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It’s been nearly 4 months since I embarked on this journey from full time Graphic Designer to full time Illustrator, so I thought it would be a good time to take stock of where I am and share with you the lessons I’ve learned so far:
1: Even the most well thought out plans will change and evolve over time
One of the most important things I’ve learned since deciding to really go for my goal of becoming a full time illustrator is that even the most well thought out plans can change.
As you progress along your journey from zero 2 illo you may discover that the type of work you’d like to do or genre you thought you’d like to work in actually isn’t right for you.
I love fantasy & sci-fi art (most of my favourite artists work in this arena), so I naturally thought that this is what I wanted to be working on, but to my surprise the direction that my portfolio was going in and the work I enjoyed producing the most was very different to what I had originally envisioned.
The lesson here is to not be afraid of changing your plans if what you’re doing doesn’t feel right - even if you change your path, as long as you are moving towards something - you are moving in the right direction.
2: Consumption Vs Production
It struck me recently (actually it was my wife who pointed it out to me), that I spend an awful lot of time looking at what my favourite illustrators are up to (Consumption) instead of working on my own portfolio (Production) resulting in me not going anywhere fast.
We all know how easy it is to get lost in this wonderful visual medium that is our passion, but don’t let it kill your work flow - find the balance and put your emphasis on production.
3: Don’t jump the gun
I recently jumped the gun and ordered some promo cards (luckily these were from Moo and didn’t cost a fortune) before I had really confirmed the direction that I wanted my illustration career to go in.
I was pleased with the cards and still am, but sending them out now wouldn’t be a good representation of the direction that my work is heading in.
I had also received some great critiques from a couple of illustrators whose opinion I valued, that really opened my eyes to some areas of my work that were lacking in focus, something that I’m currently working hard on with my latest series of illustrations.
The lesson to learn here is not to get too excited and dive in before considering the bigger picture - I put the cart before the horse when ordering my promo cards and it cost me both time and money.
4: Learn new skills outside of illustration
Being a graphic designer by profession, I’m lucky enough to already have experience and knowledge of building websites, but if you don’t, this really is a skill worth learning as it could save you lots of time and money.
With options these days like Wordpress, you no longer need any prior knowledge of html and can have your website up and running within an hour.
There is no longer any need to hire a designer to create an all singing, all dancing flash based website to showcase your work (in fact this is a big no no with Art Directors who just want to see your work without waiting for dancing graphics and flash nonsense). All you need is a basic platform, with clear navigation and well presented samples of your work.
To help you with this particular lesson, I’ve put together a tutorial on how to set up your website or blog in under an hour and you can download it here for free!
That’s it for part 1 - next week in part 2 I’ll be sharing with you 4 more important lessons that I have learned so far.
If you have any other lessons that you have learned on your journey from zero 2 illo and would like to share them with everyone, please do pop them on a comment.
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