/ic/ - Artwork/Critique

[Anonymous No.4295135]

Hello, everyone!

I have some questions about the illustration business in general.

I know the competition is HUGE because every illustrator in the world can work from home and etc but I want to pursue this carreer.

First question is, how can my work gain more visibility? I mean, I have IG, Artstation and deviantart pages but there are not many followers, I even tried to phisically spread business cards with my pages but didn't result in many traffic.

Second question, how usually does companies pay for the gigs, in a big sum of money or spread, is there even royalties? I mean companies like blizzard, riot games, epic, WOTC and etc (not like my illustrations are even close to be that good but that's my goal)

How many hours of study do you guys usually put daily?

thank you in advance

PS: i'm sorry if i made any grammatical mistake, english is not my first language.

[Anonymous No.4295218]

>>4295135
>competition is HUGE because every illustrator in the world
Competition is rough, but in many ways, it's not as bad as it seems. There are many, many factors that can make the sheer number of other artists in the world not nearly as influential on your own success as you might think.

>how can my work gain more visibility?
Everything you listed (even the business cards) revolves around social media. Social media is a PASSIVE form of self promotion, meaning that you throw your work online hoping that the right person with the right opportunities sees your work at the right time. This most definitely can happen, but a lot of this revolves on the luck of being discovered, and it's in your best interest to take luck out of the equation as much as possible. Remember that more visibility =/= more work. Visibility in itself is useless. The goal is to make your work visible to a very particular type of person, not just random people.

You can increase your visibility most effectively by compiling your work into a strong portfolio, and pitching it directly to the art / creative directors at places you want to work for. It really is that straightforward. Whether or not this results in a commissioned job is another story - the point is that if you want your work to be more visible, don't wait around to be 'discovered' and instead try and put your work directly in front of the eyes of art commissioners. Doing this is scary and tough and time consuming, but it is the most direct way to increase your visibility to the most relevant people.

>how usually does companies pay for the gigs
This varies from project to project, client to client. Everything you listed - a big sum, a spread, royalties - are all often used.

>How many hours of study do you guys usually put daily?
It's always good to improve, but at some point (varies from artist to artist), it's more important focus less on studies and more on high-quality finished work for your portfolio.

[Anonymous No.4295228]

>>4295218
thanks, this was very helpful

[Anonymous No.4295232]

1 - Know your audience. Make art that is for a specific audience of people. know your audience before you start making art. do not try to make art for every audience, (consumers are generally interested in labelling artists as "that pokemon artist" or "that comic artist")

2- Google. make sure you tag a crosspost all your art so that search engines pick up on it. post your art on forums and subreddits were it will generate interest with its intended demographic. make sure you watermark your work visibly so people know where it came from. I know everyone IC talks about how much of a faggot you are if you sign your work, but frankly they're all wrong and I'm right so fuck them.

3- Aggregate sites. places like Patreon, kickstarter and Fiverr exist now. If you want to make a certain type of product, advertise places where people who appreciate it can support you with money ( and be thankful to them for doing that. repeatedly). It seems egotistical to constantly pester people to support you, but if you do it politely, it wont come off as rude or aggressive. also, Logan Paul is worth like 50 Million dollars, and his videos are like 60% asking his audience to buy his shitty hats.

4.Make good art. self explanatory. If you aren't good enough technically, focus on what makes your art good, instead of what makes it bad. people dont appreciate the art they buy because is has no flaws, but rather because something about it they find beautiful.

5.Post regularly. You need to convince people that you are alive, reliable and dedicated to spewing out your how sticky garbage on their plate when they expect it.

6. Nepotism. I've never had a job that wasn't the result of knowing someone through someone else. Use your contacts often, (again with much grace and politeness). make deals with influences. a big social circle and contact list will never hinder you.


Other Useful tips: try collaborative projects. Don't price yourself lower than you need. Get a job.

Good Luck!

[Anonymous No.4295242]

>>4295218
>it's more important focus less on studies and more on high-quality finished work for your portfolio.

>You can increase your visibility most effectively by compiling your work into a strong portfolio, and pitching it directly to the art / creative directors at places you want to work for.

I also agree with what this anon said.

[Anonymous No.4295245]

>>4295232
thank you, bra

[Anonymous No.4295740]

>>4295218
Based Arnie poster.

[Anonymous No.4295745]

>>4295232
Wow what's happening : 2 helpful posts in a row?!
Is this place reaching salvation?!!

[Anonymous No.4295771]

>>4295218
fpbp

[Anonymous No.4296157]

>>4295232
>6. Nepotism.

While the concept of nepotism and having those automatic "connections" is most definitely a real thing, I feel I often see others (not necessarily you) use it as an excuse for not even trying. Sure, it's convenient and fortunate to have an easy connection from just knowing somebody, but that doesn't mean there's not other avenues you can take to land those same opportunities. It's totally doable to create your own connections and finding your own opportunities without knowing anyone in the industry.

A reminder to everyone reading - there is nothing stopping you from making connections yourself, even if you're starting from nothing. Again - creating the strongest, most focused portfolio you can and promoting it directly to art commissioners works (not saying it's easy). You'd be surprised how far a simple, friendly introductory email can take you, where you quickly state your interest in working with them in the future and share a link to your portfolio site. That's it. Everything beyond that point is outside of your control, but this is an effective way to simply get on someones radar.

If they like your work and it's stylistically appropriate for what they do, they might keep your info on file. Maybe a project comes up in the future that you'd be a good fit for, and they reach out to you for a commission - congrats on the gig! Maybe you're responsive and professional and did a great job, leaving a good impression, then they might continue feeding you freelance work on a regular basis - congrats on creating a repeat client! Maybe you do this with 2, 3, 5, 10 different clients, and turn them all into regular clientele - the next thing you know, you'll have a full plate of freelance work coming to you with minimal effort. Depending on what you do, you can likely get referred to other commissioners, resulting in even more referral jobs.

[Anonymous No.4298418]

>>4295135
bumpan

[Anonymous No.4298616]

competition is huge as in any other major