Working in Freelance Illustration, Questions and Answers
I was recently approached by illustration student Kirsty Smith-Neale who wanted to know if I would be interested in answering a few questions about what it’s like to work in the field of illustration. Of course, I was delighted to assist. I enjoyed the process of answering them and have decided to publish them here on my blog. See the questions and answers below.
Firstly, I would like to know what was your inspiration when you started doing your urban sketching-did any historical artists/illustrators influence you?
To be honest, I can’t really explain my fascination with illustrating buildings, it’s just something that I really enjoy doing. It puts me in a meditative state where I just switch of and get completely absorbed in it. I think the artist that originally inspired me to get into architectural illustration was an artist called Stephen Wiltshire. I saw him featured on Blue Peter when he was really young and he was doing these really free, energetic drawings of cities that were kind of messy but extremely cool. I thought that I would try that also. I got the messy part down ok I guess but kind of struggled with the “extremely cool” part. Still, he definitely made an impression on me.
What was your technical approach?
Originally I sketched in pencil but later on I found that I preferred to work only in pen because there’s something nice about not being able to rub out what you don’t like. It makes you more definite when making marks I think.
What’s your favourite tool of the trade and what do you use it for?
It’s probably a toss up between the aforementioned pen and my Wacom tablet. I love using the tablet to add colour to my work in photoshop. It’s something that I’ve been trying really hard to get better at lately.
How do you promote your work? Do you have an agent-if so, how does that work?
I don’t currently have an agent but that will most likely change in the future. I send a lot of mail outs to agencies and art buyers or indeed any business that I feel could benefit from my services.
Blogging online is also really important. I try to publish at least one 500 word blog entry a week but admittedly, I have fell away from that a little. I’m getting back into it now though as it’s extremely important to keep adding new content to your website. Having a website that you don’t keep updated is worse than not having one at all.
Social Networking is also useful if you use it in the right way. Linkedin, Facebook, Flickr and Behance are my current favourites.
Another hugely important way to promote your work is to ensure that you do the best job that you possibly feel you can for your existing clients. That way, they are far more likely to use you again or recommend you to other clients.
Can you describe the processes you go through when working on an illustration/Commission from start to finish?
There’s no short answer to this. The most important aspect is to maintain constant contact with the client throughout the process. Make sure you have a clearly defined goal at the beginning for what you want to achieve and make sure that this is in line with the clients expectations also.
I recently put together a case study of one of my projects that will probably also help to answer this question.
http://www.gregorlouden.com/
Do you use photographs for reference or do you strictly draw on location?
I like to combine the two. For example, at the moment I’m working on an illustration of London for the London Marathon and as I live in New Jersey there is just no way that I could draw it on location.
How do you find intent/purpose for your reportage work? Does it come to you whilst on location or have you pre-thought about it?
Mostly pre-thought. However, I also like to stumble upon happy accidents along the way.
What was your first ever illustration of, do you still have it, if not where is it?
I have no idea. It probably didn’t look any different to any other young child’s drawing. A picture of a house being eaten by a shark with the sun in the sky maybe? I’m also pretty sure it’s lost to the sands of time.
What was your first commission?
I was commissioned by Livingston Football Club to do a couple of drawings for their boardroom. That was a while ago now. About fifteen years I think.
How do you keep your work fresh?
I think that it’s important to cast your net as far and wide as you can when it comes to getting inspired. I look to as many artistic disciplines as I can and many of those are not exclusive to illustration. I’m just as likely to be inspired by a movie or a piece of literature as I am by a drawing.
Another way to keep fresh is to keep trying to raise the bar for each project you work on. I always ask myself, how can I improve upon the last project that I worked on? To me, there is nothing worse than going into a new project knowing that it will be easy and that you can just “churn it out”. That just leads to some really boring and uninspired work.
How would you describe your work?
A collection of random scribbles and lines that occasionally organize themselves into some sort of cohesive message.
What are you working on at present, what’s next?
As I mentioned before, I am currently working on a new mural for the London Marathon for Timex. Next up, I’m going to lock myself in a room, throw away the key and not come out until I have made some definite progress with my animation project which I’ve been sadly neglecting recently. I’m really excited about it though!
What advice would you give an aspiring illustrator?
My advice is relatively simple. Love what you do and keep doing it. If you don’t do that then you’ll only struggle as there are too many illustrators out there that do. Do it every single day, no exceptions.
Also, if you are lucky enough to find yourself in a full time course studying illustration then treat that time like it is solid gold. Never fail to appreciate what a privilege it is to be able to devote your full time to learning the craft. Use your time wisely because it might not come around again and you’ll only be kicking yourself if you look back and know that you could have made more of the opportunity.
In hindsight, would you have done anything differently?
It would have been beneficial for me to have started using software such as photoshop quicker. Having said that, I got there in the end so it’s probably not that big of a problem. I would definitely have liked to have learned more about the business side of freelance illustration, especially when I was just starting out. Looking back, when I was at college I mainly just focused on the creative side and kind of hoped that all the other stuff would just fall into place(which it doesn’t of course).
Kirsty Smith-Neale is a talented illustrator who is currently in her second year at the University Of Gloucestershire.
Check out http://ks-n.blogspot.co.uk/ to see her work.