Illustration Career advice needed.

bex88

Heya,

I really want to make a career for myself within the art industry. I enjoy working with traditional media, mainly pencil, coloured pencils and some watercolour.

I'm 24 going on 25 and work 2 days a week in Tesco. I have a National Diploma in Art & Design.

The dream would be to become an illustrator, books, cards, papers, magazines, anything that I can get my drawings in and get paid for it and get recognition.

I live in a little village in Cambridgeshire and have advertised locally (In local villages newspaper and handing out cards to people, posting through doors) for hand drawn animal portraits over the past few years and had some commission here and there.

I've advertised on Ebay & Etsy numerous times with no luck and even put my advertising cards in with parcels I've posted of things I've sold on ebay to try and see if I can get commissions from further away. Friends and family have recommended me to others and I've had a few commissions that way too.

I've emailed some different sorts or magazine companies too to see if they would like some free drawings to get my foot in the door but none were interested.

I have also done a variety of greeting card designs and sent them to greeting card companies (Such as Pheonix Trading etc..) but none have come back successful.

I really have No clue At All where to start, who to email/write to/call, what to say or anything. I've done research but it all seems either very vague or gives good advice but then I can't find any way to follow through with it.

I was reading about agents, how they can help you find work etc...
For someone like me with no experience, what would be the best thing to do regarding this?

If anyone has any information or advise for me I would be truly grateful. I know it isn't easy, but I just feel so stuck

Thank you in advance.

Bex

DKLS

Couple of suggestions:

Do you have an online portfolio? if not create one, there are a number of free website creator services available.

Have a look on the various self publishing groups, for authors, there is always someone asking for book cover designs and illustrations to support their ebooks.

apn70

Hi Bex

Your based in Cambridgeshire, get some flyers/posters made up and try sending to University departments, I know people need illustration's for books and papers, and it's never easy finding people to do them.

Cheers
Adrian

National_Careers_Service

Hi Bex,

Wow, you’ve really been working hard at promoting your illustrations! As I was reading through your post, ideas came to mind about ways you could promote your illustration work on an independent basis. However, the more I read on, it seemed you’d covered all of the ideas that sprung to mind. You definitely seem to have covered a lot of bases.

I’ve just been having a look at the National Careers Service job profile for an Illustrator to see if there’s anything you might be able to pick up from that to help you out.

I’ve copied and pasted some advice below from the ‘Entry requirements’ section of the profile. Hopefully something from this might help you take your promotion to the next level:

You could market your work by contacting relevant companies directly. You can find advice about getting started as a freelance illustrator, lists of publishers, and other useful information in Writers and Artists website.

The Association of Illustrators (AOI) website lists agents, publishers, advertising agencies and other specialist organisations such as children's book publishers. As an AOI member you can promote your work by listing your contact details and displaying samples of work on the AOI website.

If you work as a freelance illustrator you will usually sell your work through an artists' agent, who may give you access to more potential buyers, but will take a commission from sales. The Society of Artists' Agents website has details of agents as well as examples of artists' work.

You can find more information about careers in design illustration, case studies and networking opportunities on the Get Into Design website.

Have you tried any of the avenues above?

Loads of luck with your venture!

Emma