Art by Aurelia Nobleia
What’s wrong with my portfolio? How much work should I accept? What are the keys to negotiation? Jake Parker, Lee White, and Will Terry tackle these topics and more in today’s episode.
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SHOW LINKS
Children’s Book Pro Course
Dan Santat
The Graphic Artists Guild Handbook: Pricing and Ethical Guidelines
BOOM! Studios
Image Comics
Dark Horse Comics
KEY TAKEAWAYS
Creating and sticking to a schedule (for your days, your projects, and your years) is key to balancing life as an illustrator.
You don’t have to quit your job to take on illustration work! Having a stable income can allow you to say yes to the projects you’re dying to make without risking everything.
Beautiful images are great, but pictures that solve problems for clients will always win out.
As often as possible, negotiate your rates from a place of confidence rather than neediness. Know your bottom line, be gracious, and charge what you’re worth.
QUESTIONS
Kerisa asks, “I have a full-time job but would like to become a full-time creator, and I’d love to know how you guys schedule your year. Do you have any tips on staggering projects? How many book projects would you take on per year to become a full-time illustrator?”
To make your best work, you’ll need time to recover in between projects, so give yourself at least a month between the end of one book project and the start of another. It’s difficult to create more than a few high-quality books a year, so Jake recommends taking on just 2 or 3, then supplementing with other illustration work. Get a representative and look for editorial, online, and local gigs that can fill in the gaps.
The Children’s Book Pro course will take you through the ins and outs of book illustration timelines and project staggering. It’s a must if you want to master your illustration schedule!
Remember, you don’t have to quit your job to be an illustrator. By taking on just a few projects a year, you can adventure into the world of children’s books while making a steady income.
Hugh asks, “My portfolio isn’t hooking me any of the work I want! All the professionals I show it to say the quality is great, but the style seems too ambiguous to attract any one industry. I have a sci-fi-heavy style that I’ve tried to shoehorn into editorial work, but my portfolio isn’t bringing in any of that. How do I get work?”
If your art is good but you’re not getting work, focus on two things: being seen and solving problems. Creating personal projects can give you a visibility boost (if you’re into comics, Jake recommends publishing through BOOM!, Image, or Dark Horse to get your name out there).
If your ideal client needs editorial work, build a portfolio of magazine illustrations. Show that client how your art can help them. Creating beautiful images is a good start, but making pieces that solve problems for your clients is the key to landing the work you want.
Tanya asks, “I’d like to make a proposal to a company whose current artwork is plain awful. How do I approach this without offending them? Should I send them images displaying my style or examples of specific changes I could make to their current art? (I don’t want them to steal my ideas.) If they want to hire me, how do I negotiate pricing?”
Here’s what the guys recommend:
Don’t worry about giving offense; offer your suggestions honestly and with a spirit of goodwill.
Send both samples of your style and sketches of the changes you could make for this company. Even if they don’t accept your offer, you can finish those sketches for your portfolio. (Don’t worry about the client stealing your ideas; just share your sketches and move on if they don’t hire you.)
When negotiating your price, get clear on exactly how much work you’ll be doing for this company. Check out The Graphic Artists Guild Handbook: Pricing and Ethical Guidelines and talk to your professional network to determine your pricing.
Decide the minimum amount of money you’d be willing to work for, then bid above that. Starting high gives you room to negotiate.
LINKS
Jake Parker: mrjakeparker.com. Instagram: @jakeparker, Youtube: JakeParker44
Will Terry: willterry.com. Instagram: @willterryart, Youtube: WillTerryArt
Lee White: leewhiteillustration.com. Instagram: @leewhiteillo
Daniel Tu: danieltu.co.
Lily Howell: lilycamille.com
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