Greetings From Leicestershire! also requesting some general counsel!

[NessIllustration]

@Luke-Sheppard You seem to have a real good idea of what you want to accomplish with your style, so you're already halfway there! What most people struggle with is liking everything and having trouble narrowing it down. This was my problem as well!

[Nyrryl Cadiz]

@Luke-Sheppard hi, what market do you want to get into?

[Luke Sheppard]

@NessIllustration I suppose I can be quite glad that I know what I want.. though of course it's likely my tastes may change in the future. I hope very much to have some good development in my quality of work next year! Thank you for your time!

[Luke Sheppard]

@Nyrryl-Cadiz Hi Nyrrl . I would be interested in doing more or less any form of design or illustration, as I've always thought as long as I would be creatively fulfilled and was also paid for my work then I would be enough. I also would get great satisfaction with having my artwork out in the world in any general form. I feel like if I were to have my art out in the world I would have changed the world, at least a little bit. And any change for the better is a good step forwards. ( just as an example of this belief of mine, I was actually an apprentice at a tattoo parlour for some time prior to my degree.. though it wasn't a good fit for me in the end)

That being said, the concept of working on an action-like graphic novel or a noir comic, perhaps even on illustrated horror stories or the like would be something that interest me.

This being said, I also like the idea of forming children's ideas and help to bring them up, and turn them into good people. I think that I would enjoy illustrating kid's books. There's a chance that I would become an art teacher of some form after my degree in fact.
I'm aware that the two interests I have do not often mix, and it's likely in my best interest that one or the other are done under a different name in order to help separating the two, which I have already taken some steps towards.

To sum up my answer to your question, I think as long as I was exercising my creativity a lot of markets would fulfill me to a great extent. While my degree is based a lot on graphic design, I am definite that I would at the very least end up doing illustration on the side. Exploring and illustrating more action-like stories with an adult or teen audience in mind is something that fascinates me

[Nyrryl Cadiz]

@Luke-Sheppard I know you're still in school and you still have a couple of years before you graduate but it would be great if you start narrowing down your interests early on and start tailoring your work towards that field. An expert in one industry most of the time will trump a jack of all trades who dabbles in a number of other fields.

[Luke Sheppard]

@Nyrryl-Cadiz Yes, I think for sure you have got a point there. I think I'm slightly afraid of closing some doors but I think at the worst-case scenario I could just open them again if I change my mind in the future! for me, I would prefer/love to specialise in working on comics and graphic novels for teen/older audiences I think if I were to narrow down my choices. Focusing on one thing is good advice.

I would have to say that I do think quite broadly with my art. Maybe I would see a lot of benefit from specialising. I'll try to make an effort on keeping that in mind! Thank you

[NessIllustration]

@Luke-Sheppard Agreed with @Nyrryl-Cadiz on that one. It's all well and good that any market would satisfy your creativity, but from a practical standpoint you have more chance of breaking into illustration if you narrow that down and become an expert in a specific market. Your market of choice will determine the kind of work you put in your portfolio for instance, as well as the type of client you reach out to for work.

It's a bit like if you ask a med student "what kind of doctor do you want to become?" and they tell you "as long as I can heal people, I don't mind". That's cool in theory bro, but in practice you gotta pick so you can get your qualifications and all.

I have not seen much realism work at all in children's books though, so the graphic novel path sounds like it would be a better fit. You could also be a good fit for concept art or portrait art as well as fine art.

[Nyrryl Cadiz]

@Luke-Sheppard comics and graphic novels is a great choice. It’s fast growing, a lot of opportunities, and your current skills would fit perfectly.

[Luke Sheppard]

@NessIllustration Thank you very much for your advice :). If that happens to be the case, I think you're absolutely right. Concept art did initially interest me and I think it still does, but i've heard from a lot of people that the humble concept artist is treated like crap a lot in the creative industry. That being said, it would definitely not be the worst job I've ever had and is still a possiblity of mine.

Perhaps my work should be more exclusive to graphic novels and the like, it's the idea that excites me most after all.

Thank you Ness, and Nyrryl if you happen to read this! I was looking for general counsel in regards to how I should go about improving my work and I think that's exactly what I've gotten. That being said, if either of you or anyone else for that matter has something to say I'll never say no to more valuable insight
Really appreciate the warm welcome, there are nnot so many places that put so much effort into a new account's first post. Hopefully, I will become a regular here.

Seems to be that the SVSLearn Forums is a stirring pot of creativity, knowledge, and some hard-earned wisdom/hindsight. Seems crazy to turn so much information down so I reckon that I'll be posting and interacting with this site more often.

[Luke Sheppard]

@Nyrryl-Cadiz Thank you so much for your kind words and also your time. The first post i've made and I've already had the benefit of coming to a realisation on where I should first take the brunt of my work! I wonder how long it would have taken me if I hadn't posted on this forum...

It's strange, the TPP podcast just now came into a conversation too on how people need to specialise into a particular form of art for their portfolio instead of just art in general. Very odd timing!