I want to preface this with I’m only in the beginning of my freelance adventure. I am no where near as established as someone like Will Terry. I am in no way an expert on what it means to be a successful freelance illustrator. I have a long way to go before I can claim anything to the contrary. This will be the third time I’ve rewritten and edited this particular blog post. That in itself is a good example of how far I need to go. I’m doing pretty well though. I’m making a living from my work, which is the dream. I’m not famous, and I do not work for any big publishing companies. I have had a few big clients, a few medium clients and a lot of small ones. I want to share the knowledge I have gained through my personal experience with you.
1. The first month you actually make a profit, you don’t.
This month was the first month since I went freelance that, through all of my various projects collectively, I covered my costs and made a living wage. I didn’t get to keep that money though, because I put it completely back into the business. Having a day job really helps cover the bills until your sales can. Having family you can live with can free you from a lot of burden too. If you want to be freelance and make money from your art, you have to have a stable place to live and people who support you 100%. Not every one has the same situation. It’s up to you to figure out what’s going to work out for you.
I live with my Mom, Paw Paw, and Boyfriend. Between the four of us we can get everything covered. And this has been the only way I have been able to launch as a full blown freelancer. When I lived in New York I was a full time line cook and part time freelancer. That experience was very good for me. I in no way advocate leaving your day job completely behind at this stage in the game. I left mine because I could.
2. Next month will make less money then this month did.
That’s just something that goes along with Freelance. You won’t make the same every month, or at least not in the beginning. I took my money from last month and invested in projects that will pay me this upcoming month. If I had had no projects coming up then that money would have been put into savings.
3. You have to do A LOT of different types of stuff.
At least at the stage I’m at you do. More successful illustrators might not. I somehow get the feeling they do too though. My professors in college where working artists with day jobs. I don’t just get to live in my house in my pajamas and stare at photoshop all day long. Illustration and Comics are my first love. I also have to make money and there isn’t always someone looking for an illustrator in my area. I’ve been able to take my passion into so many different directions, and I enjoy each and every single one of them. Below is an illustration I did for a series of post cards for The Myrtles Plantation.
Non illustration projects that make up my income:
I make clay earrings and sell them online, at arts markets and in gift shops. P.S. The earring store is a new addition and is still awaiting product shots. If you are interested in buying a pair for right now please contact me directly.
I have paintings up in The Myrtles Gift Shop and I am working on getting paintings up in other places. I also do private painting commissions and all my work is for sale online. They don’t sell as fast as smaller items, but it is nice to get a check in the mail every once in a while and find out that one of them sold!
I paint both private and public murals.
I face paint on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. You can find us at the downtown market and we do all the LSU games. If you are in the Baton Rouge area and are interested you can book me through here.
Kitty Kat Face
I teach Art Lessons once a week for 25$ an hour. Again if you are interested and you or your child is over the age of 7 you can contact me about that here.
Of coarse I also have illustration, design and comics projects. I’ve designed logos, album covers and t-shirts. Hell I’ve even designed clothing for Chrissy Lampkin.
4. It takes a little bit of everything.
I’m sure it’s true that there are some artists who have been lucky enough to become internet success stories over night. In my case that’s not happening. All I can do is improve my work, try to see what I need to improve on the most (figures and lighting) and try to practice that. And then hope that you guys will reblog it and support me. On tumblr I’ve gotten to over 600 followers and only a few of them really pay any kind of attention to me. And that’s fine, because I don’t want people to support me out of guilt or shame or whatever negative way you can get people to hit the reblog button.
The fans that I want are the fans that truly want to see my drawings and artwork scroll across their feed. The ones that really do want to buy that t-shirt of Delirium. I do want people to know that this is how I make my living. It is not a pipe dream and I do need support.
Internet marketing is scary. Once you put something out there you can never take it back! I’m terrified right now that once I hit the publish button on this thing that a “real” illustrator will read it and expose me for the fraud I must be. People online can be mean too. I’ve never had anyone steal my artwork (to my knowledge) and honestly I’m not really worried about that. Everyone will have an opinion as to how you should do this, what you’re doing wrong, why you’re never going to make it. The thing is though, whether or not you make it is completely up to you and not them. I listen to crits online, bad good or indifferent.
The only way I’ve managed to make sales is by being a little bit social on all fronts. I’ve got a tumblr where I communicate with some of you, the biggest response I get it from facebook, although Instagram isn’t too far behind. I also have a twitter but I never log on :/ One thing I haven’t tried is YouTube. I do really like what I’ve seen some illustrators doing on there.
I also go out to the Myrtles once a week/ every couple of weeks and paint. People come up and talk to me. They like the interactivity. They like meeting the artist. Most of them will go right into the gift shop and buy one of my paintings, post cards or magnets. A few times they bought what I was working on right off the easel, still wet! They always take a business card. The ones I really got on with find me on facebook and we stay in touch!
I’m hoping by next year I’ll be ready to start tackling the Cons.
5. Keeping up with your community.
You have to physically socialize for this one. Being up to date about what’s going on in the Arts community around you is VERY important. By going to the local Art Shows and talking to people you know who’s buying and who’s not. More importantly, you know who’s SELLING and who’s not. You get to talk to art directors, people who go to art galleries in general and the other artists. If you have a general idea of who your audience is going to be then you will better know how to appeal to them and still create things you love.
I used to work in a gallery in the Lower East Side. It was owned by a Hip Hop mogul. We had a open show and a very young girl came in. She just casually walked up to my boss and started talking to him about the art. Two weeks later she was an intern at the gallery. He was so impressed with her. I can see where this would be a hard thing for some people to do. Not everyone is confident enough to just approach people. I can’t see how you can sell your work if you don’t find a way to talk to people.
6. Contests, challenges and any other way to showcase your work online.
I myself haven’t done many contests, I believe you shouldn’t do it unless it is a theme you are truly inspired by. I will probably do more of them in the future. I’m trying to branch out these days. I do, however, participate in a lot of online challenges. They are great because they give people a chance to communicate with you about your work. They also allow you to work on something everyday and perhaps work on some of those weaknesses you may have. Above and below are pieces I did for 31 Days of INKtober over the years.
7. Sell where you can.
Of coarse I have the online stores,RedBubble and Society6. I have also sold in gift shops, coffee shops, galleries and so on and so forth. And each of those make a few sales every month.
8. Build it over time.
Don’t try to do everything at once. When I first started it was hard for me to keep up with just face painting, that was almost a full time thing. Then I got it down to a schedule. Same thing with the paintings, when I first started painting for the Myrtles I was working on it all week long trying to keep up with demand, and I literally didn’t have time for anything else. But now I know how many per month they need, and exactly how long I need to produce it. Which allows me to schedule out when to create merchandise for them.
Focus on one thing at a time and build on it. Make a foundation of what you want to do and build on it. That’s what I’m doing. We will see if it works. And ABOVE ALL make sure there’s still time in there for you to do work for you. I doodle everyday and that’s important.