $30k+ a year on comics and freelance art. I’m lucky if I make half of that. I get $100 for one full colored page of comics from the publisher I’m currently employed by. In my experience, this is typical for a beginner creator. Wages can be really shit, especially if you’re a specialized colorist or inker– you could get as low as $25/pg for a 22 page book that takes you a fuckload of time to complete.

Workdays depends on what you’re doing that day. If you’re thumbing or doing layouts or collecting references it might take you a few hours of thought and scribbling and then you can fall back asleep. If you’re doing pencils, inks, and colors, you could be working all day. You kind of set your own hours within the deadline schedule the publisher/client gives you, and you’re not being paid by the hour anyway so it’s not like it matters. Most of my peers like to keep a fairly repetitive schedule, though.

A lot of people in the comics industry that I know stay afloat doing commissions or selling original comics or posting shit on Patreon or making enamel pins (those are big right now).

[Anonymous No.3247328]

>>3247310
Do you live in America? $15k per year seems pretty scant.

[Anonymous No.3247333]

>>3247328
Yeah I’m crazy broke. A lot of freelancers are.

[Anonymous No.3247334]

>>3246761
It's slow, tedious, time consuming and very frustrating and involves working with dangerous chemicals for little recompense. I paint with oil paint. I resigned from accountancy.

[Anonymous No.3247368]

>>3247333
Damn, mad props to you. Thank you for taking the time to answer my questions.

[Anonymous No.3247376]

My interior design career pays better than my hentai illustration commision

[Anonymous No.3247673]

>>3247310
Can you post some of your work / give us a link to your stuff?

[Anonymous No.3247755]

I do freelance illustration for businesses & also sell prints/shirts/stuff online. This is the first year I've broke $30k yearly income (before tax), which is not very much, but definitely livable in many places (I'm in the US). I've been at it for full time ~4 years, and I expect to make around $36k next year (~$3000/month).

>what's it like?
Extremely difficult to get the ball rolling, but once things start to 'click', it gets a lot easier. I've talked to other freelancers from my art school and I've heard then same it took about 2.5 years until things started to get easier, which I would agree with. Everything is a lot more entrepreneurial than I originally thought - I spend quite a bit of time doing non-drawing related things (emails, job hunting, etc.) You have to be comfortable spending a lot of time alone, as you'll be very isolated working by yourself (for many artists, you'll have no equivalent to 'coworkers')

>What do you do?
Illustration for all sorts of different stuff, (editorial, packaging, advertising, etc.). Don't really do a whole lot of the digital painting fantasy/sci-fi stuff that a lot of folks on /ic/ are interested in, but much more of a simpler graphic style of work. Pic related are some quick (~15 mins) examples of the style I tend to work in from those style threads. In my downtime between freelance projects, I create work to sell on products to sell on Society6, Redbubble, Etsy, Amazon, etc. via print-on-demand services, which has allowed me to build up a nice reliable mostly-passive income.

>How did you get into the art business in the first place?
Got a t shirt design published by a popular website a long time ago (2011) while I was in art school. It was the first time I made any significant money with my illustration, and gave me the motivation to continue pursuing it.

[Anonymous No.3247758]

>>3247755
If there is one thing I learned from dilbertman, it's to sell a good and not your service. Passive income is where it's at.

[Anonymous No.3247768]

Another freelance comic artist here, very similar position to >>3247048

I've been doing it full-time/professionally for over a year now, so still finding my groove and what works best for me. I seem to be getting steady gigs and have recently tried out for something that would be a HUGE career jump for me if it was approved.

I got my foot in the door by being friends with the artist of a series who had to bow out. He suggested my name as a replacement, and I'd already tested on a different book at the same publisher so got the gig, and have been getting steady work ever since.

>>3247310
Are you working for BOOM?

[Anonymous No.3248125]

>>3247755
>Don't really do a whole lot of the digital painting fantasy/sci-fi stuff that a lot of folks on /ic/ are interested in

Welp, that puts a damper in my mood.

[Anonymous No.3248208]

>>3247758
> Passive income is where it's at.
For sure - it's really great to have a fairly steady base income to help cover living expenses every month. Takes a long time to build up, but it's pretty reliable once it's going.

>>3248125
> that puts a damper in my mood.
What can I say - the fantasy/sci-fi digital painting type of work tends to be more limited in its use to a certain niche of industries than more graphic, simpler work (which is pretty versatile with a wider breadth of uses).

[Anonymous No.3248345]

>>3247768
Not currently, but I have in the past. I recently did a test for a big career thing too, hopefully we’ll both make it.

