In this two-post series, I'm going to share my biggest takeaways and lessons learned from my illustration journey so far. These posts came about as part of a journaling exercise, and I thought they would be valuable insights to share.
Please note: I am sharing my own personal experiences of being an illustrator and surface designer. I don’t intend to dictate industry-wide best practices or recommendations, and I’m not trying to be prescriptive. There are no ‘correct’ or most ‘effective’ paths to a successful creative career.
These are the biggest things I can see in retrospect worked for me:
1 NICHE DOWN
Being well known as a food illustrator has guaranteed a good steady income for me over the years. I’ve niched down by providing (illustration) services that appeal to a small, specialized section of the market. For me, that section was the very specific audience of art directors and senior designers who would be working for food manufacturing clients needing food packaging (I’ve worked with products from instant noodles to flavored waters), as well as editors and authors of cookery books.
I knew very early on that food illustration would be a priority based on my passion and skills. Eating and cooking are two of my favourite pastimes, so it made sense to bring this passion into my illustration portfolio. I went out of my way to steer my portfolio so it was food-oriented. In doing so, I heightened my drawing and technical skills by repeating the transformation of sketches into illustrations over and over again. This also helped me to forge a recognisable style. (Please note that your style is about the aesthetic of your work, while your niche has more to do with the specific services you offer.)
By being specific I wasn’t competing with ‘broader’ illustrators. Instead I became more of an ‘expert,’ which also helped my clients as I demonstrated my ability to illustrate everything from rainbow chard to crab claws. I was careful about what I put in my portfolio, with the focus more on quality than quantity. Early on it was all personal projects (which I uploaded to They Draw and Cook), and I didn’t show any projects that made me compromise my values or style, in order to attract the paying projects I wanted. This is why I feel it’s so important to find your niche: by learning what kinds of passion projects you are drawn to, you can more easily identify the types of work that you want to be hired for.
Maybe your niche is kids lit. Maybe it’s animals or portraits or botanical illustrations. There’s a whole wide world of different interests available to you
2 SEE YOURSELF AS A BUSINESS FROM THE OUTSET
I had to make my business financially viable (in order to bring up my two kids in a single parent household from 2015). Making the leap from personal projects to paid projects requires a change in mentality. Firstly, it includes hiring/paying for professional help & consultations when needed. After my 8-year career gap, it took two years from taking my first in-depth online course to writing my first two invoices in November 2015 (for a carrot cake editorial piece and some smoothie packaging).
I had no idea what to charge at first, so I decided to pay for professional advice by joining the AOI, who have their own pricing consultant. In early 2015 I only had a small monthly income from stock images, and the yearly membership was 35% of what I earned that month, but going forward it was worth every penny as I attracted more clients rapidly. I have always had an accountant who takes care of taxes and when I need to pay Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs, and again I couldn’t cope without him.
Secondly I researched where my work fit in and created art that solved problems. Creating value by focusing on my distinctive contributions also spurred me on to maintain that edge. I continued to expand my portfolio further and devised quicker methods of working to meet client deadlines.
For the surface design side of my business, I looked for trends that connected my work with certain industries and made sure that was a priority for my portfolio. Starting as a novice in watercolours, I was able to bring this medium in for products from greetings cards, ceramics and textiles.
3 CONSISTENCY
Completing 30/100/365 day projects means being consistent and showing up to do the work. Again much of this was down to mindset, seeing the bigger picture and gaining proficiency over a long period of time. I created a pile of work that wasn’t seen on my website or IG just for practice and fun. It wasn't about the finished product but a journey of improvement through a repetitive task. You will encounter resistance when you make art for a living. This kind of practice is a big part of how I learned to stay motivated and overcome that resistance.
Whether it was sketchbook practice or personal illustration projects, I started to notice myself getting better at things like Photoshop, colour mixing, hand lettering and composition. My process improved the more work I created, and certain things became more clear and obvious, like favouring a certain set of colours or being inspired by vintage lettering — repetition was the key to success here.
Furthermore consistency can also be applied to your portfolio — clients need to feel confident about what they are going to get from an illustrator before they part with their cash. Most art directors need to see that an illustrator is delivering predictable interpretations of their concept or brief. Consistency proves you’re competent and efficient, and it helps build trust — all this makes communication clearer when there is a tight deadline.
I hope these first 3 insights from my ‘second‘ illustration career will help those who are either contemplating a path into illustration or are already within the field of illustration. Join me for the next post to hear more points about what I gained when reviewing my last 7 years.
