Advice for freelance illustrators, common questions I'm asked.

Hi
I thought I'd post some answers to common questions I'm asked by budding illustrators starting out in the industry.  My answers are a more personal response to the queries asked by students, I hope reading them with be helpful.  I'll post more information and advice next month.

Are there any technical skills that are required to work in the industry?

Being confident in your skills and developing your craft to keep your work fresh and interesting.  Knowing how to use creative software and save to print formats are the most helpful.

What are you views on qualifications? Are they necessary or are portfolios / abilities more important?

Maybe a qualification is not necessary; I’ve yet to be asked! A good portfolio and having completed work for a few clients is more important.  The most important thing is a client needs to be able to trust you to carry out the project and get it in on time.  I’ve been at it for a while now and have always turned in great work on time, never let your client down or you will never regain that trust.

How important is it to make contacts / network?

Very important, having a repeat customer is a good way of generating more work by word of mouth and exposure.  Getting a good reputation is very helpful I often get clients who have had a bad experience with an illustrator.

What are the pros and cons of having an agent? (If applicable)

Pros can get you work and throw their resources behind you to get exposure, help guide your career and negotiate with clients.

Cons, Can take quite a percentage.  Or retain license over your work in some bad cases.  Agents might also ask you not to do personal promotions so you have to rely solely on them to get you work.

Were there any difficulties when starting out in the industry?

Start up funds for equipment, advertising and software all are very expensive.  It can take a few years to fully establish yourself in the field and your style may vary and develop more differently than imagined in order to interest people and get work.

 

When adding an image to you site or sending via email. Always title your image, and add you your name so if its archived and picked up at a latter date the client knows who its from. e.g. Urban Racers Dylan Gibson Illustration

What levels of commitment are involved while working as a practitioner? What are the hours involved? How do you maintain a good work/life balance?

I work a full normal week about 35-40 hrs sometimes I'll need to work more and the odd weekend working can sometimes be necessary.  Your income might be low to start off with and even with this remember you still have to keep money over for your end of year tax return.  It’s a good idea to estimate what that might be and save it away. 

If you work from home have a dedicated space, a spare room to act as a studio, treat it as any work place when you’re done switch off the computer close the door and leave.

 

Working from home made easy.

Have you noticed any changes to the industry while working as a professional?

The biggest is how styles go in and out of fashion very quickly, this is most obvious in advertising and you might get a lot of commissions in that field one year and none the next.  The other big thing is the license of your artwork where and how your work is used, clients are pushing for more ownership with China and India becoming more important markets to the UK.

Are there any traits (such as enthusiasm, determination) that you think are necessary / useful while working in the creative industry?

Enthusiasm will carry you through even the more laborious projects.  It takes a lot of effort and hard work to get going but in can be done and you can make a living from it.  If you can say you enjoy your job you are very lucky and as long as you recognize that you can work through anything in order to keep that going.

I will continue to post more common questions and advice soon, please check back.

Follow me on Twitter @dylanillo
For my website folio visit Dylan Gibson illustration

Adventures in Thorpe Park.

This illustration below is the most recent version of the Thorpe Park Map.  Every year since the artwork was first commissioned new rides and features are added on site and the map needs to be altered to that visitors can plan their day.  It features on the Thorpe Park website, printed large scale on billboards in the park and a handy fold out version to fit your pocket.

With an illustration like this its almost a work in progress due to the changes at the site, when a new ride is added  it is heavily themed, for example  The Swarm ride is set around an alien invasion complete with devastation and themed ride car styled to look like an outer space fighter craft. Another themed ride is Saw, based on the Saw movie series and has a horror vibe with blood, guts and gore.

The illustration itself is drawn to work at the large A0 scale and for smaller print and web sizes.  All the features are drawn individually and placed on separate layers of which there about a hundred or so.  That's many different components, all very handy if you need to change, remove and replace things. 

Map artworks are very fun to do and some can be more challenging than others to get right recently I've illustrated a Highland Park map and over the years map artworks for Universities, Country Homes and Educational resources.
The artwork is vectored and shown here in context Design by LMC

Click here for more of my work. 

Thorpe Park Map 2013, Dylan Gibson Illustration

Catching up with the Walking Dead

Concept Illustrations.

I often get asked for character development, conceptual and pitch artwork, mostly for advertising for use in web and TV promotions or sometimes to pitch a new idea to a client.

Its all very fast, deadlines are usually tight, though the secret is to keep good lines of communication so roughs and concepts flow back and fourth along with the feedback constantly updating and refining the artwork until you get pretty little pictures.

Below are a few character designs for zombies and to make them a little different I drew up a 80's rock zombie with groupie a battle scene, cook, Jane Fonda workout and Miami Vice style undead. 

Its all a bit silly and fun.

80's Rocker Zombie

Mr Whippy fights back

Workout, Chef, Rock and Miami Vice Zombies.

Visit my website for more.

Going Wild

A new map illustration for the Highland Wildlife Park showing some of the park's more popular residents.  Designed to help you to  where the animals live though it will also come in handy if you get lost or need a coffee at the shop then after the toilet. 

Its well worth the visit too, the animals have a good deal of room the park also does very good conservation work and breeding of its rare species.

My illustrations of the animals including the beautiful Amur Tigers they have at the park frame the map in a decorative boarder.  The line art is in pencil and kept loose in style and all built up in layers on the computer so things can be moved around, replaced and altered easily.  

Artworks like this one go through several drafts from the initial concept sketch based on client brief, developing into more detailed and then coloured rough sketches before the final image is tackled.  At all stages the work is emailed for feedback which is either sent back via email or with me frantically scribbling down comments from the client on the phone, hey who says men can't multitask?

My Wildlife Park Illustration, 2013

Lost for Words

One of my recently completed illustrations for an editorial commission to accompany an article about being prepared for a meeting.  

I played a little with the perspective of this image to give it a quirkier look and feel, distorting it to exaggerate to close up and faces of the two characters each side of frame.  The idea was to make the viewer or reader of the article feel they were the ones being eye balled as the people in the illustration are all paused waiting for the presentation or witty remark to be said.

Sure most have us have all been there at a meeting, pub or at home struggling for something to say.  We all hope when it comes to our retort or just plain answer to something it's relevant or witty, usually what we want to say comes latter sometimes much later.   Maybe when we're driving home it strikes or when we are talking about it later with a significant other or friend the once missing words flash into sight.

What you looking at?

Visit my website to see more artworks like this here.