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I was going to apologise for the lack of posts around here lately, but I’ve been beating myself up about it enough already.
Things have been pretty crazy ever since my daughter was born 3 months ago and getting used to life with a little one has been a rollercoaster ride (just to see her gorgeous little smile makes all the hard times and sleepless nights worth it though….ooops, sorry the doting daddy side of me kicked in there for a minute) Combined with the fact that since Mali was born, I’ve been lucky enough to be totally swamped with freelance design work, my illustration aspirations have had to take a back seat.
After going from the gung ho feeling when I launched the blog, to having no spare time and being too tired to do anything outside of my daily family and work commitments - it just felt like yet another false start and I was getting quite disheartened about this feeling of going nowhere with my illustration aspirations.
To make matters worse, because I felt I was going nowhere, I then didn’t feel I had anything worthwhile or useful to write about on the blog either.
That is, until a few days ago when I came to a realisation…it’s a marathon, not a sprint!
Here are a few important points to remember when we hit those low spots:
- It’s ok to build up slowly to reach you goals - as long as you’re moving forward then you are moving in the right direction
- Working hard in your day job is also working hard on your illustration career too - it’s the means to an end and providing funding while you transition to full time illustrator
- There is no time limit - no one is going to tell you that you must give up on your illustration aspirations when you reach a certain age. You will be hired for your awesome work, not how old you are (this may be me being naive, but I’d like to think this is how the industry works!)
- Re-discover your passion for illustration - thumb through books of your favourite illustrators, make a list of your dream projects, set your self achievable goals appropriate to your current circumstances so that you get that great feeling of ticking something off your illustration to do list
What’s coming up on the zero2illo blog:
I’ve got a few posts in the works that I think you’ll find interesting…
- An interview with amazing artist Nic Klein
- A series of posts about comic book artists
- News of a podcast interview that is due to be recorded at the weekend where little old me and this blog will be the subject (more news on this early next week)
Illustrator spotlight
Finally, I wanted to leave you with some art from 3 amazing illustrators that are definitely worth a closer look:
João Ruas
Eva Vazquez
Brittney Lee
Following on from Part 1 of lessons I’ve learned since embarking on this journey from full time Graphic Designer to full-time Illustrator, lets dive straight into Part 2:
5: Ask Questions
It’s easy to be intimidated by those illustrators whose work and careers you admire - thinking that they wouldn’t give you, a lowly aspiring illustrator, the time of day.
Don’t let this put you off - all of the established illustrators I have approached so far have been warm, friendly and only too happy to answer my questions. Some of the illustrators I’ve approached have also been kind enough to give me a thorough critique of my work too.
Not everyone will be super helpful and you may find, as I have, that on social networking sites like Twitter, Illustrators sometimes band together and can be a little cliquey - but don’t let this put you off, for all those people I’ve encountered I’ve also connected with 10 times as many illustrators that are only too happy to share their experience.
(NOTE: Asking questions is great, but be sure to give back too - platforms like Twitter shouldn’t be just about what you can get. Sharing the tips and experience that you’ve gathered on your journey with other aspiring illustrators is just as important.)
Remember, it’s also always a nice ego boost when someone likes your work and values your opinion enough to contact you for advice - your email may just make their day!
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.
After scouring my list of favourites and trawling my feed reader, here’s a list of 13 super useful resources to inspire, inform and advise the aspiring (and experienced) illustrator.
I hope you find them as useful as I have and if you have any additions, please do comment and share your resources with everyone.
Resources For Advice & Industry Info:
Sterling Hundley Advice Blog
Experienced & accomplished illustrator Sterling Hundley runs a great little advice blog with info about the business and practicalities of illustration.
Illustration Mundo ‘Ask A Pro’
Aside from being a great all round resource for Illustration, the Nate Williams run site Illustration Mundo, has a great section called ‘Ask a pro’ where he poses questions to experienced illustrators who then weigh in with their answers. Lots to learn here from the experienced professionals taking part.
As a professional Graphic Designer with 10+ years experience (inc. 3 years as a freelance designer), I’m very lucky to have built up a set of skills and experience that (I hope) can be easily transferred to a career in illustration.
You certainly don’t have to come from a graphic design background to have a successful illustration career but here are a few skills I’m glad I have and that it would be worth any wannabe-illustrator acquiring - which could also give you the edge over the competition…
