Job as an illustrator

[Anonymous No.4252060]

How can i get my foot in the door working as an illustrator? I have a simple and easy style that looks clean, i can draw like childrens books or educational stuff or whatever but how can i get hired as an established illustrated.

[Anonymous No.4252067]

>>4252060
Fuck off. This is not your personal "give me a job" training board. If you can draw then you can spend the 5 seconds it takes to google your shitty, stupid, braindead question instead of further poisoning this board with your faggotry.

Literally kill yourself if you can't comprehend how getting a job works, because its either that or homelessness.

[Anonymous No.4252069]

>>4252060

post work

[Anonymous No.4252127]

>>4252060
>I have a simple and easy style that looks clean
>I wanna to draw educational books and children's books
NGMI.

[Anonymous No.4252150]

Illustrate a fictional book as a portfolio, then message a shitton of authors.

It's not rocket science, but you need to put direction to your art.

[Anonymous No.4252206]

>>4252060
well if you're aiming for children's book, made up stories based on legends or whatever, make about three books paged 20 and below and publish it yourself on Amazon as ebook.

[Anonymous No.4252253]

>>4252060
Children's lit illustrator here. Work on a strong portfolio of about 15-ish good works that look like the kind of stuff you want to produce. No sketches, finished works.
Spend some time researching publishers/ agents and email the ones you're interested in.
No replies in a few months? (I got my first job 3 months after mailing!) -> Replace everything in your portfolio with something better and mail again some time later.

Don't shy away from educational stuff, since that's the best place to get your foot into the door. They're always looking for new talent there.

Children's lit is almost never mentioned on these boards, but it's a very viable way of making an income as an artist if you've got a professional mindset. I started 5 years ago and still can barely believe that jobs keep finding their way to me in a steady stream.

I try to steer away from commissions for private clients (birth announcements and various types of gifts) because they're picky clients that either don't know what they want or know what they want but apparently asked the wrong artist. (not to mention small budgets).

[Anonymous No.4252258]

>>4252253
Me again: Also, unless you've got strong following online, honestly I wouldn't bother with self publishing just yet. Get some practice or (paid) experience instead. I'd say that market is flushed with crappy amateur children's books, although i don't even consider them part of the market really.

[Anonymous No.4252301]

Thanks for making this thread OP, I'm looking forwards to hearing some more advice as I'm in a similar position, but here's some advice from people in the industry that I've talked to:
- Email every few months. It can take a long time to get your first job but this is the stage where most people give up. If you get no response, don't take it to heart and just keep updating your portfolio and email again. This will show them that you're really keen to work with them
- Professionalism. make sure you have your own personal domain on your website. Make sure it's easy to read and clean (art directors don't have time to try and navigate a shitty website)
- Show varied work in a consistant style. Show you can draw lots of different things really well, instead of the same subject over and over

Also if you're local to any publishing houses it doesn't hurt to make a physical portfolio and ask them if you can come for a portfolio review, depending on your level.

I hope that helps!

[Anonymous No.4252304]

>>4252060
Post your style

[Anonymous No.4252318]

>>4252301
Your tips pretty much sum up my experience. Professionalism is a really important one. You may not be the best illustrator in the world (yet), but people will remember you if you were on time and acted like a pro, which anyone should be able to do.

On the point of a physical portfolio: Eventually I just switched to an iPad. Easier to update, no more expensive prints.

[Anonymous No.4252357]

I'm just getting done with my website. I've been thinking about advertising in the local paper and showcasing art that would be good for local businesses, organizations, etc. I'm also working on illustrating a children's book with a family member of mine. I wouldn't call my portfolio "finished" by any means since it still needs to be updated - but I think it's at least diverse enough in style and subject matter.

>http://samyoungillustration.com/

[Anonymous No.4252407]

>>4252357
Your stuff has potential! It's certainly commercial, so if you keep at it you'll get work for sure. Here's a few notes though:

- Make lots more pieces. There isn't really enough on here to show your skill level.

- A client needs to see consistency, so pick a style and go with that. Are you a cartoonist? A painter? If you want to do both, create 2 different portfolios. The client needs to imagine the result of their brief with your portfolio in front of them. If it's a mish-mash of lots of stuff then it seems unprofessional like there's no direction.