[Anonymous No.3248348]

>>3248345
Cool, I did work for BOOM in the past too. Was the thing you tried out for also a creator-owned thang?

[Anonymous No.3248353]

>>3248348
It was a boarding test, actually! It came out of the blue, but if I got it it would be a big upgrade from comics paychecks.

[Anonymous No.3248354]

How difficult is it to land a job as a concept artist in the game industry?

[Anonymous No.3248356]

>>3248353
Ah nice, fingers crossed for you so! Most things are a bigger pay upgrade from comics haha

[Anonymous No.3248415]

>>3248354
Depends on your skill levels and your personality. There aren't that many conceptual artist positions, so the competition is very, very high. You have more chances of getting hired as a prop maker or texture artist than as a conceptual artist, starting out.
Besides, most of the people here think the job is just painting/drawing skill, when it's more about concept - how you think, and how you communicate ideas, and how creative you are. Those are skills that can't be ground out by Loomis, and not everyone is going to be good at it. It's also something that needs training and guidance to develop, which will require schooling.

How difficult? Pretty difficult. It's okay to aim for it, but have realistic expectations, and have alternate plans working your way up to a position like that. It's a fairly important job, they can't start working on a game until the concept is finalized, if you're slow or not qualified for the job you can put the entire team/company at risk.

[Anonymous No.3248416]

>>3246761
I started taking freelance commissions in college, studying illustration, and just built up a network over time of the people who hired me for jobs. I also went into design professionally, and ate shit and paid dues until I made contacts and got a portfolio that got me better jobs.

Your career can start literally with one phone call or email asking if you can send a portfolio.

[Anonymous No.3248427]

>>3248125
Fantasy/sci fi work hasn't been lucrative for a long time. There was a golden age, during the 80's and 90's when book publishers and record companies put a premium on that kind of thing, and paid well, and you could live off it - those days have been long gone, outside of gaming.
That kind of work has to be done in your spare time, while doing something full time to pay your bills. I chose graphic design, and that's where most of my work is now, if not all of it. It helped me a lot coming up - when I worked on albums, I'd do the art, AND the logo, AND the layout - I'd get 2/3rds of the budget, the photographer the other third. I could could make a quick $500 doing a tour shirt, and posters. Now? They have fans do it, for free. Last time I bid a cover, for a medium level label, I asked $1500, and they countered with $250. Nah. I'm done. I only work for long time friends now, for fun. I used to make at LEAST 25K a year on freelance music stuff, on top of a corporate graphic design day job. It was great. I have a lot a free time now, let's just say, so I paint for myself, and I work as a designer.
Welcome to the real world. Maybe some day people will value art again, especially sci fi/fantasy, but until then, it's gaming, or selling it yourself. The big paychecks aren't there anymore, nobody really cares.

[Anonymous No.3248434]

>>3246868
anything can be a business idiot, you just need the demand that'll provide you income

in art's case there are plenty of artists working at pixar/dreamworks/ea games/disney making a living doing this

and there are patreons where followers donate a chunk of change to earn you a living

kys anon you'll never do anything in your life that's why you're in here talking shit

[Anonymous No.3248557]

>>3246868
>I couldn't make it, therefore nobody else can.

[Anonymous No.3249379]

>>3247048
Are you a webtoon artist?

[Anonymous No.3249920]

>>3248415
What are some good art-related jobs to fall back to? Or some good sources of art-related supplemental income.

[Anonymous No.3249961]

>>3246761
>what's it like?
I'm a freelance illustrator, it's great, no cons and all pros. i sleep whenever i want and for however long, i take my own breaks, do things my own way, and only accept jobs i'm excited for.
>What do you do?
anything illustration based. The majority of my work is book illustrations and covers because that's what I like the most.
>How did you get into the art business in the first place?
dedicated some time to make a good portfolio website and started e-mailing. now e-mails mostly come to me

[Anonymous No.3251111]

>>3249920
> Or some good sources of art-related supplemental income.
+ Smaller, personal commissions: these can be quick and easy and pay decently. Can be as simple as setting up a Craiglist ad or other basic local promotions. Drawing people's pets has been pretty lucrative for me, and is balls easy.

+ Print & other product sales for a passive income: takes a long time to build up and is difficult to do so, but is a fantastic source of passive income.

+ Art contests & competitions: I have a love/hate relationship with these. They're kind of exploitative and can potentially waste a lot of your time. However, they're worth it if you're good and consistently get selected work. Payouts are usually very good, and even if you don't get selected, you'll have a solid portfolio piece. If you're still developing your skills, avoid them. If you think you've got a handle on your work, you can regularly clean house and do well for yourself.