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.

New Work: Mark and Dave go shopping

Just finished of some illustrations for the lovely people at Umbrella Design.  A large part of the project consisted of character design which is always fun to do, my figures were to be based loosely on two real people Mark and Dave.  My illustrations are to feature in their blog a diary of adventures in travel and shopping. The Mark and Dave go shopping blog offers a unique perspective from the duo, tips on what to buy and where and a little culture too.

Dave left and Mark on the right.

These are two trendy guys and designing such happening fellows can always be a stretch when you don't consider yourself to be trendy having a much different definition of the word.  Thankfully however I got a nice run down of their likes and what they wear.

Let me introduce you to Dave…

Name: David, but all his mates call him Dave.

Age: 29 ish. He's kinda geeky, and wants to thought of as really cool... in fact beyond cool. Of course he isn’t, he is in fact a bit of a twat, but nice, really nice in a bloke sort of way. Likes women who have an oriental twist, but always keeps them at arms length. I call them 'mysterious girls', cos they drift in and out of his life and none of us ever actually meet them. We only know about them by the morning smile of his face!

Where he shops: Carnaby Street for trainers, Ted Baker for shirts, Urban Outfitters, and surprisingly, Acne, which is uber cool. Some vintage bits from Brick Lane and Spitalfields, especially sun glasses and picture frames.

Jeans: Cheap Monday 

Watch: Vintage

Boxers or commando: Calvin Klein Boxers

Interests: Cool pubs and restaurants with friends. Sunday league football, gym... only when necessary. Pop-up Art Galleries, street art, photography, gigs headlining up and coming bands, such as: The Black Keys, The Cribs, Twin Atlantic or The Maccabees.

Job: Graphic Designer 

Loves: Geeky gadgets

Favorite Drink: Great beer

Drives: No need, Dave lives in London, but would like a vintage Triumph.

Personal Head Space: Need to make a change and find stuff that inspires him! 

Dave as a finished illustration.

And now on to Mark…

Age: early 30’s, trapped in the wrong era, should have been born mid 1800's then could have been a poet riding an old bike round a village green, a romantic at heart, yeah I know, I am a twat!

Where I shop: Selfridges, Harvey Nichols and Fenwick Men’s, Diesel, Paul Smith. Some

Vintage bits from Notting Hill, especially furniture.

Jeans: Diesel

Watch: Tag

Boxers or commando: Diesel Boxers

Interests: Out door stuff, cycling, cricket. Love great coffee with mates on a Sunday morning. Play occasionally in a band and open mic nights with guitar. Sketching (belong to urban sketchers).

Bands: Keane, Band of Skulls, Muse, Paul Weller, Florence and The Machine, Elvis Costello

Job: Furniture Designer

Favorite Drink: G&T

Drives: BMW Motorbike

Personal Head Space: Looking for direction and want to go and see great stuff! Like Dave, I need some ideas to guide me to my next project in life, what ever that might be.

Mark in all his illustrated glory

As the blog progresses we get to see more how they both develop via the travels and adventures in shopping they have.  

Mark and Dave's adventures in Brighton.

Good luck to Mark and Dave I hope they continue to trek around the country with their wallets ready and shopping bags full.  Visit Mark and Dave go Shopping blog here.

Go to my website for more illustrations.

 

Starting the Day

I don’t have to commute to work, I’m quite lucky in that regard.   I still feel I need to get out and do something before I start work so instead of a lengthy commute I go walking the dog with my wife after breakfast in the rain or shine or like this week in the freezing cold fully wrapped up with layers of clothing that take ages to peel off again. The walk helps wake me up, gets my mind and body functioning again, especially useful on the mornings when it feels like I hardly slept at all.  

I used to be a morning person, a fact that I’d forgot until my wife reminded me of recently.  Somewhere down the line my factory setting seems to have fallen into disrepair, replaced by grouch overdrive mode that seems to be my current default.  Some mornings it can be hard shaking off the sleepy head, If I’m still not awake after my morning regime and my head feels like it’s running some sort of start-up check complete with virus scan I try to reboot by visiting the local deli to get the best coffee in town.  If I haven’t booted up sufficiently I will indulge myself in the delight that is bacon roll with red sauce and a good strong coffee.  This I might remind you would be a second breakfast, a feeding regime that the hobbits of the shire would certainly approve of.

It’s a fine place and one that I often frequent, a  ritual of waking that will get my creative mind going if first breakfast and walkies don’t cut it.  I get that necessary social interaction and people spotting that is sometimes missing from my day.  I enjoy that little bit of small talk, asking about the day ahead, passing the same people walking to work or getting the paper, saying hello and chewing the fat before work calls.

The Scottish Deli is a little place that helps me wake up and serves me my second breakfast when needed.  It offers lots of foodie delights that will brighten up your fridge, store cupboard and eventually your dining table.

The Scottish Deli, Pitlochry. Click for website here