- Please correct "you're local artist and designer" to *YOUR straight away!

You have lots of development to go which is not a bad thing. If you created a whole portfolio of cartoon characters like that cowboy, that can appeal to animation or children's illustration clients.

Your painting skills are also nice. But as I said before you need to either pick a style or make 2 portfolios.

Nice work, keep it up!

[Anonymous No.4252467]

>>4252407
>A client needs to see consistency, so pick a style and go with that. Are you a cartoonist? A painter? If you want to do both, create 2 different portfolios. The client needs to imagine the result of their brief with your portfolio in front of them. If it's a mish-mash of lots of stuff then it seems unprofessional like there's no direction.
Yeah that's been something I've needed to work on. I do have more paintings on my artstation websites full of portraits, backgrounds and illustrations - so I could create a separate category for scenic illustration and portrait painting. Pic related is a recent painting I did for practice. Now that I do think about it I do think I'll make two portfolios.

>You have lots of development to go which is not a bad thing. If you created a whole portfolio of cartoon characters like that cowboy, that can appeal to animation or children's illustration clients.Your painting skills are also nice. But as I said before you need to either pick a style or make 2 portfolios.
With cartoons and 2D drawing - I want to be able to be a "generalist." Give clients nice, clean lineart and colored work in whatever style they prefer. I don't think many clients in the US want anime for obvious reasons, but since I have a love for anime maybe if there's a project down the line that wants that style I can always pick up that style again. Maybe have one piece on my portfolio that has an anime style.

[Anonymous No.4252521]

>>4252467
Well, here's an important thing to consider - you would probably have more fun and make more money working in a cafe than drawing in a style you don't enjoy. If you really like anime, and you love digital painting, try to develop a style that will work for that. Obviously anime is a very developed and niche visual style, but generalising a little outside of it will open up thousands of potential clients - take a look at the artwork for Totally Spies, that has notes of 90s anime, while still being very western-friendly and appealing to the broader market. Plenty of Western animation houses adore anime but manage to create their own distinct style, which they clearly enjoy drawing in. You should do this if you intend to work in illustration for the next few years - it IS possible to 'rebrand' and switch your style up down the line, but why not try to avoid that by starting off with something that's a good blend of a style you enjoy and a professional output?

[Anonymous No.4252575]

>>4252521
>If you really like anime, and you love digital painting, try to develop a style that will work for that. Obviously anime is a very developed and niche visual style, but generalising a little outside of it will open up thousands of potential clients... Plenty of Western animation houses adore anime but manage to create their own distinct style, which they clearly enjoy drawing in.
Yeah I think that's a really good possibility. There are a lot of artists I learn from who take inspiration from anime like Thomas Romain, Anna Cattish, Tim Lochner, who made it their own. One thing I do like a lot regardless of region is "cute" art, so whether it's French, Russian or Japanese I'll like it if it's cute. The Precious Moments figures always come to mind because they remind me of the "eternal moe" design even though it started in Missouri. What you said about having a style that is fun to draw in and appealing to a Western market does sound both important and helpful, I'll use that when working on both my painting and drawing portfolio.

[Anonymous No.4252592]

>>4252575
BTW if it helps this is a WIP of style variations of the Morton Salt Girl

[Anonymous No.4252594]

>>4252253
Thank you so much for this excellent post, I’m not OP but it’s exactly what I needed to hear. I’m on it

[Anonymous No.4253211]

>>4252067
Rude

[Anonymous No.4253685]

>>4252357
Im not bashing you so don't take this as an attack but dude your art is just bad. It's so generic and lame im sorry but it just does not look good.

[Anonymous No.4256962]

>>4252357
To be brutally honest, both your cartoony and more painterly styles look amateur.

This is ok though, you’re just getting ahead of yourself. Just keep practicing and eventually you’ll start getting attention if you’re good enough.

[Anonymous No.4258168]

>>4252060
>took job in bum fuck nowhere industrial company photoshopping arrows onto images for a product instruction booklet
>stick around long enough to become their illustrator.

Get an agent to find you work it's easier.